- Where
- South Pacific, 6.5 km east of Vanua Levu
across the Somosomo Strait - Coordinates
- 16.80° S
179.95° E - Area
- 434 km², 42 km long
(Wikipedia) - Highest point
- Uluigalau, 1,241 m
- People
- 13,774 (2017 census)
- Getting there
- Flight to Matei from Nadi or Suva
or ferry across the strait - Best visited
- May to October (the drier season)
Rain hung on the mountains all morning, and every gully on the climb ran with water. High in the dripping forest, clusters of flowers dangled from the vines, crimson tipped with white, like decorations left up after a party. Back on the coast at dusk a roadside sign claimed the day changed right there, and I planted one foot on each side, feeling enormously important.
The short answer
Taveuni is the third-largest island of Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu: 434 square kilometres, 42 kilometres long and 10 to 14 wide, 6.5 kilometres east of Vanua Levu across the Somosomo Strait, Wikipedia records. It belongs to Cakaudrove Province in Fiji’s Northern Division and had 13,774 people at the 2017 census, most on the sheltered western side; Waiyevo is the administrative centre, and the twin villages of Somosomo and Naqara the largest settlement. Somosomo is the seat of the Tui Cakau, one of Fiji’s highest-ranking chiefs. The island is often called Fiji’s Garden Island.
Why it's worth knowing
A volcano on the date line. Taveuni is the top of a dormant shield volcano that erupted from a rift on the ocean floor; about 150 cones dot it, including Uluigalau, at 1,241 metres Fiji’s second-highest peak. There have been at least 58 eruptions since people first settled the island, around 950–750 BC, the latest about 1550, Wikipedia records. The 180th meridian crosses the island, so its north-eastern part lies at 179 degrees west and its south-western part at 179 degrees east; a roadside sign marks the meridian, though the International Date Line itself bends east to keep all of Fiji on one day.
A flower found nowhere else. In the highland rainforest, above 600 metres, grows the tagimoucia, Medinilla waterhousei, a vine whose crimson and white flowers hang in clusters up to 30 centimetres long between October and December, Wikipedia records. It is endemic to Taveuni and is Fiji’s floral emblem, now on the country’s fifty-dollar note. It grows around Lake Tagimaucia, in a volcanic crater at about 800 metres, where mats of vegetation float on the water. The east side of the island catches the south-east trade winds and up to ten metres of rain a year.
The field notes
Waterfalls and reefs
The Bouma National Heritage Park on the east coast holds Taveuni’s best-known waterfalls, the Tavoro falls; at the south end, black rocks mark where the island’s last eruption reached the sea, and the Matamaiqi blowhole throws up spray. Across the Somosomo Strait, the Rainbow Reef is known for its soft corals, and humpback whales pass the island in July, Wikipedia records. The Ravilevu Nature Reserve and the Taveuni Forest Reserve protect much of the island’s forest.
A legend of tears
Taveuni tells that the tagimoucia’s flowers are the tears of a chief’s daughter, forbidden to marry the man she loved; the name is explained from tagi me uci ‘ea, “cry to be like her”, Wikipedia records, and the story is told in the folk song Tagimoucia ga.
A red shining-parrot feeding in a papaya tree on Taveuni, October 2024.
Photograph: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0
A male orange dove, a fruit dove of Fiji’s northern islands, on Taveuni, October 2024.
Photograph: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0
A humpback whale breaching off Taveuni, August 2016.
Photograph: Sho Hatakeyama · CC0
- Arrange a village guide for the crater lake and set off at first light. The walk takes the whole day and most of your boots.
- Start a waterfall list at breakfast on day one. By day three it was asking for an island to itself.
- The waterfalls are on village land. Pay at the village, dress modestly, and walk through quietly.
- Admire the crimson flowers where they hang, and leave each one on its vine.
- Snorkel the reef when the sea is flat, and touch nothing at all.
