Entering Fiji Wasn’t What We Expected

Name: Entering Fiji Wasn’t What We Expected
Uploaded: 2026-01-11T15:43:32.000Z
Duration: 26 min 23 s
Description: Fiji's feared customs inspection turns out brief and courteous, despite detailed reports of 10-officer ransackings.

January 11, 2026 · 26 min · 118K views · Fiji

Fijian singers welcome sailors at marina dock

What this video covers

Ben and Ashley sail Nahoa from Tonga to Fiji during the onset of cyclone season, racing to reach a haulout before conditions deteriorate.0:39 The passage runs through repeated squalls — pitch-black nights with lightning every 10 seconds, thunder shaking the boat, and wind spiking to 25 knots — while GFS and ECMWF models on Starlink both flag a potential cyclone developing north of Nui.1:20 Preparing for Fiji's reputation as one of the strictest border-control nations in the South Pacific, the crew researches recent cruiser accounts, including a detailed report from a boat called Cream Puff whose crew of 30 years described a 10-officer ransacking at Vuda Point Marina three weeks after initial clearance.14:11 Ben outlines cruiser rights during inspections: ask for officer names, accompany officials through the boat, film the search, open lockers yourself, and request written receipts for anything taken.16:39 The passage also produces a marlin hookup and multiple mahi-mahi, wahoo, and skipjack catches.8:54 Clearing in at Vuda Point Marina, the actual inspection is brief and courteous — biosecurity confiscated bananas for fruit flies but left remaining produce aboard, and customs did not search the boat or charge for declared alcohol.25:26

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