 Places to Paddle tm
Canoeing - Kayaking - Rafting
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Kadava, Fiji, South Pacific Ocean
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Site Copyright 2002 Alfonso Vazquez-Cuervo
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Our Route Summary
- Submitted by: Douglas Montgomery
DMon707@aol.com
with
Photos by Matthew F. Hudson (Copyright:2000 A
Fool's Imagination.com) http://a-fools-imagination.com
- Date Submitted: 5/2002
- Location: Kadava, Fiji, South
Pacific Ocean. The high island of Kadavu is the
most southerly of the Fiji Island group. Locals
call it "New Zealand lai" (little New
Zealand). (Vunisea air strip)
- Class: 2
- Distance Paddled: 50 nautical
miles
- Water Level: not applicable
- Water: salt (ocean), tropical
- Wildlife: Turtles, sea snakes (
they often patrol the beach at high tide),
tropical fish.
- Special Regulations: Every beach
belongs to someone. It's your job to find the
owner and ask permission to camp. We bought fresh
yaqona root at the market in Lautoka and
gift-wrapped kilogram portions in newspaper and
string. The premium stuff-- from Vanuatu --is
less than $5 a kilogram. Fijian men are
universally delighted to receive a package of
this, from which they manufacture fresh kava.
Armed with this, your big problem is finding the
owner of the land to present it to and ask
permission to camp. The easy way for us was to
begin and end our trip at Reece's Place, a budget
resort on Galoa Island, just a couple of miles by
truck and boat from the airstrip. Bill Reece
showed us on our chart which owners welcomed
kayakers. Plus there are other budget resorts
around the south side of the island with easy
kayak access. The north side of the island,
sadly, has only expensive resorts, but there are
ample places to camp. Lonely Planet's guide has
locations and phone numbers for Reece's Place and
other resorts.
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Entry
- Directions: You can fly to
Vunisea air strip from Nadi or Suva, but if you
want a visiting boat permit (It's not clear
whether kayaks really need one-- we were never
asked to produce it) you have to go to Suva. If
you don't have a decent chart of Kadavu (U.S.
defense charts are too small-scale), Suva is the
place to go for that, as well. Virtually all
flights to Fiji from outside land in Nadi.
- Fee: Small planes fly to Vunisea
for a fare of about $100.00. Overweight charges
for folding kayaks are about $20 each. (Please
also see "Special Regulations" above
for fresh kava prices.)
- Description: We used the dock at
Reece's Place.
- Parking:
- Facilities:
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Exit
- Directions: To keep this paddle
a class 2, we landed at Vunisea on the north
side, grabbed a $5.00 transport across the island
(1/2 mile) and paddled a mile back to Galoa.
(Circumnavigating the island would make it Class
4 paddle because of the currents around Cape
Washington on the west end of the island. And
circumnavigation would add an additional 25 miles
to the trip.
- Fee: $5.00 transport across the
island
- Description:
- Parking:
- Facilities: none
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What We Saw
There were, in April, strong (15-20 knot) prevailing
winds from the east to east-by-southeast on Kadavu
(pronounced "Kandavu"), yet for some very good
reasons, the practical way to proceed is into the wind up
the windward side of the island. First of all, the
western end of the island is considered hazardous to
small craft because of tricky currents around Cape
Washington. The Great Astrolab Reef blocks swell on the
south side of the island and the trick is to use a calm
morning to paddle out to just inside the reef and follow
it east. This will keep you from getting bogged down in
heavy swell in SoSo Bay, and allow you to get to Waya
Island by the end of the first day (about 14 miles).
There is a reasonably-priced diving resort across from
Waya--Matava-- run by Australians. We camped on Waya
Island, owing to Bill Reece's connection with the
American owners, who are absentee. Bill's brother George
is caretaker.
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The next day of paddling will get you around to
Albert's Place (about 8 miles), another bargain diving
resort in a beautiful setting (photo at right). There
is a shortcut on the way through a mangrove swamp. Just
remember to turn right after you come out of the swamp--
Albert's Place faces Ono Island.
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When we continued on around to the west, we were
surprised by the size of the swell following-- there's a
big fetch from the Astrolab to the northeast coast of the
island. I wouldn't want to have had to paddle into it. If
you want to run this expedition with a minimum of wind,
go in September.
Don't worry about Fiji's politics! Everyone will be
delighted to see you. This place is virtually unspoiled
by tourism.
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