Malolo Lailai (Little Malolo), also known as Plantation Island, is the second largest and most developed of the

Mamanuca Islands The Mamanuca Islands () of Fiji are a volcanic archipelago lying to the west of Nadi and to the south of the Yasawa Islands. The group, a popular tourist destination, consists of about 20 islands, but about seven of these are covered by the ...

, lying 20 kilometres west of

Nadi Nadi (pronounced ) is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

's main island

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian P ...

. Malolo Lailai is the centre of tourism in the Mamanuca Islands, and consists of four resorts, a number of residential houses, a marina and a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

. The island can be reached in 50 minutes from Port Denarau by the ''Malolo Cat'', a

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

, or by

Malolo Lailai Airport Malolo Lailai Airport is an airport on the Malolo Lailai island in the Fiji's Western Division. The airport is a short strip running the width of the island, and is mainly used for general aviation and transporting guests to resorts on the isla ...

, a 10-minute flight from

Nadi International Airport Nadi International Airport is the main international airport of Fiji as well as an important regional hub for the South Pacific islands, located by the coast on the western side of the main island Viti Levu. Owned and operated by Fiji Airports ...

. Separated by a small isthmus which can be walked at low tide, the larger island of Malolo Levu lies north-west of Malolo Lailai.

History

The

Nadroga Nadroga-Navosa ( Nadroga: Nadrogā-Navoha) is one of the fourteen provinces of Fiji and one of eight based in Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. It is about 2,385 square kilometers and occupies the South-West and Central areas of Viti Levu, Fiji' ...

chief

Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to re ...

Kini sold the uninhabited island in 1872 to John Thomson for cotton planting. Thomson died in 1876 and the island was sold to the American Louis Armstrong; he died bankrupt and the island fell to the Mortgage Agency of Australasia. In November 1891, they sold it James Borron who owned several plantations throughout Fiji and who leased Malolo Lailai to the Chinese family Wong Ket for 70 years to plant

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

palms and harvest

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

. In the early 1960s, the island was sold to Richard "Dick" Smith, Reginald Raffe and Sir Ian MacFarlane. They parted their ways in the early 1970s to develop their own part of the island. At about this time, the airstrip was built. In 1969, Reg Raffe opened Plantation Village Resort, now Plantation Island Resort, with six rooms. In 2004 his children opened a boutique adults only resort called Lomani Island Resort. Smith started to build Musket Cove and it opened on 3 October 1975 with twelve bures. The resort's restaurant is called Dick's Place in honour of Smith who died, aged 81, in July 2012 on the island. In 2000, MacFarlane sold his parcel of the island to the other two partners and those are now used for organic farming and the continuation of the coconut plantation for the supply of the resorts.

Tourism

The island is home to four resorts: Musket Cove Island Resort, Plantation Island Resort, Lomani Island Resort, and the

timeshare A timeshare (sometimes called vacation ownership) is a property with a divided form of ownership or use rights. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each owner ...

facility Malolo Lailai Lagoon Resort.Malolo Lailai Lagoon Resort
/ref> Restaurants on the island are provided at Musket Cove (2), Plantation Island (3) and Lomani; Musket Cove and Plantation Island provide a

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

, some tourist shops, excursions, water activities including diving, fishing, surfing trips to the reef, and others. The marina is operated by Musket Cove.

References

External links

Lomani Island ResortMusket Cove Island Resort
TourismFiji.com
Plantation Island Resort
{{authority control Islands of Fiji Mamanuca Islands