Wakaya’s low, dry hills and long white beach are a contrast to lush and mountainous eastern Fiji but would be right at home in western Fiji. There’s a very exclusive resort here; so going ashore is definitely not allowed. The resort is covered by palm trees, and the area is nice looking except for a really hideous house on the headland in the bay, proving that while money can’t buy taste, it can buy off architects.
Update 2018: It seems the resort has managed to get Homestead Bay, the anchorage here, deemed a protected marine area. (How they did this for a mostly sand bottom with only scattered small coral areas we don’t know, but we suspect bribe money changed hands.) Not aware of the new developments, we anchored here and were promptly visited by a resort employee who told us it’s illegal to anchor anywhere in the lagoon. The only option is to use the large can mooring we’d noticed as we came towards the bay. It’s out away from the island and fairly exposed to the elements. Furthermore, if the wind dropped, a sailing yacht would likely end up banging against the can. With this, we decided to leave, but what a load of baloney this whole thing is. The resort has never been yachtie friendly, and now they’ve taken away one of our anchorages. We intend to protest this however we can.
There are dive sites here, including a manta area, but it seems the only way to see them now is to get on a dive boat out of Levuka (and I’m not sure there is such a thing) or a liveaboard cruise out of Suva. Otherwise, if you have a good dinghy, your own equipment, and knowledge as to where the sites are, and you happen to find the mooring can free, you may be able to do it yourself.
