Fiji

A chain of sixteen volcanic islands in northwestern Fiji, the Yasawas are accessible only by seaplane or fast catamaran and remain the least developed of Fiji's major island groups — no traffic, no urban infrastructure, just white-sand beaches, snorkelling reefs, and a handful of small eco-resorts and private island retreats of extraordinary simplicity and beauty. The cave used as the filming location for the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon is on Nanuya Lailai island.

Surrounding the privately owned Namenalala Island, the Namena Marine Reserve is consistently rated one of the top ten dive sites in the world — a seamount system where the currents funnel thousands of fish up the underwater wall in a daily spectacle of extraordinary density. Grey reef sharks, hammerheads, dogtooth tuna, and manta rays are regular presences, and the reserve's restricted access keeps diver numbers minimal.

Known as the Garden Island of Fiji for its extraordinary fertility — Taveuni receives over 8 metres of rain annually and is consequently an explosion of tropical vegetation — Taveuni is home to the rare tagimoucia flower, which grows only in the crater lake at the island's centre and blooms each autumn. The Rainbow Reef offshore, with its Great White Wall dive of sea fans and soft corals, is one of the Pacific's finest dive sites.

The island group closest to Nadi International Airport and the heart of Fiji's luxury resort scene, the Mamanucas offer the classic Fijian experience of turquoise lagoons, white beaches, and warm hospitality in a compact, easily accessible form. The consistent trade winds have made these islands the centre of Fiji's world-class surfing scene, with the legendary Cloudbreak left-hand reef break nearby — one of the best big-wave surf spots in the world.

A protected area of rainforest, waterfalls, and coastline managed jointly by the Fijian government and local Bouma villages, the park is one of the finest examples in the Pacific of community-based ecotourism that genuinely benefits the local population. The Tavoro Waterfalls — three cascades descending through rainforest to swimming pools — are the most beautiful in Fiji and accessible by a trail that passes through working village land.

Over 100 islands scattered across the southern Fiji Sea, the Lau Group is the most remote and least-visited archipelago in Fiji — accessible only by private charter vessel and holding communities whose way of life has been shaped as much by Tonga, 200 kilometres to the east, as by the Fijian mainstream. The reefs here are almost entirely unexplored by recreational divers, and the kava ceremonies in the villages maintain traditions that have been lost in the more tourist-accessible islands.