Waitabu Marine Park Blog

Waitabu Marine Park : This area of Taveuni has just been awarded the "International British Airways Eco-Tourism Award" of the year. You are picked up and driven up to the eastern side of the island where you will be welcomed into Waitabu village life with morning tea. This 5-hour journey includes a bamboo "bili-bili" raft trip, snorkeling, and am/pm tea in the village with kava ceremony, local island music and roundtrip transport. This trip is a great cultural experience combined with a day of adventure! Fiji Activities | Fiji Adventure Travel | Taveuni Palms Resort Fiji

Waitabu Marine Park This area of Taveuni has recently been awarded the “International British Airways Eco-Tourism Award” The Waitabu Villagers will welcome you, and are proud of this marine and cultural experience they have worked so hard to establish. The 5-hour visit is a marvellous cultural experience of Fijian village life. The visit includes round trip transport, morning and afternoon tea in the village, snorkelling in the marine reserve , kava ceremony, local island dance and song, and to top it all; a trip up the river on a bamboo “Bilibili” raft. This is a 20-minute ride by taxi from the resort. Taveuni Island Resort & Spa - Fiji

The east coast is wild and mostly inaccessible due to steep cliffs and much of the land is protected by Bouma National Heritage Park. Access to the park is from the north-east coast, with the main attraction being the Tavoro Falls (three lovely waterfalls between 10 minutes and an hour walk from the main road). The first waterfall is only a five minute flat stroll from the road and has excellent swimming and an indent behind the falls from which you can jump through the waterfall into the pool beneath. The second waterfall is a steep climb through tropical rainforest along a well maintained trail, taking about 20-minutes. This is the highest of the three falls at about 100 feet. The third fall requires wading through a river assisted by a rope and is another 30 minutes higher up the valley. Beyond, it is possible to follow the stream further into the rain forest and venture past a series of smaller falls. Also within the Bouma Park is Waitabu Marine Park , set alongside a picture...

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Visit the Waitabu Marine Park on Taveuni Island's rain forested Eastern Coast where the people of Waitabu Village offer visitors two tours. One tour takes you on an open outboard powered skiff for a 2-hour snorkelling excursion. The other tour takes you to snorkelling sites on a Bilibili or traditional Fijian bamboo raft. Visitors to the Park and weather and tide permitting and incur round-trip boat and car transfer charges; minimum 4 people FJD115 per person; minimum 6 people FJD75 per person. In addition, an entrance fee is payable at the Park Ranger's office. Matangi Private Island Resort

The authors conducted over 1,100 interviews with local residents from the four sites - each of which had been picked because of the perceived benefits of its conservation projects - to determine what impact the MPAs had had on their economic status and overall quality of life. The overwhelmingly positive response was best articulated by a Fijian community leader, who explained that, "The marine protected area is like a bank to the people. Opening more branches of the bank in developing countries can contribute to coastal poverty reduction." How Better Conservation Measures Can Help Reduce Poverty : TreeHugger

Posted January 19th, 2008 by oceanic in Expeditions Date: 08/26/2008 Snorkeling The Fijian Archipelago encompasses one of the most extensive coral reef systems in the world. , The waters host an extraordinary variety of marinelife, including over 1,200 varieties of fish and countless invertebrates. This program offers snorkeling Fiji's spectacularly colorful coral communities, and includes an introduction to island ecology and Fijian village life. Our snorkeling expedition begins on the island of Taveuni. Shrouded in tropical forests and rich volcanic soils, Taveuni is known as “the Garden Island” of Fiji. Our island resort offers views over the Somosomo Strait which contains extensive coral reefs including the 32-kilometer "Rainbow Reef". We enjoy daily snorkel excursions by private boat in the company of our experienced marine naturalist. Most snorkel sites are within 15 minutes of the resort. Korolevu Island is just 5 minutes by boat from the re...

M. Gitlin Last week it was a plan to save the world . This week, Google is helping to make people realize why the world needs saving. In the past, we've touched on how Google is using its Google Earth platform to help scientists, whether it be better visualizing their data or better explaining what that data mean to the general public. At the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Conference , taking place in Barcelona, Spain, it was announced that the IUCN is making use of Google Earth Outreach to launch a new layer to Google Earth that pinpoints the locations of all the protected marine areas on the planet. You can check out the layer online at Protect Planet Ocean , but unfortunately the plugin only works on Windows. It's a neat tool, although the climate change layers I wrote about recently have more bells and whistles. That said, I applaud the move, and despite the Windows-only nature of the API at the moment, I'm sure that more a...

