Vanua Levu & Taveuni
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©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Vanua Levu & Taveuni Includes ¨ Why Go? Vanua Levu .........151 With welcoming settlements, year-round warmth and gen- Savusavu & Around ..154 uine local hospitality, it’s not for nothing that Vanua Levu Labasa .............163 and Taveuni are billed as Fiji’s ‘friendly north’. The country’s Nabouwalu second- and third-biggest islands, respectively, are clean, & Around ...........167 green havens languidly trapped in a time before ‘hectic’ was invented: even their epithets – Vanua Levu was once called Wainunu Bay ........167 Sandalwood Island and Taveuni’s nickname is the Garden Taveuni .............167 Island – evoke the scents and sights of a land left wild. Waiyevo, Somosomo Though dusty Labasa is Vanua Levu’s largest town, it’s & Around ...........170 in beautiful, stay-a-little-longer Savusavu where most visi- Matei. 174 tors drop their bags. Across the Somosomo Strait, Taveuni’s 9000 residents spread themselves between jungle villages and microscopic hamlets along the coast. Everyone on both islands, from the locals to the numerous expats, smile and Best Dive Sites act as if they’ve just awoken from a long nap – and they ¨ Namena Marine Reserve probably have. (p154) ¨ Great White Wall (p167) ¨ Nasonisoni Passage (p154) ¨ Rainbow Reef (p167) When to Go Savusavu ¨ Dreamhouse (p154) °C/°F Te mp Rainfall inches/mm 40/104 16/400 12/300 Best Places to 30/86 Stay 8/200 20/68 ¨ Namena Island Resort 4/100 (p162) 10/50 0 ¨ Maqai Resort (p178) J FDM A M J J A S O N ¨ Dolphin Bay Divers Retreat (p173) Apr–Dec Sailing Jul & Sep Usually Nov–Mar Rainy season, when the months with season; Taveuni is ¨ Salt Lake Lodge (p158) Savusavu Bay is the best dive the wettest Fijian ¨ Gecko Lodge (p157) thick with sail- visibility. island so expect boats from around daily showers (and ¨ Bibi’s Hideaway (p174) the world. insane greenery). 44151 Udu Point S O U T H Great Sea Reef P A C I F I C Druadrua O C E A N 4Kia 444Tutu 44444 #\ Mali Navukebuli #\Wainigadru Great Sea Reef 4444444#\Mala4u 4#\Se4se 444 #] Naduri#\ Tabia Labasa Napuka #\ #\ Nadogo Navidamu #\Yanuavou Channel #\ #\Seaqaqa Rabi Rabi Natewa 44Yaqag4a 44Batiri44Waisali444444 Bay #\ Rainforest RINGGOLD Nasarowanqa#\ Reserve #\Koronatoga ISLES VANUA LEVU Kioa Matei #÷ #\f# Vunilagi Natuvu #\ 444444#\ 4Korolevu4#\ #\44S4omosom4o 4 Bua Dawara #\ Valeni f###]8 f# #] 7 #\ #\ #\ Rainbow 3 #Qamea Cogea #\ Naweni # Navunievu Savusavu Reef #6 Tavoro Daria #\ 4 Wairiki # 5 Waterfalls #\ 66# 2 # 44444Nam4alata 444Cat4holic 444 Nabouwalu Wainunu Des Lavena #\ Bay Mission Voeux Coastal Walk Bligh Namena K O R O S E A TAVEUNI Peak 44Water 44N4amenalala4#1 Marine 4444 Reserve e# 0 40 km 44444460620 miles Ù#Ù# Vanua Levu & Taveuni Highlights VANUA LE 41Making4 bubbles4 around 44Getting4 goosebumps glorious pools of the Tavoro the pristine Namena Marine at the powerful Sunday Waterfalls (p177). Reserve (p154). services at Wairiki Catholic 7Lounging on white sands, (p171). V 2Exploring the lush beauty Mission snorkelling and surfing at TA & U of the Lavena Coastal Walk 5Finding the rare, delicate, Qamea (p178). (p176). red-and-white tagimaucia 8Having a waterside 3Diving the soft-coral flower high on the slopes of sunset cocktail with yachties V EUNI wonderland of the Rainbow Des Voeux Peak (p171). in Savusavu (p160). Reef (p167). 6Swimming in all three V anua com) – billed as Fiji Link for domestic services – VANUA LEVU runs regular flights to/from Labasa, Nadi, Suva POP 130,000 and Taveuni; for the brave (landings are notori- LE Though it’s Fiji’s second-largest island, Va- ously bumpy), there are also flights in and out of vu nua Levu (Big Island) is one of the tropics’ Savusavu. The smaller Northern Air (p231) flies to best-kept secrets. It’s another world from the Labasa and Savusavu from Suva. bustle of Viti Levu and the more-touristed The Labasa airport is about 11km southwest islands: many roads are little more than of Labasa. There’s a bus that passes the airport rutted dirt tracks, and Labasa, the island’s about every hour, but it doesn’t link up with flights largest ‘city’, is a one-street strip of shops. To and you’ll have to go out to the main road to flag it the south, Savusavu entices yachties, divers down. A taxi from Labasa costs about $15. and dreamers looking for a tropical idyll. The Savusavu’s airstrip is 3km south of town. rest of ‘Big Island’ is given over to sugarcane and copra plantations, hideaway villages, BOAT mountain passes streaming with water- To/from Suva falls, endless swaths of forest and an ever- The Lomaiviti Princess, run by Goundar Shipping changing coastline forgotten by the world. (%330 1035; www.goundarshipping.com; Kong’s Take it slow, keep a smile on your face and Shop, Main St, Savusavu), departs Suva every Monday and Friday at 6pm, arriving in Savusavu savour rural Fiji on its grandest scale. at 6am. Tickets for this route start at $55/25 for adults/kids, and go up to $400 for a 1st-class 8 Getting There & Away cabin. Goundar expects to put a second boat on the route in 2016: check the website for updates. AIR (%999 2536; www. Flying is the easiest way to get to Vanua Levu. Fiji Bligh Water Shipping blighwatershipping.com.fj) goes to Savusavu Airways (%330 4388, 672 0888; www.fijiairways..