Lavena
Coastal Walk - Bouma National Park - Taveuni, Fiji
Pictures and visitor information from the
Lavena Coastal Walk in Bouma National Heritage Park on Taveuni Island, Fiji.
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| One of the
highlights of our trip to Taveuni Island was going on the Lavena
Coastal Walk in Bouma National Heritage Park. We took a taxi from our honeymoon cottage at Bibi's Hideaway (plantation style accommodations) to Bouma located a little over an hour away. The total cost for the round trip ride was $70 FJD or about $35 USD. That price included the taxi driver waiting for several hours while we hiked. Before the beginning of the trail, there was a small building where we signed in and paid a park fee of $12 FJD ($6 USD) each. It takes about three to four hours to complete the entire journey, so be sure to bring plenty of water and food. |
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| The Lavena Coastal Walk visitors center opens at 9 AM and I recommend showing up early in order to have this peaceful and serene path all to yourselves. There is an area called Unuca Point about one hundred meters from the start of the walk that is great for swimming or sunbathing. But that is best saved for the return trip to cool off from the long hike. | ||
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| After about thirty minutes of walking, you'll reach the Fijian settlement named Naba (pronounced Namba) that is composed of immigrants from the Solomon Islands. They have crops of papaya an yaqona (kava), dalo, and cassava. | ||
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| On the way to Naba, you'll see a collection of reed pedestals which are rocks perched precariously atop a tiny pedestal. Volcanic lava flowing to the ocean eroded the rock and left the boulders sitting two to three feet above the water. | ||
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| About fifteen minutes later, you'll reach the Wainisairi River Suspension Bridge. It has a sign that says "Max Load 10 People" but it was quiet the morning we were there it was hard to imagine there ever being ten people on it at the same time. | ||
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| The last five to fifteen minutes of the trail, depending on how carefully you hike it, is composed of slippery rocks that lead along the Wainabau Stream to a pool. Leave your things at the edge of the pool and swim a few seconds to the two Wainibau Waterfalls. | ||
 River Mouth Draining |
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| A tour guide with his small group of fellow tourists caught up with us at this point. He helped us climb up the wall to the top of the waterfall on the left. Then everyone took a tour plunging down the rock water slide to the deep pool of water. He cautioned that we should swim to the right as soon as we hit the water to keep from being pushed towards the other waterfall and the rock wall. | ||
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| You can see pictures of the waterfalls at the end of the Lavena Coastal Walk on Page 3 of this gallery. I really wish I had brought the underwater case for my compact camera to be able to photograph the waterfalls and video the ride down the waterfall rock slide. | ||
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 South Pacific Ocean |
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 First Waterfall |
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 Reef Pedestals |
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