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Coral Islands
Mamanuca Group
Fiji Islands
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Coral Islands - Mamanuca Group
South Sea Island
Bounty Island
Treasure Island
Beachcomber Island
Tivua Island
The
Inner
Mamanuca
Islands
comprise of twelve coral cays, the archetypal
South
Sea
island. These tiny specks of land, surrounded by a shallow coral lagoon, are seldom higher than five metres above sea- level covered with light scrub vegetation and until recently were all uninhabited. Apart from the resorts that are now built on them, there’s not an awful lot to distinguish one from another.
Northern Cays
The tiny speck of
South
Sea
Island
, which takes just twenty-five minutes to reach from Port Denarau, is the most accessible of the coral cays. This is the first stop on both South Sea Cruises and the Yasawa Flyer routes - all three are owned by the same company making it a busy little place and a popular overnight base for backpackers heading to and from the Yasawas. It’s rather cramped though, not even a hundred paces in width and takes less than five minutes to walk around. If you like snorkelling you’ll be disappointed - coral bleaching, excessive human interaction and polluted run- off from the sugar cane farms on
Viti Levu
have all had their effects.
Ten minutes north-west is
Bounty
Island
, the largest of the coral cays in the Mamanucas at forty-eight acres and with the delightful budget style Bounty Island Resort on its north beach. Kayakers can circumnavigate the island in an hour paddling in a crystal clear lagoon. It’s a good spot for snorkelling, especially for beginners as the waters directly infront of the main resort area are shallow, have good coral heads with plenty of small reef fish and are barely thirty metres from shore. The island has walking trails meandering under light scrub for bird spotting and interesting beachcombing with lots of shells, driftwood, hermit crabs, sea birds fishing at the waters edge and wonderful views looking back to Vuda Point and the mountains of
Viti Levu
.
Five minutes further north- west are the twin islands of Beachcomber and Treasure, both of which can be accessed from Vuda Marina, just north of Nadi Airport, in under twenty minutes. Measuring just over fourteen acres in size, Treasure is the larger of the two islands with Treasure Island Resort, the perennial family holiday favourite. Tiny Tai is another long- established holiday destination renowned for its party style Beachcomber Island Resort and its massive 84- bed dormitories. Both islands have action- packed lagoons with para sailing, catamarans, water skiing, jet skis and banana boat rides. But whilst Treasure sleeps early, Beachcomber raves past midnight, something of a rarity in
Fiji
. A few hundred metres to the south of Elevuka is a tiny sand islet with no vegetation and some fantastic snorkelling. Scuba diving in the vicinity is excellent with two popular wrecks, the twenty six metre deep partially intact B26 bomber to the south; and a forty metre cruise ship wreck, Salamander, covered in soft corals and anemones to the north.
A few kilometres north of Treasure is
Tivua
Island
, another tiny coral cay gem just fifteen minutes offshore from
Lautoka
City
. The island is leased by Captain Cook Cruises and marketed as
Mystery
Island
- a day cruise on the elegant 33- metre square- rigged sailing vessel, the Ra Marama, stopping for five hours on Tivua. The island is surrounded by sand, backed by light bush and has a very shallow lagoon - the snorkelling reefs are best accessed on the organized snorkelling trips by boat. For a surreal escapism experience, you can arrange to stay in one of the two beachside cottages and watch the day- trippers depart on the sailing boat leaving you alone on an uninhabited island.
Southern Coral Cays
The closest of the Mamanuca islands to Port Denarau is Mala Mala, a popular day trip destination just ten kilometres from Nadi and one of the few coral cays without a resort. Despite its mass market appeal, arriving on a truly uninhabited island and swimming in the marine protected lagoon really is an unforgettable experience.
At the southern end of the Mamanucas, on the eastern edge of the Malolo Barrier Reef and facing
Momi
Bay
on
Viti Levu
, are two coral cays, Namotu and Tavarua, each with an upmarket surf resort. Apart from the world class surfing in the passages around the Malolo Barrier Reef, several walls with drops between thirty and fifty metres provide excellent scuba diving - turtles, lion fish, rays and large sharks are common. This section of the reef is also a popular playground for pods of bottle-nose dolphins.
Surfing Malolo Barrier Reef
Surfing in the shallow passages along the Malolo Barrier Reef is exceptional but for anyone except experienced surfers it’s a dangerous experience - the sharp coral heads are just a few metres below the breaks and any untimely fall will lead to severe coral cuts that can become easily infected. The most famous surfing breaks are the left- hander’s Cloudbreak and Restaurants facing Tavarua where the Globe Pro Fiji championships are usually held, part of the ASP world surf tour.
Boat trips can be arranged from several resorts in the Mamanucas including Plantation Island Resort (15- minutes), Castaway (20- minutes) or Mana Island Lodge (35- minutes). There’s also direct access from Seashell Cove on the mainland 20- minutes drive south of
Nadi
Town
. Most surfing breaks along the Malolo Barrier Reef are at their optimum from April and November.
Mamanuca Resorts Listings
Fiji Tour Companies
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Cook Islands Travel Guide
Samoa Travel Guide
Tonga Travel Guide
Tahiti Travel Guide
Hawaii Travel Guide
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