Of the many islands to choose in Fiji, we bypassed the typical tourist track and found ourselves snorkelling Leleuvia, Fiji.
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About Leleuvia Island in Fiji
Leleuvia Island is located east of Fiji’s main island Viti Levu. It’s a coral cay (a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef) that takes less than ten minutes to walk from one side to the other (from the bures to the jetty), 68,000 square metres in total. It lies within the Lomaiviti Islands group, which is not the usual tourist destination and makes for a more exciting experience.
You’ll need to stay at the island’s only accommodation, the Leleuvia Island Resort which takes about 30 guests at a time. It has a main reception, dining room, bar and restaurant. Their bures have no air conditioning, their toilets are flushed with saltwater and they have a desalination plant to make their own water. The dive centre is next to the jetty and snorkelling is just a step off the jetty or the beach and a beautiful drift over corals and the life it sustains.
The west side of Leleuvia island, approaching the jetty.
Getting there
To get to Leleuvia, and you’re based in Suva, you’ll need to take the local bus, which will take you a good couple of hours to get to Bau Landing, or a taxi (about $50 FJD) which takes about an hour or so depending on the traffic. Bau Landing is closer to the Suva-Nausori airport so you could go directly from the plane if you wanted to.
From Bau Landing, the resort’s power boat is waiting for you, add another 45-60 minutes to get to the island. The cost of the boat is around $90 FJD return.
On the boat, you’ll pass Bau island, the capital of the Kubuna Tripe and chiefly centre of Tailevu province. It’s a very small island but it has three villages: Bau, Lasakau and Soso. It also has Fiji’s oldest Christian church and a stone where they crushed the skulls of people who were cannabilised (if that interests you).
If you’re wearing a hat, you’ll need to take it off while you pass as a sign of respect.
Snorkelling Leleuvia in Fiji
On the west of the island, we entered the water at the jetty – it is reasonably shallow and very accessible (alternatively you can just step off the beach). Only a couple of metres from the beach it was a pleasant surprise to discover a wonderful little reef teeming with life.
The conditions
On the days we snorkelled we were privileged with beautiful sun and a very slight southerly wind. Water temperature was around 25°C.
The reef
The reef closest to the jetty has some artificial structures and coral implanted, because of the damage from cyclones and human pressure – tourism and fishing. As you swim northwards, the reef comes to life with soft and hard corals and the life it supports.
There is also a bommie west of the island. You’ll need a kayak to get there and tie it around your waste while you explore. We weren’t able to give it a try because the tide was in but we met other guests who had done it and said it was just as good snorkelling from the beach.
Fish and coral
For such a small place, it was a wonderful surprise to see so much underwater life so close to the island, and so close to the mainland. There is an incredible array of soft coral in one small intense spot. We saw cuttlefish, sea snakes, a vast array of tropical fish including different coloured clown fish hiding in their anemone’s, and even a beautiful reddish octopus happily perched in its little coral abode.
We found that to snorkel this wonderland, it was best to just sit very still on the surface and slowly drift with the current, allowing all the fish, small and large (that are spooked by your presence) to come back and continue with their feeding and exploring.
The soft and hard corals are accessible most of the day except at low tide when you can’t snorkel over the top. They are of many varied shapes and density and colours.
We’ve since heard that turtles have returned to Leleuvia to lay their eggs!
Other tidbits
Here’s a tip: in the morning, allow one to two hours of snorkelling time to see at least half the reef reasonably well. Hope out at the north end of the island, walk to the restaurant and have lunch. Then do it all again in the afternoon. It takes two to three sessions to get a good grasp of the quality and diversity of the reef system.
Would we return to Leleuvia?
Leleuvia was one of the first places we visited where we could walk off a beach and into a world that is being looked after, that’s so life-diverse. We highly recommend getting off the typical Fiji tourist trail and snorkelling Leleuvia Fiji.
Our recommendation
Our recommendation is based on a comparison with other sites we’ve visited, the abundance of corals and fish life as well as environmental factors such as damage to corals by tourists. It can be up to five snorkels.
We’re giving this snorkel a rating for it’s accessibility from the mainland, accessibility into the water and its diverse flora and fauna. We’d give this snorkel 4 out of 5!
Comments (1)
Leleuvia Island is one of my favourite places to stay. I can snorkel off the beach every day and I never see the same thing twice!