Taveuni

Taveuni has approximately 150 volcanic cones distributed along a 40-km-long NE-SW rift zone — one of the densest concentrations of volcanic vents on any single Pacific island.

At least 58 eruptions have occurred on Taveuni since the first human settlements around 950-750 BCE, making it one of the most frequently active volcanoes in the Fiji-Tonga region over that period.

A period of voluminous eruptions between ~300 and 500 CE forced the abandonment of southern Taveuni for approximately 600 years.

Lake Tagimoucia, a volcanic crater lake at ~830 m elevation, is the only place on Earth where Fiji's national flower (tagimoucia, Medinilla waterhousei) grows.

Taveuni's volcanic soils are among the most fertile in the Pacific, earning it the nickname 'Garden Island.'

The island sits near the 180th meridian — the International Date Line — and a marker at Waiyevo commemorates this geographic curiosity.

All 34 recorded eruptions are VEI 0-2, reflecting the basaltic shield volcano's relatively gentle eruption style compared to explosive stratovolcanoes.

Taveuni is Fiji's third-largest island, measuring approximately 40 km long and 12 km wide.

The Rainbow Reef off Taveuni's coast is considered one of the world's premier soft-coral diving sites.

Approximately 14,000 people live on Taveuni today, concentrated primarily along the western coast.

The last known eruption (~1550 CE) produced a lava flow at the island's southern tip that remains clearly distinguishable from the surrounding older terrain.

The Bouma National Heritage Park protects over 80% of Taveuni's remaining rainforest, which grows on volcanic slopes enriched by millennia of eruptions.