Survivor 14: Fiji  One report pinpointed the filming location and said that most of the filming will be near the village of Vunivutu (9/14/06). The area is about 20 kilometers northeast from Labasa (pronounced Lambasa), and its nearby airport, on Vanua Levu, second largest island in the Fiji group. Reportedly, the crew will be living in 'Tent City' once again.  (10/12/06). The production camp facility is being built on the main road east of Vunivutu and near the Wainkoro River, which is infested with dangerous Bull Sharks (9/16/06). Mark Burnett is no stranger to Fiji; in an earlier reincarnation his Eco-Challenge raced there, and during the filming of Cook Islands, many of the crew spent their days-off in Fiji. Filming will occur on a native reserve and negotiations were strained, but have been resolved. Crab Bay is the code name for Survivor: Fiji. (10/7/06). Filming is expected to begin October 30th, SEG advance crew says that this is one of the most remote locations they have filmed.

Exile Island returns, perhaps on Sausau Island. Solitary figures have been seen living on and being filmed on Katawaqa Island, which is within the filming area. (11/7/06). First photo of Tribal Council (right, 11/18/06) showing what looks like a cannibal theme. TC is on the mainland this time, possibly to fulfill a contractual obligation to support Fiji's new tourism progam, "Look North!" One tribal name is RAVU with a tribal color of orange. (12/3/06) Thecontestants are divided into two tribes one with more resources than the other.

Here is the same view on a satellite image showing the locations for Tribal Council and the production camp. The Vunivutu road was closed every night Tribal Council was filmed so headlights wouldn't be visible.

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New geographic information, comparing photos with maps, puts Tribal Council on the hill behind the Production Camp (1/8/06) The Production Camp is down the road from Vunivutu village. The road was built on top of the old Cane Train railway line, which brought sugar cane stalks into Labasa for processing. SEG built a new boat ramp, which will remain after filming.

All 19 castaways are marooned on this Vunivutu peninsula sandspit to build an elaborate camp. Later, it is home to the Moto tribe as the Ravu are dispossessed to a minimal existence on Nukuvadra Island.

Katawaqa Island is very small. People were seen being videotaped on this island.

Sausau Island fits the shape and locale for Exile Island as shown in the promo. It is 8 kilometers from other filming areas, very remote, and is said to be infested with sea snakes.

Tribal Council area nestled against cliffs on a hill top.

One interesting item, which confuses learning more about the Survivor location, is that the alternative vacation project and social experiment "TribeWanted" is on the tiny island of Vorovoro near Vanua Levu.  While not a game or television show, it has 'Survivor' aspects in that people form around the world will spend a week or two living as a tribe in a village they help build and pass on to future residents.

Rumored filming area shaded.
Note the island of Vorovoro on this map, the location for TribeWanted.

Most reports say the filming will be on the second largest island, Vanua Levu (9/4/06) seen in the map below. More recently (918/06) the blog Babasiga mentioned the filming would be in Macuata. Macuata province is the northwestern portion of Vanua Levu including Labasa. It is also an eco-reserve island to the SW of Labasa with secluded beaches.

Vanua Levu

Three reports from local on Cook Islands, one report online (8/6/06) all say the same thing, "Survivor 14 is somewhere on Fiji." 

The island nation of Fiji with its two, large island masses.

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