The meridian sign. A roadside sign on Taveuni marking the 180th meridian, which crosses the island; Wikipedia illustrates one reading “Between Yesterday And Today”. The International Date Line itself bends east so that all of Fiji keeps one date, so the sign marks the meridian rather than a change of day. It is seen from the road, and stood beside, one foot on each side.
Tally, in the marginI spent a happy while standing astride it, in two days at once. The calendar, it turns out, never shifted at all, and I admire the sign the more for keeping such a straight face.
Getting there
How to get there. Fly to Matei Airport, at the north end of Taveuni, with Fiji Link or Northern Air: about an hour and a quarter from Nadi or fifty minutes from Suva, Fiji Pocket Guide reports. Or travel overland to Buca Bay on Vanua Levu and take a ferry across the Somosomo Strait, about an hour and a half, or the slower overnight ferry from Suva via Savusavu. A road runs along the west and north coasts.
When to go. May to October, the drier months by the island’s rainfall record; from November to April the area is prone to tropical cyclones, Wikipedia records. The tagimoucia flowers from October to December. In 2026 Taveuni’s residents pressed the government over shipping and road services, and a minister said efforts were under way to restore shipping to the island, Fijian press reported; check the ferries before relying on them.
What to arrange ahead. Flights, which are small and few; a bed; and, for Lake Tagimaucia, a guide from Somosomo or Naqara, as the walk takes a whole day and the trail is overgrown and often very muddy, Lonely Planet and Fiji Pocket Guide report. Bouma’s falls are on village land, with an entry fee.
Safety. The State Department has Fiji at Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 2 December 2024 in its feed, read 5 October 2026). Its one Level 2 area is the Colo-i-Suva Forest Park, on Viti Levu, for crime on the trails, about 215 kilometres from Taveuni by the editor’s measurement. The hazards here are the place’s own: cyclones in season, heavy rain and floods, muddy mountain trails, and the reef. Taveuni’s hospital is at Waiyevo.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is Taveuni?
Taveuni is the third-largest island of Fiji, 434 square kilometres, lying 6.5 kilometres east of Vanua Levu across the Somosomo Strait. It belongs to Cakaudrove Province in Fiji’s Northern Division and had 13,774 people at the 2017 census.
Does the International Date Line cross Taveuni?
The 180th meridian crosses Taveuni, and a roadside sign marks it, but the International Date Line bends east of Fiji so that the whole country shares one day. Taveuni’s north-eastern part lies at 179 degrees west and its south-western part at 179 degrees east.
What is the tagimoucia flower?
The tagimoucia, Medinilla waterhousei, is a vine found wild only in Taveuni’s highland rainforest above 600 metres. Its crimson and white flowers hang in clusters up to 30 centimetres long from October to December; it is Fiji’s floral emblem and appears on the fifty-dollar note.
How do you get to Taveuni?
By air to Matei Airport with Fiji Link or Northern Air, about an hour and a quarter from Nadi or fifty minutes from Suva, or by ferry across the Somosomo Strait from Buca Bay on Vanua Levu, about an hour and a half. A slower overnight ferry runs from Suva via Savusavu.
Is Taveuni a volcano?
Yes. Taveuni is the top of a dormant shield volcano with about 150 cones; at least 58 eruptions have occurred since people settled it around 950–750 BC, the last about 1550, when lava reached the sea at the island’s south end.
Can you hike to Lake Tagimaucia?
Yes, with a guide arranged in Somosomo or Naqara. Lake Tagimaucia lies in a volcanic crater at about 800 metres on Taveuni; the walk takes a whole day and the trail is overgrown and often very muddy, according to Lonely Planet.
Why is Taveuni called the Garden Island?
Taveuni is known as Fiji’s Garden Island for its rainforest, waterfalls and fertile volcanic soil; its eastern side receives up to ten metres of rain a year, and much of its forest is protected in the Ravilevu Nature Reserve and the Taveuni Forest Reserve.
When is the best time to visit Taveuni?
May to October, the drier months, outside the tropical cyclone season of November to April. The tagimoucia flowers on Taveuni from October to December, and humpback whales pass the island in July.