Musket Cove is home of the big surf in Fiji. Photo / Chris McLennan
Musket Cove is home of the big surf in Fiji. Photo / Chris McLennan
Michael Antonievich makes up for missing a morning riding the waves in Fiji.
As sunlight peeks through the plantation shutters, I realise I've missed my morning wake-up call. By now the boys will be speeding towards the horizon, surfboards stacked in the bow, excited for a morning of tropical surf at one of the famous breaks dotted along Fiji's Malolo Barrier Reef.
We'dfinished the last of the Bounty Rum bottle only a couple of hours ago, the last remnants of yesterday's wedding, then tackled a moonlit meander back to our villa at Musket Cove Resort on Malolo Lailai Island. It's probably for the best that the rustling of palm fronds in the southeast trade wind quickly lull me back to sleep.
Musket Cove is an hour by boat from Denarau Harbour and a 20-minute bike ride from the exotic confines of Lomani Island Resort, where the beachfront ceremony took place. Located in the Mamanuca Islands group, Malolo Lailai is a haven for water-sports enthusiasts and an ideal base to enjoy world-class surfing, sailing and diving pursuits.
Musket Cove's sheltered marina hosts a wealth of transient yachties who navigate the South Pacific trades before the onset of cyclone season every December. This week they are here in force. It's the 32nd Musket Cove Regatta and all in attendance abide by a strict schedule of sailing by day and partying by night, at the infamous island bar out front. Mine is not the only dusty head in paradise this morning.
Our island home for the week is fringed by eight water's-edge villas which overlook a small lagoon and surround a shared pool and barbecue area. This man-made enclave is separated from the main resort by a small bridge, and the two-bedroom villas are perfect for families or two couples travelling together.
As the sun reaches its midday apex we shelter poolside in the shade of flowering frangipani and poinciana trees.
Relaxing at Fiji's Musket Cove Resort on Malolo Lailai Island. Photo / Vivianne Antonievich
Each afternoon when the Malolocat arrives from Denarau Harbour, choral harmonies and acoustic guitar strumming resonate across the water as the charming hotel staff gather to welcome new arrivals. The same friendly Fijian faces are encountered daily throughout our stay.
By the time the aroma of a pig-on-the-spit and charcoal smoke wafts our way from the restaurant area, my hangover has truly subsided - replaced by a growing appetite. Dick's Place Bar and Brasserie is a short cycle on the cruiser bikes that came with the villa, and at sunset we are reunited with our mates from the evening before. The boys are back and sharing stories of overhead barrels, broken boards and strong open ocean currents at Wilkes Passage.
The forecast says it's on again tomorrow so I sign up for the 6am boat to Cloudbreak (F$90, or F$70 to the closer breaks off Namotu Island) with my newly married mate, whose motto is "Pay to Play".
The breaks off Namotu are more forgiving than their counterparts at adjacent Tavarua, although both are renowned for long, hollow waves breaking over the shallow coral reef.
After what seems like a minute's sleep I'm off on the cruiser, board under arm, as red and orange hues illuminate the morning skyline.
The groom is waiting for me at the jetty, and moments later our skiff is rafted alongside one of many large cruising yachts moored in the deeper waters of the bay.
Its Australian skipper, Bar'el Wachtel, clambers out from the cabin, passes down his board then navigates the awkward climb between boats without interrupting his mobile-phone conversation - he's making sure the kitchen is stocked for the busy day ahead at Cloud 9, his unique two-level floating island bar overlooking the coral reef.
Musket Cove Resort, Fiji. Photo / Supplied
We've barely pulled up to the channel before "Pay to Play" is overboard and assertively paddling out towards the line-up. Cloudbreak sits on a bend in the barrier reef and the prevailing trade winds blow offshore, holding the waves up as they come out of deep water and peel along the reef for hundreds of metres.
A wooden judging tower stands in the shallows where the world's best are scored at the Quicksilver Fiji Pro every June.
Luckily for me yesterday's swell has dissipated and I don't feel too out of my comfort zone.
The absence of sand in the clear water allows you to open your eyes when duck-diving, revealing myriad colours from the reef below and sky above.
There's 15 of us in the water from NZ, Australia, and the US - uncrowded for Cloudbreak - and after a while I gather the courage to paddle into a little peak.
It's small, soft and very poorly ridden by local standards, but the smile on my face remains hours later when I pass my board up to the groom for the bumpy ride home.
As the driver ups anchors, carelessly tosses his plastic bottle overboard and starts the motor we are both thinking the same thing - with any luck there will still be bacon at breakfast and a couple of free hammocks down by the beach.
CHECKLIST
Getting there: Fiji Airways flies from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to Fiji.
