The Lau Group is the eastern most island group in Fiji, and it’s the least touched by outside influences, so people still lead more or less traditional lifestyles. The island chain lies roughly north to south, and the geography is highly varied from low lying atolls to high volcanic islands. There is little to no tourism in that only two of the many islands even have airstrips or any sort of accommodations. Until only recently, access to these islands even by cruising boats was difficult in that you had to get a special cruising permit, which included a fee above and beyond all of the fees you pay simply to clear into the country. Today, access is open, and the Lau group is included on the standard cruising permit that every vessel applies for and gets when they arrive. However, that only addresses political access, there’s still the issue of weather.
There is no port of entry in the Lau Group, and all of the ports of entry, like Suva and Savusavu, lie upwind of the standard trade winds that blow during the cruising season. So, many yachts, especially those with limited time in Fiji, end up skipping Lau because they don’t have the time or patience to wait for a weather window and/or they don’t have the fortitude to bash upwind to get there. The two island gems of the group, based on what we had previously heard, are Vanuabalavu in the north and Fulaga in the south. We had originally planned to start at Vanuabalavu and hop down as weather windows pop up, but then we decided to make one long hop all the way down to Fulaga and work our way up. This didn’t quite pan out either, since once we arrived in Fulaga we didn’t want to leave, so instead of heading north we headed west, and we never did make it to Vanuabalavu. I guess there’s always next time.
Gresham Family Exodus 