DENARAU ISLAND

Chatting with a young Fijian about the history of this island, with cocktail in hand- resulted in my delving briefly into its history.

Denarau Island is man-made, created from reclaimed mangrove swamps. The development of Denarau Island started in 1969, when American developer Dennis McElrath purchased the land. The first hotel, the Regent of Fiji (now the Westin Denarau) opened in 1975. Between 1988 and 1991, Japanese property developer EIE International, purchased all of Denarau and started on a $200 million development project, bulldozing 850 acres of mangrove forest and building an 18-hole golf course, a marina , and more hotels. After EIE went bankrupt in 1995, the resort was purchased by a consortium of Tabua Investments of New Zealand, ITT Sheraton and Air Pacific.

Even though the hustle and bustle of everyday Fijian life is only six kilometres away in Nadi town, Denarau Island is a shiny, upmarket, touristic, world class haven.