Fiji Protected Marine Areas on the Web July 1, 2008 17:39 by derek.sampson The Coral Reef Alliance has worked very hard with many governments, including the Fijian, to enhance and support coral reef rehabilitation. Their efforts have led to the designation of many marine protected areas. They have worked on many projects to revitalize these protected areas, and bring a higher level of awareness to local and national governments about the importance or coral reef conservation. Their latest project has put two of Fiji’s marine protected areas on the web. Read on to find out more about the locations and the new websites. MAQO. org

“A REAL slice of Paradise!” Waitabu Marine Park and Campground cleanbeachlover Bedfordshire Oct 12, 2008 1/1 found this review helpful The people of Waitabu really make this experience perfect - true Fijian hospitality at its best. The facilities include showers, flushing toilets and a kitchen, or you can choose to have delicious home cooked local foods. These, coupled with the campground being situated right on the beautiful sandy beach make for a wonderful holiday . The tour of the Marine Park is fabulous, and other adventures, such as rain forest hike and stunning waterfalls are just a short walk away. We had so much fun there and were made to feel so welcome, will definitely be going back! Highly recommended Taveuni Island: Waitabu Marine Park and Campground - Traveler Reviews - A REAL slice of Paradise! - TripAdvisor

“Super séjour !” Waitabu Marine Park and Campground KaivitiTristan Paris, France Oct 12, 2008 1/1 found this review helpful I-d-é-a-l : Le séjour au petit village de Waitabu a été merveilleux. La localisation est parfaite pour profiter dans la même journée d'un peu de découverte d'un parc marin, d'une visite de chutes d'eau magnifiques (Tavoro falls) et d'un petit trajet en bus qui vaut le détour. L'ambiance est très paisible sans que l'on se sente seul, car les gens du village sont adorables et très serviables quand cela s'avère nécessaire. Laissez-vous tenter comme nous par ce petit coin de Paradis loin des gros hôtels où toute la petite famille peut s'y retrouver. Sans hésitation, un passage obligé pour les amoureux des îles paradisiaques et des coins sauvages. Ames d'aventuriers vous ne serez pas non plus déçues ! This TripAdvisor Member: Liked — Le cadre Disliked — Un peu de route avant d'arriver, mais ça vaut le coup This...

Waitabu Marine Park and Campground StuartinFiji, Fiji Islands Oct 7, 2008 The beach in front of campground (literally 10yds away) The tents supplied by Waitabu The campgorund on the beach Waitabu Marine Park has just added a new feature of camping in the village. This is great and they have their own tents and sleeping inflatable mattresses. The campground is directly ON the beach and you go to sleep with the sound of the waves in your ears. Prices are: $10 per person if you take your own tent $15 per person if you use a Waitabu tent Food: There is a kitchen and eating area which you are free to use to cook your own food, or the village ladies will cook for $10 a plate per meal. An absolutely great experience to camp on the beach and interact with the village, but still have your own place to stay in a tent. New toilets and showers have been built specifically for the use of the campground and they were clean and kept locked when no guests are ...

7th October - Today at the 4th World Conservation Congress IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas launched a plan to help protect planet ocean using Marine Protected Areas (MPAs ). It is well recognised that despite our best efforts more needs to be done to protect our oceans. Nations of the world have already committed to this task, but so far less than 1% of our seas have been set aside for wildlife, and of that a much smaller amount is adequately managed. Much more needs to be done using MPAs to rise to the challenge of protecting wildlife, combating climate change and sustaining livelihoods and human health. The MPA Plan of Action took two years to develop through an unprecedented global collaboration between leading ocean experts, with funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation . The Plan sets out the key actions that the World Commission will take in the coming years to support a significant increase in protection for our seas and to complement the work alre...

Ok.. So no more leaving anyone hanging here.. I have been stationed on the Island of Taveuini in Fiji... It is Considered the Garden island of Fiji and the Most beautiful... Here we have it all.. White sand beaches.. Some of the best Diving anywhere in the world... And we also have the World famous waterfalls you see in the postcards and Tv and some of the most remote old growth Virgin Rainforest in all of Fiji. I will be staying in the village of Waitabu(WHY-TOM-BOO). It is on the Eastern side of Taveuini and is considered to be the most beautiful side as well... My main Project here will be working with the Local Takina(Collection of villages) in Bouma to help develope their World Famous , BOUMA NATIONAL HERITAGE PARK. My village runs the Waitabu Marine Park portion of the Park so i will working heavilly on this aspect of the park.. I have a fellow Volunteer who will be stationed about 10km away from me(2 hour walk, 1 hour kayak ride). we will be working together to come up with a ma...

The Waitabu Marine Park was established in 1998 in an agreement of over 7 Fijian communities not to fish or anchor in the 1 km of selected fringing reef. Aside from the small tourism business this MPA has provided a first hand example of the power of conservation, generating larger fish catches and increased bio diversity in the surrounding waters. The Waitabu Marine Park offers 2 guided tours. the "Cultural Experience Tour" with a "Bilibili" ride (traditional raft), a guided snorkelling tour with tea and refreshments while being serenaded by local musicians they also offer a "Backpackers Tour" with a guided boat trip and guided snorkelling trips. marine ecology consulting provides marine biological support for Waitabu MPA as part of its charitable community support. MPA