Day 199 Denerau Island

By mid-morning, we were on our way to Denerau Island. Denerau is hardly an island being separated from the “mainland” of Viti Levu by the Nadi River, which is spanned by a short bridge. Fifteen years ago when the Fiji Cruising Guide was written, Denerau was mostly a mangrove swamp but was beginning to be developed as a destination resort base for upscale hotel complexes, timeshares and private homes mostly for vacationers from Australia and New Zealand. Today there are extensive facilities including a Hilton, Sheraton, Westin, Radison and others. The private homes are built on a canal such that each has a small dock attached. They look quite high class and very much like the kind of communities you might see in Florida.
The island is replete with a plethora of recreational options including a golf course ($US 100 per round), diving, snorkeling, skydiving, fishing, etc, etc. In other words, almost anything involving the ocean that you would find at the finest resorts anywhere. The only things missing – but now being built – are fancy shops, restaurants and nightclubs. There are some already completed but not to the extent one would find in US, Caribbean or European resorts.
Like the Society Islands of French Polynesia, Fiji in Melanesia has discovered tourism as an industry. Right now they cater mostly to an Australia/New Zealand audience because of airfare and the length of the trip but at some point they will discover the “package deal” and North America/ Europe marketing and the place will take off.
One additional draw to this area is the easy access to the “outer” islands of the Mananucas and Yasawas – both reputed to be very beautiful with white sand beaches and great diving and snorkeling. These are easily reached by daily ferries from Denerau and from watching the number of people who board these boats every day, it would seem they are also successful in drawing the tourists.
The only down side is the negative press about the politics of Fiji. The coup has chased away 20 to 25% of the tourists even though I have not found anyone who has seen any effect “on the ground”. Again, marketing – in this case negative – has had a strong effect on the tourist economy.