Author: richwest3

October 18, 2018

It’s that time again. The mass exodus from the tropics is on. Here’s what Marine Traffic looked like yesterday.

Those purple boats are pleasure craft leaving from the west side of Fiji, most bound for New Zealand.

In the mean time, we are happily nestled among the other super yachts at Denarau Marina.

We have no plans to leave yet. We never leave this early. There’s still a lot of Fiji cruising for us yet this season. We’ll start looking for an appropriate weather window sometime in November. Last year, we didn’t get to NZ until after Christmas. Yea, I know cyclone season starts soon. Wish us luck. -Rich

October 10, 2018

Here’s a picture Cyndi took the other day. I think it had to go on our blog, even out of context. -Rich

October 8, 2018

We’re currently experiencing a long period of wind alternating with rain here in Fiji. Frankly, I’ve never seen anything quite this during our time cruising in the tropics (which coincides with the dry season). But no matter—we’re been in a good spot and have made use of our newly-found free time to get back to doing blog posts. We’ve been writing about current stuff, but now I’m also picking up where I left off in the chronological posts.–Cyndi

September 2018

The first time here, we ducked into Pacific Harbour from Beqa Island to avoid some weather, and maybe buy some groceries. We found lots of conflicting information about the “marina” here. It was under construction. It was for local boats only. It was for superyachts. It had moorings. It didn’t have moorings. We didn’t know what to expect but we weren’t expecting much. We checked with them to see if they’d have room for us. They did. Off we went.

Wow, was this place WAY beyond expectations. It’s wonderful! We not only found a very nice little marina at a gracious and welcoming resort hotel, but there’s a tiny town an easy walk away with so many great eateries. The general area is surprisingly green and pretty. As we write this, we’re on our second visit.

One benefit of Pacific Harbour is that it’s in one of the coolest parts of Fiji. When it’s sweltering on the west side, it’s often cloudy, cool and comfortable here (as it is in Suva also).

Pacific Harbour has positioned itself as the “adventure capital of Fiji.” From here you can go on a shark dive at Beqa (which we did, post here), a white-water rafting trip (been there, done that, post here), or any number of other adventures.

About seven miles from here is Beqa Island which is a really terrific cruising destination and deserves to be more than the afterthought many cruisers give it, stopping only briefly on the way to the west side. A good part of that short, seven mile passage is protected from seas by surrounding reefs.

Here’s a Google map with what we’ve learned about Pacific Harbour including eateries, supplies and services. Details about the marina can be found below the map.

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The Marina Details:

We used their online form to check on availability. We got an immediate response from Frank.
Here’s their email address: activities@thepearlsouthpacific.com
And Fiji phone: 773 0022
And website: thepearlsouthpacific.com/marina/

It’s a little shallow coming through the channel. We saw 10 feet one time at near high tide but that was when the current swept us off course. (There can be a pretty strong current. Another reason to enter at high tide.)

Mac met us, showed us which berth to take, and took our lines.

There’s water and power at the dock. The water is included with the berth price and the electricity is a little extra. You can use the public restroom in the lobby of the resort, but there are no showers (except a wash-off shower pole by the beach). The berth price is about $25 US per day.

There’s no fuel at the marina but there’s a gas station with diesel a short taxi ride away (or a long walk for carrying fuel jugs). Gasoline can be purchased right across the street. Aqua-Trek is a very short dinghy ride up the river and they will fill scuba tanks.

 

September, 2018

We just want to take a moment to share one of our discoveries this cruising season: The Lawaki Beach House. In any given season in the tropics, one thing we always hope to find is what I’ll call “the special place.” There is at least one every season, and while the countries differ, these special places have several features in common:

–It starts with a small, casual resort set in bay that’s well protected from the prevailing winds. The kind of place that’s yachtie friendly, with a covered deck where we can go have a meal, a drink, a coffee, or just ask questions. Often, these places offer outings, dive trips, and other activities.

–Always, it’s in a beautiful setting, generally with palm trees backing a white sand beach and clear, calm water. Sometimes there’s no beach but a rocky shoreline, but the water is always clear in beautiful shades of blue and green.

–Generally there’s snorkeling nearby. It’s not a requirement but most resorts tend to be built near a reef. Often, there are places to walk or hike also.

–The magic element is a relaxed feeling. This is the key component that comes from a combination of the setting, the people who run the resort, the guests, and just the general air about the place.

When we find places like this, we like to stick around for a few days and take a breather. We usually get to know the owners and chat with the guests, snorkel the reef, do a dive outing, have some great meals (the food at these places is always terrific), and enjoy some afternoon swims. We have a few such special places in Fiji and this season have added another to our list: The Lawaki Beach House in Beqa (pronounced Benga). Below, a few photos; click to enlarge and scroll through them.

We’ve had a couple of enjoyable visits here this season, but the reason we feel compelled to write about this right now is that we’ve noticed so many cruisers don’t seem to know much about the island of Beqa, much less the Lawaki Beach House and its anchorage there. Southern Fiji (Kadavu, Beqa, Suva and Pacific Harbour) definitely gets the short shrift overall; so we’ll get to work on an information page section for this area for next season. Meanwhile, we’d recommend to anyone going to Beqa to put this spot on their list. It has all the elements listed above plus a marine sanctuary, and the snorkeling there is beautiful. They have one mooring, available free of charge, or if it’s taken you can anchor just south of it.

They don’t have their own dive shop per se, but they do have tanks you can rent, and you can hire a boat and driver (from the resort) who will take you to some terrific dive spots nearby (we did this and had some great diving). If you want to do the shark dive or one of the famous-name dive spots, they’ll provide transport to the dive resort about 2 miles up the coast, the Beqa Lagoon Resort.

Below, a map showing where this place is, plus some other places to know.

There are a couple of things to mention. First off, the anchorage is calm and lovely in the prevailing east to southeast trade winds. If the rare westerly or southwesterly wind is forecast, it’s best to move to Malumu Bay, a deep and well protected harbor on the east side of the island. It’s gorgeous and we consider it a must-see in any case. We also need to mention that they don’t have a liquor license and can’t sell alcohol, but you are welcome to bring your own to the resort (which ends up being quite a bit cheaper than buying alcohol at resort prices).

One final thing: they do care for and maintain their marine sanctuary and ask for a $12FD per person donation for the sanctuary if you wish to hang out there. This goes toward a payment made to the local village in exchange for not fishing there.

Awhile ago the owners, Sam and Christine, wrote a letter to the yachties explaining what the resort is about and urging people to stop by. You can download that letter below. –Cyndi

Lawaki Beach House Letter