ONLINE JOURNALISM
INTERVIEWS
Howard Rheingold
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Castaway Island
At Lautoka, on the northwest coast of the main island, we boarded a ferry for the two-hour ride across Nadi Bay to the Mamanucas, a group of small coral keys with names like Beachcomber, Honeymoon and Treasure Island.
Back in 1789, a bit east of here, Capt. William Bligh and 18 of his men were put into a longboat after that little incident on the Bounty. In a nearby stretch of sea now called Bligh Water, cannibals in two Fijian war canoes took off after Bligh. But a storm came up and interrupted the dinner party, allowing Bligh and his men to escape.
These days, the water sports are of a different variety. Windsurfing, waterskiing, paddleboats, kayaks, parasailing, jet skiing, seaplane rides — you name it, the Mamanucas got it.
Castaway is a small island, with a cluster of one-story buildings set on a dramatic rocky point, plus 66 guest bures done up in native wood accents, rattan furnishings and ceilings lined with tapa cloth. The front doors of some cottages are literally a dozen steps to the rolling surf.
The main attraction at Castaway is the beach: two long, empty stretches of silky sand that fan out from the island's midpoint. No rows of bodies baking in coconut suntan lotion. Here, it's 10 people to a beach, not 10,000.
We quickly settled into a pattern: Up at 7, stroll over to the buffet breakfast, read a trashy novel on the beach, snorkel in the lagoon, have lunch, hunt for lavender- and rose-colored seashells along the shore (it's a 90-minute hike around the island's perimeter), play volleyball, hit the bar for an icy Fiji Bitter beer at sunset, shower, have dinner, play some silly games with the other guests — limbo dancing, crab races — and, finally, sack out.
We could get used to this.
A lot of guests here go island-hopping, and Joyce and I idled away a day exploring four of the nearby islands in a chartered speedboat, skimming over the cobalt blue waters, taking in the pure South Pacific air, watching a half-dozen dolphins come up and play tag alongside our boat.
Late one afternoon we signed up to go fishing with Capt. Jone Salagi and four other passengers on a small outboard. Now, usually on a fishing trip, the only thing I catch is sunburn. Not this time. I took in a 12-inch mackerel, two snappers and a rock cod. Joyce caught a fifteen-pound perch called a sweet lips.
Soon, the tangerine sunset melted into dusk, and as the moonless night deepened, the sky flamed up with unfamiliar constellations. The fish stopped biting, but by then we were too busy watching falling stars and the four bright stars of the Southern Cross.
Fiji: An introduction
The big island
Castaway Island
Cruising the Blue Lagoon
Fiji resources
Fiji photo gallery
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