Subscribe to paradisesonline.com
Please enter your details into the form to subscribe for access to all of our news and competitions.
Turtle Island Fiji
Home » Hotels & Resorts » Pacific Island » Fiji Islands » Mamanucas & Yasawas » Turtle Island Fiji
Details:
Romantic, intimate, and friendly almost beyond belief, Turtle Island Resort is a world entirely beyond time and obligations. For adventurous island wanderers looking for a private paradise, Turtle Island is it. The all-inclusive resort is for couples only except for two family times each year. Located in the Yasawa Island Group, the privately owned, 500-acre paradise is surrounded by rich coral reefs and white sand beaches. The unspoiled beauty made Turtle Island the idyllic spot for filming both Blue Lagoon movies.
There are only 14 bures—traditional, two-room, thatched cottages handcrafted by local Fijians—and you will be accommodated in one of these when you vist the island.
Upon arrival, each couple is assigned their own Bure Mama to pamper them throughout their stay. The Bure Mama will help arrange activities, keep the bure tidy, photograph special times and act as cultural advisor regarding Fiji’s ancient history
and lore.
As a special activity, couples may delight in a sumptuous picnic lunch of lobster and champagne on one of Turtle’s private beaches where worldly inhibitions are lost. Relax in a hammock for two or dip into turquoise waters in complete privacy.
Lantern-lit dinner parties are lively, as worldly problems seem to disappear while gathering with other guests. For a romantic evening, request a dinner on Turtle’s floating pontoon. Fresh fish and Australian beef and lamb accompany fruits and vegetables grown in the four-acre organic garden. Included with your meal are fine wines and champagnes from around the world.
All activities are included such as daily scuba diving, snorkelling, sea kayaking, mountain biking and horseback riding. Just outside the bure door awaits some of the most incredible underwater viewing in the world.
Sunset weddings are truly breathtaking on Turtle Island’s main beach. The groom awaits his bride while the choir sings. The bride is delivered on a “Billi Billi” boat decorated with fresh flowers and powered by strong Fijian men. The night ends with a glorious feast, wedding cake and champagne with all the island’s guests celebrating.
Eco friendly and sustainable in its daily practices and beliefs, a trip to Turtle Island gives one the impression that they have truly participated in the Fijian way of life while keeping the impact on the environment to a minimum. Turtle Island is truly a testament to its motto, “Once discovered, never forgotten.”
Location of Turtle Island Fiji
Guide to Mamanucas & Yasawas
There are 13 islands in all, not counting those covered by the Pacific at high tide and they all share in common pristine white sandy beaches, waving palms, crystal blue waters and, at night, the cooling influence of the trade winds. The Mamanucas (pronounced Mah-mahnoo-tha) are essentially volcanic outcrops pushed up from the ocean floor in a gigantic earthquake thousands of years ago. Some are especially significant in Fijian folklore.
From the air you can see that the Mamanucas group is two clusters known as Mamanuca-i-ra and Mamanuca-i-cake. Within the Mamanucas is the Malolo group, five kilometres inside the barrier reef, extending in a curve for 120 kilometres. A number of resort islands are scattered throughout the Malolo group, each offering bure accommodation, a relaxing holiday atmosphere and a range of water activities.There are boat excursions, fishing trips and watersports including waterskiing, windsurfing, snorkelling, diving, sailing, speedboat riding, and coral viewing. Malololailai is the centre for most tourism to and from the Mamanucas. It has safe anchorage, a cosmopolitan community and an airstrip serviced regularly from Nadi.
Other resort islands within the group include Bounty Island, Amunuca Island Resort, Yaqeta Island, Beachcomber Island, Castaway Island, Malolo Island, Mana Island, Musket Cove, Nanuya Balavu, Plantation Island, Tavarua Island, Namotu Island, Vomo Island, Lomani Island Resort, Treasure Island, Matamanoa Island Resort and Tokoriki, which is located the furthest from the mainland.
The Yasawa Islands have a different ambience. They are a chain of 16 volcanic islands and dozens of tiny islets stretching 80 kilometres in a north-northeast direction off the west coast of Viti Levu. They are special because of their beautiful, isolated beaches, cliffs, bays and reefs, unspoilt by much tourist development. Because they sit in the lee of Viti Levu, the Yasawas are dry and sunny with crystal clear waters. It was from the north end of the Yasawas that two canoe-loads of cannibals appeared in 1789 and gave Captain William Bligh and his 18 companions a chase, less than a week after the famous mutiny. Two centuries later, cruise ships ply the island chain and its waters, while more and more luxury resorts dot the islands’ foreshores.
The islands of the group include Waya Island, the highest in the Yasawas; Tavewa Island, a strikingly beautiful small island about two kilometres long; Turtle Island, which has the ultimate resort owned by Richard Evanson who bought the island in 1972; Yasawa Island; Sawai- Lau Island with its large limestone cave illuminated by a crevice at the top; Naviti Island which is the largest of the Yasawas; and Viwa, the most remote, squatting alone 25 kilometres northwest of Waya. The Outer Islands are Kadavu, 80 kilometres south of Suva, Ovalau with the former capital, Levuka and Vatulele Islands.
There is a wide range of accommodation to suit all tastes. Levuka has retained much of its late Victorian charm and is well worth a tour. Kedavu has a number of resorts specialising in scuba diving on its world renowned Astrolabe Reef.