Fiji’s Wavi Island Heads to Auction

Buyers looking to escape the winter cold can own their own private island in the South Pacific — for a price, of course.

Wavi Island in Fiji is slated to be auctioned off to the highest bidder on Dec. 19 after previously listing for $20 million, Mansion Global reported. Parts of the 27-acre island have been on the market since 2018, but this is the first time the entire South Pacific paradise has been for sale.

Wavi Island Corporation, the entity selling the island, partially developed the land and used it as a short-term luxury rental resort. The no-reserve sale for the island is being conducted by Platinum Luxury Auctions and listing brokerage New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Limited.

The lucky buyer would have access to a luxury villa as well as a spate of buildings and amenities. The purchase would also include 19 additional oceanfront lots spanning from a half acre in size to a full acre. The land could be developed to create lodging or some other sort of hospitality services if the buyer chooses, or simply choose to enjoy the island as-is.

“There is a master plan for any number of future options,” listing agent Chester Rendell of New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Limited said. “The choice is yours.”

At any given time, there are usually a handful of islands for sale in Fiji, but Wavi Island represents one of the few freehold parcels in the tropical country. “Very few [islands] are freehold, and very few have the infrastructure and opportunities that Wavi Island has,” Rendell said. In a country where 90 percent of the land is leased, outright ownership through purchase of freehold property is rare.

It’s not a totally isolated island. Wavi is across the water from the town of Savusavu on Vanua Levu, the second-largest island in the country; it’s connected to town via a private quarter-mile bridge. The 3,000-square-foot villa boasts three bedrooms and two full bathrooms as well as a manager’s house, a guest pool and bar, a tennis court and a private marina. The home comes fully furnished and features a horizon-edge pool and spa, a daybed pavilion, a gazebo for barbecuing and a three-car garage.

— Chris Malone Méndez