Makogai Island

Giant clams pulse in shallow water where hospital wards once stood. Makogai's story is written in ruins and rebirth — crumbling colonial walls softened by frangipani, a cemetery shaded by breadfruit trees, and on the beach below, turtle hatchlings scrabbling toward the surf. The leper colony closed in 1969. The island's second life began when Fiji's Fisheries Department arrived, turning isolation into sanctuary.

Makogai lies in the Lomaiviti Group, a short boat ride from Levuka on Ovalau. From 1911 to 1969, it served as Fiji's principal leper colony, housing patients from across the Pacific. The colonial-era infrastructure — stone hospital buildings, a chapel, administrative quarters, and a cemetery with headstones bearing names from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Gilbert Islands — remains partially intact among the island's coconut groves. Since the colony's closure, the Fiji Ministry of Fisheries has operated a marine research station focused on giant clam aquaculture and sea turtle conservation. The island's beaches serve as protected nesting sites for hawksbill and green turtles, with hatchling releases conducted during the November-to-March nesting season. The giant clam nursery cultivates several Tridacna species for reef restoration projects across Fiji. There is no tourist accommodation; visits are arranged through Levuka-based operators or by private yacht, with permission from the fisheries station.