Paradise Lost

Once a Pacific Eden, Fiji has become a destination for a highly combustible mix of surf bums, mega-yacht owners, deep-pocketed international developers, and at least one scientist who thinks he can engineer the perfect wave

- By David Kushner

THE SOURCE – Fiji's waves, particularly Cloudbreak near Malolo, have made it a destination for surfers from all over the planet.

I. THE SURFERS AND THE BOATMAN

Five years ago, Ratu “Jona” Joseva, a 32-year-old Indigenous Fijian boat taximan, and two Aussie lifelong surfing bros, Navrin Fox and Woody Jack, bought an overgrown five-acre patch of coastline on Malolo, among the most popular of Fiji’s more than 330 islands. With its crescent beaches, Seussian palms, and proximity to the international airport, the roadless three-mile-long island has become a post-lockdown playground for billionaire yachties and privacy-seeking celebs. During my visit last July as Joseva and I puttered along the coast in his small fishing boat, we were lost in the shadow of a Millennium Falcon–size $45 million superyacht.

But Malolo also attracts another crowd: surfers like Fox and Jack who come to ride the wave—the one Kelly Slater has called his favorite—Cloudbreak. After Fox and Jack met Joseva on his boat taxi on a surf trip around 2014, the three men decided to go in on a sliver of undeveloped land, the rights of which were controlled by Joseva’s village. They secured a 99-year lease for $50,000. While the rest of the island was going high-end, they imagined building four little eco-friendly bures for their families and friends.