Fiji Islands Travel Guide | Discover the Islands | Coral Coast | Regional Highlights

Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park

As you pass the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort heading to Suva, keep watching to your right and you can’t miss the visitor centre for the renowned Sigatoka Sand Dunes.

The Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park is located at the mouth of the Sigatoka River on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji approximately 3km west of Sigatoka.

The dunes are the product of erosion in the coastal hinterland and coastal dune forming processes. The extensive dune system covers an area of 650 hectares and comprises a series of parabolic sand dunes of various ages and activities. The dunes range from around 20-60m tall. It is best to visit the area before 11am or after 3pm as doing otherwise, particularly at midday, would be a particularly hot experience. The dunes, which is Fiji’s first National Park, extends for several miles along the coast, two thirds of which is stabilized by grass.

Pottery carbon dated back to 3000 years ago has been found alongside human remains. The area also has an ancient burial site of the people who once lived there. The dunes have been forming over millions of years and archaeological excavations have uncovered pottery more than 2600 years old, as well as one of the largest burial sites in the Pacific. Evidence of the past is clearly visible throughout the dune system as pottery scatters, stone tools, human remains and other archaeological relics continue to be uncovered by natural processes.

Frolicking in the warm waters at the edge of the dunes

Sometimes a practical demonstration is a no brainer!

World Heritage Status Beckons

In 1999 it was proposed as a World Heritage Site but has yet to be approved.

Rangers are on duty at the site and information can be obtained from the centre which visitors are urged to first visit for a briefing and information before traversing this unique natural location.

Did you know:
Tongan warriors were once a fearsome bunch in Fiji and none more so than the exiled Tongan chief called Maile Latemai who built a hill fort outside of Sigatoka town to protect his people from ferocious hill tribes.

The remains of Tavuni Hill Fort, now a popular tourist attraction, is situated about 3 miles inland from the eastern end of the Sigatoka River Bridge on a bluff at Nasoro Village. The nearby village is still occupied by people of Tongan descent.

The highlanders who battled Latemai in the 18th century constantly fought with coastal tribes and were considered to be one of the last people in the country to give up cannibalism and convert to Christianity.

The colonial administration was forced to send a force of 1,000 men up the Sigatoka River after these hill tribes rebelled against the Deed of Cession to Great Britain in 1875.

The government party destroyed all the hill forts lining the river, including Tavuni but the site has been now restored as a Fiji Heritage Project.

Visitors can take a peek at interesting objects such as braining stone, (needs no explanation) and the remains of large chiefly bures.

Tavuni Hill Fort, open from Monday through to Saturday, offers an intriguing view of the violent existence that Fijian people lived by in bygone days.