Arrival:

We had emailed Copra Shed Marina before we left and requested a mooring ball for the day we would arrive. They asked if we had submitted our pre-arrival forms and said someone would be here to help with the mooring. Timings for the dock master are 6.30am to 7pm radio on VHF 16, the dock masters work at weekends as well.

The office is open in the week and Saturday morning. The best radio signal is when you near the concrete dock which will be on your starboard side as you come into the creek. If you radio before then you are unlikely to be heard by any of the marinas.

If you do come in late then there is an anchorage just before you enter the river and you could probably drop the anchor there for the night.  We arrived at 4.50pm and Pia, the Dockmaster, answered the radio right away, came out and showed us to a mooring and tied our lines on.

He said that the officials may come and check us in that evening as they were on other boats. At 6.50pm he came back and said they are clocking off now so will come tomorrow. It turned out to be good that they didn’t clear us in that evening as we would have been charged overtime fees. Our friends arrived a few days later at 3.30pm and were charged overtime fees so we suggest trying to arrive in the morning if possible.

Official clearance:

In the morning he came over to say that he would bring the officials as soon as they arrive.  When the Health officials came on board, we had to complete forms and have our Covid vaccination dates.

The lady from Health photographed the toilets and all the food storage areas, freezer, fridge and bilge. Next we waited another three and a half hours for the customs, immigration and biosecurity officials, who all came together. The biosecurity people just asked to see the frozen meat but said we could use a whole chicken that we bought in French Polynesia because it is sold here as well as the beef. The other chicken we had to keep until we were leaving.

We had some ham and he said just eat that straight away.  They weren’t bothered about vegetables. We were really nice to them and gave them cold drinks and asked about their jobs etc . They put some tape on my bottle of honey and said not to use it until we leave.

All good, they were all very nice people and nothing was confiscated. They still don’t have an incinerator so can’t confiscate food.  They said that the rubbish we had couldn’t be left here and we needed to take it to Denarau, we were a bit confused about this and we think they meant that any left over food we had from passage must be kept until Denarau.

You will need to take the form that Health give you to the hospital to pay, it’s about a 20 minute walk on the flat and two minutes up a hill. The Health department lady gave us directions or you can get a taxi for 5 Fijian dollars.

You then need to pay biosecurity, they will tell you where to go. You need exact change for this.

Cruising permit:

After about two days you can go to customs and immigration and get your cruising permit. You can’t sail until you have this.

They asked when we wanted to leave Savusavu, if we didn’t want to leave today or tomorrow then they tell you to come back the day before you leave. Best just to say you are leaving soon. Go in and go past the people who are waiting and tell them at the counter that you are waiting for your cruising permit. They will ask your boat name and then come to get you so they can complete the forms.

Services and supplies:

Laundry in the Copra Shed Marina is 20 FJD a load for wash, dry and fold.

Fuel is in jerry cans or if you want more than 200 litres you can order through Copra Shed and they will arrange for you to take your boat to the fuel dock and for the fuel to be brought and pumped into your boat. If you just want to use cans you can use the fuel dock next to Copra Shed and walk across the road to the fuel station.

The Yacht Shop (chandlery at Copra Shed) – this seems to be well stocked but unfortunately everything we needed they didn’t have. They kept saying the items would arrive in a few days but never materialised.

Banks – Two ATMs that we saw, just past the market which is on the waterside as you turn left out of Copra Shed and another further along and across the road.

A well stocked fruit and vegetable market near the bus station.

SIM cards – we got Digicel esims for 35Fjd a month for 250gb data , international phone calls ( including to the U.K.)

There is a Courts electrical appliance shop here. Also sells kitchen and bathroom ware

Restaurants:

Captains Table Restaurant – we had dinner there, a little bit more expensive but good food and service.

Captains Cafe – we had lunch there, but you can order any of the full dinners and have them delivered to the bar area.

Nathan’s Coffee Shop – Had breakfast here.  Aircon, nice and clean, friendly service but food wasn’t that great

Savusavu Wok – the service was good but the food was very bland and came from the kitchen almost immediately. Mine was not very hot and actually tasted the same as my husband’s except they were very different dishes. Very inexpensive.

Arrum Chinese/Indian Restaurant and Takeaways – we ordered takeaway and whilst we waited they gave us a jug of water. Lovely staff. Food was ok.

Surf and Turf  – excellent food and service, a little bit more expensive than other restaurants here but worth it. They have a small seating area for drinks before dinner.

Grace Road Kitchen – nice wraps!

There is a regular band and BBQ on a Sunday night at Copra Shed. Only 20FJd for a plate.

Disappointing Waterfall Tour

We booked a hike tour to a waterfall which included going to a mud Bath and hot springs it was booked with Sharon from Naveria Heights.

We were told it was a full day tour with a 2 mile hike there and 2 miles back with lunch and refreshments provided.

As there were six of us, four went in a taxi that had been hired to drive us, another two went in the car with the tour guide. What actually occurred was a drive up to Urata Lookout Cafe where we stopped and waited for the tour guide to arrive in his car and we signed the waiver form.

We left there at 11.00 and went to the village to look at some items to purchase, we did buy something but later that week found the same item for half price in town. We then had a 10 minute walk through the mud to get to the waterfall and it looked nothing like the waterfall or hike that our friends had been on previously. We didn’t go in the water as it looked very dirty. This was probably because of all the rain in the previous days.

We waited for the guide to catch up to us, he came about 15 minutes later. He then walked back with us and stopped along the path to explain about the plants, he was very knowledgeable about the vegetation and its uses.

When we got back to the cars the guide gave us all a chicken wrap and said we could eat it whilst we were driving to the mud Bath. We were not offered any drinks. We went to the mud Bath and it was very slippery and muddy to get down to it.   Only two of our group ventured in, the others stayed by the roadside. I said to the tour guide that the tour should have been cancelled considering all the rain and the fact it was so muddy and slippery everywhere but he didn’t comment. We then went up and looked at the hot springs but this was because it was now only 2.00pm and the tour had only taken about three hours so far.

We were all a bit disappointed and it certainly was not what we had been led to believe it would be. The cost was 120Fjd each. We could have gone in our own taxi for a fraction of the cost.

Maria and Allen Wadsworth
SV Jamala

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About the Authors

Maria and Allen Wadsworth sailed from England in June 2017, crossed the Atlantic, with Jimmy Cornell’s Islands Odyssey.  After a season in the Caribbean, they headed to Bermuda, then the USA for hurricane season, before heading south via the Bahamas, Cuba and Jamaica to Panama where they transited the canal in March 2019.

After a stop in the Galapagos, they headed for French Polynesia where they spent several seasons due to the COVID pandemic before resuming their trek across the South Pacific.  After leaving French Polynesia, they are heading westward to New Zealand via Niue, Tonga and Fiji.

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Follow their voyage at:

• www.untilthebuttermelts.com

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Read their Noonsite Portrait of a Cruiser:

• Portrait of a Cruiser -Allen and Maria Wadsworth

Related Reports:

• Tonga, Vava’u:  Local Customs, Laws and Cruising Options
• Niue:  Visiting the Biggest little Yacht Club in the World
• Pacific Crossing: Farewell to French Polynesia and Bora Bora
• French Polynesia:  Tuamotus, Tahiti and Gambier Islands
• French Polynesia: Making sense of the anchoring restrictions

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.