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 (, ) is the second-largest city in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 59,707 at the most recent census, in 2017. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Asians, India ...

Fiji Fiji, 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 of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

's main island

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ; ) is the largest island in Fiji. It is the site of the country's capital and largest city, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a plate tectonics, tectonically complex area betwe ...

. 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 teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

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

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

, or by Malolo Lailai Airport, 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 Ba Province in the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division of the main island V ...

. 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 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 r ...

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 to 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 (biology), 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, ...

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 ...

. 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

bure Bure may refer to: Places Belgium * Bure, Wallonia, Belgium, a small village in the Tellin municipality * Battle of Bure, a World War II battle during the Battle of the Bulge Eritrea and Ethiopia * Bure (disputed zone), on the border between Eri ...

s. 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 a vacation ownership or vacation club) is a Real property, property with a divided form of ownership or use rights. These properties are typically resort Condominium (living space), condominium units, in which mul ...

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, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

, 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