I Made it Back to Fiji and onto iKsurf’s Cover
But it’s a Love/Hate Relationship with Uncrowded Cloudbreak
Namotu Island, Fiji has been a second home for me since the early 2000s but in the last couple of years I’ve been fortunate enough to become its General Manager. Obviously COVID-19 has thrown a very large spanner in the operation, and that’s meant I’ve been working from home a lot more and even postponing our beloved Kite Weeks.
After spending almost 12 months back in Australia in 2020, I finally returned to Fiji in February this year (2021). Just being back here with our Fijian family as well as surfing, kiting, foiling and fishing my favourite spots has been amazing and I won’t ever take it for granted again.
I scored some incredible sessions in the water both with and without the kite and ended up with my first magazine cover in a while, on iKsurf Mag.
Photography by Creative7. Riding Slingshot’s epic wave kite, the SST, Ride Engine harness & board by Slingshot. Uncrowded waves come at a price
The sequence was shot on a silky-smooth day in early April at Cloudbreak. We’ve had a few great swells over the last few months and of course there are only locals and the occasional yachties in the water. But these uncrowded waves are bittersweet; it’s nice to have the breaks to ourselves but that comes at a huge price. You don’t have to be GM of a resort to know that border restrictions and the tourism drought is making life quite tough here in Fiji.
Over 40% of Fiji’s GDP is based on tourism and many Fijians work in the service industry that caters almost exclusively to the international market. To have that fall to zero overnight has been a tragedy for the Pacific. Fortunately, up till now, there have been almost no community cases of COVID-19 due to Fiji’s strict quarantine and border measures. Again, it’s a love/hate thing.
Surf in the morning. Kite in the afternoon.
One thing I love eternally about kiting in Fiji is you’ll get those classic glassy mornings with world class waves. Then in the afternoon when the SE Trade Winds come up those same waves like Namotu Lefts and Cloudbreak offer unbeatable kitesurfing. Some times of year are more reliable than others but the surfing and kiting in Fiji is available year-round.
On the bright side…
Fortunately for Namotu we have had some private bookings where guests can come in and stay for a couple of weeks and isolate on the Island. We are very lucky to have had a number of these bookings so far this year but no matter what happens, Namotu Island, our Kite Weeks and the waves in Fiji will be here and waiting for you when borders open. In the meantime, for more info on how you can get to Fiji on these very exclusive weeks, click here.