Ovalau island is an extinct volcano which has a oval shape. The island has a rugged mountainous interior and a coastal ring around the edges.

We anchor in Rukuruku Bay which is on the north western side of the island.

The hillsides are lush and green reminding us of the Marquesas in French Polynesia. The highest peak is 626 meters above sea level.

Over 8,000 people call Ovalau home.  And of that 8,000 over 25% live in the old capital of Levuka and 10% live in Rukuruku Bay.

There is one road that makes a circumnavigation around the entire island (50km or 30 miles).  This road connects most of the villages which are located along the coast including Fiji’s first capital, Levuka.

Rukuruku Bay

Our first stop on the island of Ovalau is Rukuruku Bay.  We stop in to do sevusevu and are immediately welcomed into the community.  Our host family, Joe and Kara invite us to church the next day.

There are two churches in this small village.  One is Catholic and one is Methodist.  The Catholic church does not have a priest so they do not have services.  So, we attend the Methodist church.

It is a rather large building with amazing acoustics.  They start the service with beating of the Laili (Fijian drum).  The church interior is very simple and only about 25 people are in attendance.  It was a rather long service of over 2 hours but the singing was beautiful.

Walk Around Town

Our host family told us we could walk to the top of the ridge to see beautiful views of the anchorage.  So, we went exploring after church with a few guides.  

The majority part of the walk was on the main dirt road. 

The road is surrounded by beautiful scenery, towering mountains, and lush hillsides.

The kids decided to take us off the main road to a small waterfall. 

Probably not the best timing as we were still in our church clothes, but off we go.

The boys had a blast showing off.  They leapt off trees and cliffs into the clear water below. 

The three photos below show one of the boys doing an impressive flip into the water.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Ovalau toward the end of July 2025.

We explore the exclusive private island of Wakaya in our last blog post.