Laucala Island, east of far-flung Taveuni in Fiji, opened in 2008 for just 50 discerning guests who don't mind shelling out upwards of 3800USD per night for a beachfront Plantation Residence. Set amidst a working coconut plantation, at this level of opulence, privacy, exclusivity and exquisite service is de riguer.  With astounding attention to detail, assisted by a guest to staff ratio hovering around 7:1, Laucala Island has perfected the art of fine hospitality infused with an element of Fijian warmth.

Fiona Harper is one of few journalists invited to visit Laucala Island. Contact Fiona Harper to commission your exclusively crafted feature or puchase the article for immediate download.

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“This is my island,” Jope said with a grin as he pushed our wooden runabout through the dreamy, aquamarine colored water. Standing upright, he threw his arms wide and welcomed us to Naviavia, the island owned by his late grandmother and now in the hands of the family’s eldest son. “But today,” he added proudly, “it is your island”. Naviavia in English translates to ‘Want to be’, and from initial impressions, is appropriately named. 

After a spectacular flight over islands of mottled emerald, surrounded by coral reefs, the sea-plane glides to a halt onto a remote Fijian beach.  Richard Evanson introduces himself as we step onto the pristine sand.  So do his staff, bearing cocktails served inside fresh-cut milk coconuts.  

Fiji’s exclusive Turtle Island hideaway came into being through one man’s journey of self-discovery. At any one time, just 16 couples live and play on Nanuya Levu,  the island whose development became the personal mission of Richard Evanson.

For more than three decades, Evanson has single-mindedly crystallised everyone’s fantasies of a private paradise, painstakingly developing a retreat which is luxurious yet quite without the artifice of conventional resorts.   

The seaplane transports Turtle Island’s guests from ‘reality’ to ‘paradise’.  The concept is simple but effective - as soon as you’re aloft, you’re in paradise, removed from money and telephones.  Almost every conceivable indulgence is included within your package.

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You can wade for hours in tidal pools, searching for sea-slugs and starfish;  you can set the adrenalin racing astride a mountain bike in the rutted highland roads behind Nadi or just make friends with an endangered  crested iguana.

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“Bula!” the locals say with a smile as you pass on the street or at your resort. Friendly Fijians smile easily. In fact they seem to smile all the time, and indeed with such an abundance of sunshine, lush sweet fruit that seems to grow as you watch it, and surf or sparkling lagoon waters close by almost anywhere you go, it would be hard not to be happy on these islands.

In fact Fiji is the ideal place for a holiday. It's an active place with every water sport imaginable, but it's also a laid-back place. No one hurries here. The women who clean your beachside villa wear flowers in their hair and hum as they work. And in the villages in the evening, you may even get to try kava, the ultimate chill-out brew.

(Finishes)

Back home, my friends can’t help but notice the newly acquired tan and my smile. “What’s up?” they ask, then, with a sly grin, “A holiday romance?”

”No …… well, yes,” I reply, “I did fall in love – with Fiji. It's Bula!”