Climbing in Fiji?

Hey guys,

New to the forums, from Sydney AUS.

Travelling to Fiji for a few weeks in Feburary 2011, Was wondering if anyone has ever been climbing there? and could reccomend some locations to visit/check out even for Bouldering.

Thanks!

so, did you find anything good?

There is some rock in Fiji. If I remember correctly, there is a craggy looking mountain near Laotoka and more of the same dotted along the south coast.

Tonga has amazing limestone cliffs that are supposedly very high quality and undeveloped. Anyone wanna go on an adventure to see if we can find the next sport climbing paradise?

Reviving this thread because:

I live in Suva, Fiji, and I don't know how where and when, but I'm gonna climb something.

The rock on Wayalailai island in the Yasawas is quite good. Needs bolts, which means you need the chief's blessing on bolts, which could be tough. There's a gnarly looking offwidth on it (2 or 3 pitches), but I don't own big bros or cams that size.

The limestone on the true Blue Lagoon island is fabulous. That island is far away and I don't think you'd be allowed to stay over night.

Anyone else out there? Taveuni? Tonga reports? I can confirm that there is NO rock climbing in Kiribati. None.

Bump

Headed to Fiji, Beqa Lagoon Resort, next week. Anyone make any progress?

Headed to Fiji in late may... is there any climbing there? Deepwater soloing or trad?

Hey Y'all, I'll be in Suva from May-Aug on a fellowship any news?

A few years ago I spent ~6 months on Viti Levu, and I was never able to find any real climbing - I lived in Ba and traveled extensively from Raki Raki to Suva, and didn't find anything on the main island - some rotten rock around Colo-I-Suva, perhaps a handful of boulder problems in the interior close to Navala Village, and then more rotten rock around Koroyanitu (stunning views however!).

The only climbing that seemed even remotely feasible would be setting up a toprope on the slabby faces in and around the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, near Nadi. You have to pay to get in, and from the scouting I did, it didn't look like there was anything much harder than 5.4. After you take into consideration the $18 entrance fee, it hardly seems worthwhile to investigate.

I've heard rumors of rock in the Yasawas and on Taveuni, but I never saw anything climbable myself. And, like Salcone said, any potential bolting would need the approval of village leadership - you should expect to purchase a fairly expensive kava bundle as a gift to whatever village owns the rock you'd like to climb or bolt.

The best (and only) climbing I ever found was on a rock retaining wall in Ba. Every evening, I would put in my headphones and jam out to Pantha du Prince while traversing the 90' face back and forth until I was dead tired. That's as good as it got.

Tl;dr: Not much (if any) climbing in Fiji. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. You'll have a much better time surfing in Fiji than you will looking for what little climbing exists there.

Just stayed at Wayalailai overnight and I can assure you that there are many great potential boulder problems waiting for their first ascents (I have 20+ years of climbing under my belt).  Some boulders are lowballs and some are highballs with 20-30 foot high. Easy accessible from the trail (leading to the top of the mountain).

Also, like someone mentioned earlier in this thread, there is a great off-crack climbing that'll require some huge big bros.  First, you would need to get a permission from the village's head for permission to climb though.  

Probably a 2-4 days worth of climbing around the island. 

Cheers!

Climb on a surfboard instead

Of course, surfing is a paradise around Fiji Islands..  but there are some doable bouldering spots if you need a break from surfing ;-)