TURTLE Island Resort celebrated its 35th birthday operating as a resort this week. From being a private escape for owner Richard Evanson, to a tropical movie location for The Blue Lagoon, to the well-loved romantic resort — and more — that it has become today, Turtle Island has been home to many beautiful memories.
This is the first of a two-part feature on Turtle Island. This week, we will focus on The Blue Lagoon movie and speak to the star of the film, Christopher Atkins and producer, Randal Kleiser, who had returned to Fiji for the first time in 35 years, and reminisce about the movie and the genuine warmth of the Fijian people that cannot be found anywhere in the world.
The Island
Turtle Island Resort is a lush, green tropical romantic getaway for anyone who has had the luxury to experience a piece of this island paradise located in the Yasawa group of islands in Fiji.
It began some 35 years ago, when an American, Richard Evanson — the owner of the then private island — opened up his shores for a romantic adventure film production that would go on to become a popular Hollywood hit in the 1980s, and put a rare spotlight on a beautiful island in Fiji, surrounded by the blue lagoon with an exotic natural environment.
That launched the beginning of Turtle Island — as an exclusive resort that today caters for 15 couples at any one time and employs 95 odd-staff members — mainly from the nearby villages of Yaqeta, Vuaki, Matacawalevu, and Tavewa.
The island marked its 35th-year operating as a — destination romance — resort last week.
A week-long, exclusive, celebration was hosted by the management and staff members of Turtle Island. They planned a range of activities — from its ever popular communal meals that has been a highlight of the resort over the years, cultural acts that wows all guests who visit the island, to sharing of special moments at sunrise or sunset on the private deserted beaches.
Turtle Island adds its own touch of magic to the amazing list of destinations Fiji offers its visitors from all over the world who are looking for exquisite places to visit — and keep coming back to get a truly authentic Fijian experience.
The feature of the celebrations was the return of two very special people who had a hand in making the island renowned for what it is today.
Atkins, the lead actor, and Kleiser revisited the set where the movie The Blue Lagoon was filmed. The film starred Atkins and Brooke Shields and tells the story of two young children marooned on a tropical island, without any supervision or the restrictions of society, going through different phases of growing up, and falling in love.
For Atkins, the experience of coming to Fiji as an 18-year-old from a very conservative New York, whose only ambition was to play professional baseball, and being whisked to star in the movie that would launch his acting career, had a very lasting impact on his life.
He was one of the 4000 people who were auditioned for the lead role in The Blue Lagoon. He had never come out of the US and admits that when he arrived into Fiji “it was one of the most beautiful places he had seen”.
Reminiscing about the making of the movie, Atkins says it was the most magical time of his life.
“I don’t think there’s any other place in the world where you could film that kind of a movie again other than in Fiji,” he says.
Upon his return to Fiji, he says the one thing that has always stood out is the friendliness of Fijians.
“Friendly from a genuine place, not friendly because they have to be friendly for their guests in resorts — it comes from a place when there was no resort and there was no guest. It was a genuine happiness that they had in their simple ways of life,” he said.
Atkins acknowledged the contributions of a Fijian man named “Navalu” during the filming of The Blue Lagoon. According to him, Navalu was living on Viti Levu and his health was not good. Atkins had wished Navalu good health.
“If he is reading this, know that we all love you,” Atkins said.
“The Blue Lagoon is embedded in me and is very much a part of me. To come back and see the change on Turtle Island is really strange.
“They have really done a great job with the island but they have kept its integrity.
“This island changed my life and I know that the movie changed this island too. So we’re sort of intertwined in that so there’s something special there.
“What’s nice is to watch these guests and share this communal table and listen to their stories and when they’re leaving, every single one of them wants to stay another day so there’s an energy on this island that’s just magic. It makes people feel good.”
So Turtle Island remains true to its slogan, “once discovered, never forgotten”.
For Kleiser, coming back to Fiji, revisiting Turtle Island and seeing the film that he produced more than three decades ago was “nostalgic and surreal”.
Kleiser says he cannot stop but admire the genuine warmth of the Fijian people everywhere.
“Even coming back into the airport when I first got off the plane I suddenly saw these smiling Fijian faces and I realised, oh yes, that’s the way these people are.
“It’s the amazing amount of warmth that comes from everybody. The people have not changed. The resort has changed but the people are still the same,” he said.
Kleiser says the prospects of more Hollywood movies being filmed in Fiji can be very high.
“There’s beautiful places to shoot and depends on what kind of movie you’re making. It is very friendly to film-makers.”
* Next week: Turtle Island’s sustainable developments in the past 35 years.
