Comments...

comment by anonymous, 2004-11-26 14:27:29

Natadola
For those in the know, Natadola has a few options. On the smaller swells the outside left is great, offering wide open barrels with smackable faces. For big swells the outside reef is sik, with knarly barrels and long rippable walls, plus there is a nice left inside th ebay in front of the resort. Also, on medium to large swells there is a left and right beachie at the northern end of the beach. Great fun.

comment by anonymous, 2004-06-12 21:25:02

fun........
this beach is fun when the other places (sigatoka, hideaways) max or blow out. Lots of backwash and a super shallow little reef dead in the middle of the bay, about 20 m out from shore

comment by anonymous, 2004-01-30 05:03:37

beautiful beach
This place is heaven on earth . Gods best work. Not great for surfing , inside or out , but evey place has its day . On huge outside swells the iside starts to show some form . There is a little reef set-up close to shore that throws up some sweet as little longboard waves . Left handers that peel gently for 50 m or so . To get to the outside point jump on the back of one of the locals horses and hitch a ride , coolest way to get there by far.

comment by Fiji Drifter, 2004-01-23 07:44:48

Natadola reef passes worth the effort!
Natadola Bay, not too far from Sigatoka, is great for swimming/snorkeling and if there is a really strong swell running there may actually be a wave good for body surfing breaking inside the bay (the one in the photo). But don’t overlook the reef passes. They can be well worth the long, long, long paddle/walk out of the bay and around the point (we’re talking 45-60 minutes easy!). Take a good pair of hard soled reef booties and you can walk across the shallow inside reef, but please take the utmost care not to damage the reef when doing so! From inside the bay you can actually see the passes breaking in the far distance (binoculars are helpful) if it is sizeable, lined up and firing but you can‘t really tell how big it is til you get out there! Believe me when you do get out there it will be much bigger and meatier than it looked from shore so prepare accordingly and paddle out on a bigger board than you think you will need! There is both a left and a right but they are about a mile or so apart. I have surfed only the left (the more accessible of the two) on several occasions. I was told by a local Fijian surfer the left breaks more often and is the better of the two anyways. When lined up a long, perfect, peeling wall. When big, quite fearsome as thick, deep, open water swells suddenly hit the shallow reef shelf! Unfortunately both passes are totally exposed and thus quite susceptible to the seasonal Trade Winds. If you see a fishing boat moored in the lagoon you are in luck as you may be able to hire it to take you out and/or pick you up (negotiate). If there is no boat you are on your own but ask around anyway as the boat may just be out fishing. Also, even if the boat is there it may not be able to get out of the bay when the tide is low, but you can always make it out there on your own and arrange (hope) to have it pick you up later. A long-ass paddle but do-able for those surfers made of the right stuff and totally worth it if the passes are doing their thing!

comment by koerners2003@yahoo.com, 2004-01-05 07:19:34

Natadola not Natadora
The correct name is Natadola Beach. I surfed the beachbreak with my wife on a trip to Fiji in '93. We also surfed Frigates, Namotu, Wilkes, etc., but it was a fun diversion to mess around on this little beachbreak. There is an outer reef pass here that looks like it has some potential, but it would be about a 1/2 mile plus paddle. We were advised by some friendly locals to keep our belongings locked up or close by at this beach.