Castaway Island, Fiji
A 174-acre private island resort in Fiji's Mamanuca group, with 65 free-standing thatched-roof bures set among tropical gardens and along the water's edge. Run by Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, with complimentary kayaks, paddleboards and snorkelling gear, and a sculptural coral gene bank restoring the reefs offshore.
The Mamanuca Islands sit a short boat ride west of Fiji’s main island, and Castaway has the distinction of being the first resort to open among them. Its origins are humbler still: in the 1960s an Australian named Dick Smith ferried day-trippers out to the island (properly Qalito) aboard a WWII torpedo boat.
The resort now spans the island’s full 174 acres of tropical vegetation, ringed by white-sand beach and fringing coral reef. Sixty-five free-standing bures are scattered among the gardens and along the shoreline, their thatched roofs Fijian in style, their vaulted ceilings lined with hand-painted tapa cloth, each panel a one-off. The three room categories differ only in where they stand: beachfront, second-row ocean view, or tucked into the gardens.
Kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and snorkelling gear are free to take out, which suits the slow, barefoot register of the place.
Castaway has also turned its reef into a working project. In partnership with the non-profit Counting Coral, the resort has installed a sculptural coral gene bank offshore (part art, part marine science) to help regenerate the reefs that surround the island.
