I could hardly believe my luck as I boarded a 2x350 horsepower aluminium speedboat, laid on to deliver me across the choppy water to Laucala, this superlative island resort. I skipped happily from Taveuni the delightful island that’s bang on the date line and is only one of two bits of land across the world, it appears (were the line to have been kept straight); the other being somewhere in Siberia. It has fabulous waterfalls and is known as the ‘Garden of Fiji’.
For the enormity of the distance involved and the sheer height of the exoticism promised, the South Pacific is truly a sensational confection of natural beauty, infinite luxury and cultural vitality.
Fiji requires an eight-hour long-haul flight from Los Angeles down either to Nadi with Air New Zealand which offers very comfortable and reasonable flights.
There, at the efficiently built dock to meet me, alongside the standard wonderful singing that greet all guests in Fiji, stood the stout, patrician, General Manager, Andrew Thomson, who was to dedicate much of his time to showing me around the island. “Doctor Livingstone!”, I jokingly called out and we were to play up other duels and duets, acting out with our golf buggy drive Thatcher and Reagan and then James Bond in the lair of Dr. No as we met at the panoramic Seagrass bar for lunch.
Laucala (pronounced Lauthala) has an extraordinary mystique not just amongst the truly well-heeled jetsetter clientele, but to the normal Fijian. They all see it as something special, unique actually. Malcolm Forbes bought it originally as a hideaway for his private interests, but on his death, it was sold in 2002 to Dietrich Mateschitz. C.E.O. of Red Bull drink company and launched in 2011 as a private island resort.
He was keen to push for an even more sublime island of paradise. Improvements underway include the cobblestone roads made specifically from the best stone in Vietnam and along which everyone travels in their electric golfing buggy, a style seemingly American but highly practical.
He has included the ‘Deep Flight Super Falcon’, a submersible, for those who love to see fish and coral but don’t scuba dive. It’s the first resort in the world to offer the experience. This is the most advanced of underwater craft, I discovered, and it was available at $2,000 per hour.
With a length of 21 feet and a wingspan of 9 feet this Hawkes Ocean Technologies’ two–person winged submersible reaches some extraordinary depths of upto 120 metres. It has the capacity to fly through the ocean at six knot. So it’s only forty minutes away from the legendary dive site, the Great White Wall, which is a dazzling vertical wall enshrouded in soft white coral.
As a guest I got to see these 360 degree views of fish busying themselves, and circling sharks, while sitting ij comfort in the craft. The shallow lagoons are home to colourful reefs that themselves play home to schools of tropical fish, such as coral trout, angelfish, lionfish, and even octopus. The submersible has LED lights and low electromagnetic fields, and so it keeps sea animals and the environment in rude health.
Also there’s the addition of a wonderful 100 year-old fishing boat, having taken two months of sailing to arrive from Croatia. “Malaika” is made of wood and was built by a shipyard on the island of Krk and is of the boat type Bracera . She has one deck, an engine type manufactured by Caterpilar and engine power of 138 kW. She carries upto eleven passengers and she gets used for sunset cruises, fishing, and even day excursions for snorkelling and beach picnics.
Set upon a private island of 3,200 exclusive acres in the Fijian Pacific archipelago, Laucala Island brings a new meaning to the term “all-inclusive resort.” It is undoubtedly beyond five-star, it is set among coconut plantations, sandy beaches, turquoise lagoons and rich green mountains.
The resort consists of 26 villas and sleeps 60 maximum, attended to by 300+ staff. They lend a vibe of complete belief in the resort enjoying, as they do, the abundance of the “fruits of the land”. They all exude their magnificent dignity, reverence and grace. It is only by waking up at dawn from your private villa and jump in the sea to see the hard work that goes on behind the scenes as combing staff discretely weed the night’s flotsam.
The harmony of staff and guests is palpable … all blest by nature’s providence. The philosophy is one of community. I got chatting to two waitresses. While Hamlet and Julius Caesar was on their school curriculum there are no art books to show Paul Gauguin’s work, a much more vital and fitting connection between European and Oceanic values. They were stunned as they recognized many of the themes Google Images offered of his paintings.
The classiness of what’s on offer at Laucala is everywhere to be seen. The Island's farm and hydroponic gardens make it uniquely 85% self-sufficient, with such rarities as its own soap, papaya jam and green tea ice cream. I was spoilt with an evening and breakfast degustation. The food is truly stunning with the freshest of ingredients and top international cuisine.
Andrew goes the extra mile in personalizing poems for the pillow. Menus are without pricing, though additional to the stated rate are extras such as Krug, premier Cru Wine, boating beyond a certain reef and long distance calls. Deliveries from Harrods take four days. There are five specific hang out spots: the colonial Plantation House, Beach Bar, Pool Bar (where guests tend to congregate), Rock Bar and Seagrass Bar. Guests can even have ‘in-villa barbecues’.
I had the place to myself alongside a myriad of little creatures. Snorkelling is the best way to enjoy them especially in and amongst these renown soft coral spots. I had a hat and some water and of course underestimated the distance and the heat. Nothing that a drop of iodine and tea tree oil couldn’t restore.
The clientele comprise of a small Australian crowd though many Americans and Europeans come via LA. Often they come with a specific purpose, be it golf (the 12th hole has a beach with the sea behind the flag), diving, great jungle hikes, horse-riding and every water pursuit imaginable. Some hire the whole island as Arnold Schwarznegger allegedly did recently. Mel Gibson was photographed next door on the island of Qamea getting friendly with the chief. Laucala does get honeymooners but inevitably they are tired from their event and are not that adventurous. Unsurprisingly there is a healthy return rate.
I shall at least dream forever of returning, as I left to the Fijian’s “Isa Lei”, their famous departure song:
Isa Isa vulagi lasa dina
Nomu lako au na rarawa kina
Isa, Isa you are my only treasure
Must you leave me, so lonely and forsaken?
Adam Jacot de Boinod
