Locally Owned and Operated

0800 position 17-06S 177-15E. At anchor in Natuvalo Bay, Naviti Island, Fiji

The Somosomo Bay anchorage was very rocky rolly due to a small swell from the north. It was so bad that we put out the "flopper stopper", a large plate that we hang in the water from the end of the boom to reduce the rolling of the boat at anchor. The rolling was still annoying though, so shortly after breakfast we pulled the hook and headed for a more protected anchorage three miles to the south.

We found one other boat moored as we turned the corner into Natuvalo Bay, but the forty foot Beneteau was kind enough to depart just as we arrived in the anchorage. This spot was much better protected from the north swell and it was glassy calm.

After we got Van Diemen secured Rob, Eric, and I dinghied ashore to check out the two resorts sitting behind the long white sand beach. The first, "The White Sandy Beach Resort" (how creative) looked like it catered to backpackers. We spoke to a Kiwi couple staying there and they said they booked it as a part of a package trip to Fiji. Meals on a set menu were included, so they didn't think there was a restaurant where visiting yachties could get a meal. We wandered down to the next resort, "The Korovou Eco-Tour Resort", which was more upscale. Here we found a restaurant that would serve us lunch.

We sat down at a waterfront table and the owner's brother Inya joined us. He told us that his brother Sairo had obtained permission from his large Fijian family, which jointly owned the land, to use the property for a resort. In return Sairo agreed to "take care" of the family. Sairo started with just a couple of bures (bungalows) and slowly built the resort into a very nice facility with accommodations for about fifty guests, a restaurant, and pool. The whole resort was very nicely done. We were pleased to see that the locals could build, own, and operate a resort here as well as anybody else and keep the profits in the country. I could see myself bringing Lori back to a place like this.

After lunch Eric homed in on a couple of single gals from Italy and the Czech Republic and talked them up in the pool. As Rob and I wandered down the beach a power catamaran ferry, the only form of transportation between the scattered Yasawa settlements and civilization, arrived to pick up and drop off guests from the two resorts. The staffs gathered and sang songs of greeting to the arriving guests. Pretty cool.

Eric expressed an interest in going ashore today to romance the Italian gal so I'm not sure when we will be departing for our next hop south.

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