A Different Fiji Experience

The Reef Escape in the Mamanucas Photos: Courtesy Captain Cook Cruises

Cruising, travel professionals say, is the fastest growing sector of international tourism. By "cruising" they usually mean large-scale ocean cruising, experienced these days on vessels able to accommodate 2,000 or more passengers. But for folks who love to travel by sea and crave something different from the theme park spectacle of large cruise ships, delights await in Fiji's western islands, the exquisite Yasawas and Mamanucas.

Whatever the extravagant claims made on behalf of tourism in the Pacific Islands, the business aspect of it is not easy. The region has a way of ruthlessly culling operators who lack initiative or staying power. More credit, then, to the ones who make it against the odds. Like a few other successful Pacific enterprises, Aggie Grey's Hotel in Samoa and Fiji's Turtle Island among them, Blue Lagoon Cruises started from very little and became, in time, a Pacific tourism legend.

It developed its own promotional mythology, much of which centers on Blue Lagoon's founder, New Zealander Trevor Withers, who established the company in 1950 after an unsuccessful fling at tuna fishing with partner Harold Gatty.

Gatty went on to establish Fiji Airways, the forerunner to Fiji's national airline, Air Pacific. Withers considered taking visitors on cruises through the Yasawas, though tourists were thin on the ground at the time. Local chiefs met his proposal with promises of cooperation. Recalling his association with the first Blue Lagoon movie, shot partly on location in the Yasawas in 1948, Withers named his venture after it, and bought his first boat from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority.

Yasawa children mug for the camera. Photos: Courtesy Captain Cook Cruises

He had little luck until a do-or-die promotion in the U.S. in the early 1960s changed his fortunes and gave the one-ship company an international reputation. By the time Withers died in 1981, the company had changed hands twice, and Blue Lagoon vessels were being purpose-built. The company now has four vessels, of which the 72-passenger Mystique Princess is the flagship.

Blue Lagoon's success inspired the Australian company Captain Cook Cruises to want a share of the island cruise market in Fiji. Whether the market is really large enough to accommodate both operators year round is still debatable. In 1995, the year Captain Cook entered Fiji with its 120-passenger Reef Escape, tourism was expanding impressively, after earlier setbacks following the political coups of 1987. But the effects of the third coup in 2000 are still being felt.

Just as the name of Blue Lagoon's late founder, Trevor Withers, remains indelibly associated with that company, so most promotion for Captain Cook Cruises ensures that readers are aware of its founder, Captain Trevor Haworth, who is still living. A message from Captain Haworth introduces the company's Web site. The public stories of both men emphasize initiative and perseverance.

Fiji has a wealth of small, unvisited islands. Photo: Courtesy Captain Cook Cruises

Apart from the delights of gorgeous scenery and small, traditional villages, the joys of small ship cruising include the opportunity to talk to everyone-passengers and crew. If the crew on one of these vessels is more or less homogenous, the passengers are invariably an assorted international group; vigorous overseas promotion by both companies guarantees that. A typical cruise may include North Americans, Germans, British, Australians, New Zealanders and even the occasional Italian or Spaniard. Ken and Jill from Kiama in New South Wales were on a recent cruise. "We're having a great time," said Ken. "Last night I went fishing with some of the crew until 3 a.m." Jill looked bemused. "We're on our honeymoon," she added.

The Yasawa and Mamanuca chains contain 33 islands in all, but the majority of these are never visited, although many unvisited ones can be seen close by. Experience has shown that there are some islands and villages that have more appeal for visitors; because the beaches are better and easier of access or because they contain significant natural features, such as underwater caves, or even because some villages are deemed more hospitable than others. With the increasing number of locally-operated budget resorts in the Yasawas and elsewhere in Fiji, itineraries may become more variable. Local operators often feel that a visit from a cruise ship is a valuable way of drawing attention to their own enterprises.

Captain Cook's Reef Escape in the Yasawa Photos: Norman Douglas

Both cruise companies are important to the cash economy of these islands, providing the opportunity for the people to derive income from company payments to access beaches and visit villages, from performances of traditional Fijian entertainment and from the sale of shells and artifacts. Assistance in times of emergencies is also given freely.

So, while you're baking on one of the many superb beaches, snorkeling in some of the clearest water in the South Seas, or sitting out on deck with your Fiji Bitter and contemplating the remarkable profiles of these islands at sundown, you can consider the contribution your self-indulgence is making to the well-being of the Islanders. This will give you-if you really need it-added incentive to cruise here.