Katafanga Island

Is Katafanga Island for sale, and how much does it cost?

Katafanga Island is a 225 acres partially developed private island in Lau Group, Eastern Fiji, Fiji. It is under offer: Under offer. Tenure is freehold. Foreign ownership is permitted subject to local approvals. This is an editorial profile drawn from public record, clearly attributed, not our listing.

Summary

Katafanga is a rare freeholdOutright ownership of the land itself, indefinitely — the strongest form of title. island of about 225 acres in Fiji's remote Lau Group, roughly an hour by air from Nadi and served by its own airstrip. Around US$20M of infrastructure was installed in the early 2000s, leaving one finished villa and some nineteen more part-built — a resort or estate waiting to be completed.

It is publicly listed at US$17M.

Land & Waterfront

About a mile long and a third of a mile wide, rising to roughly 150 feet, the island sits inside a lagoon of some 5,000 acres. Sugar-white beaches and a sheltered deep-water anchorageSheltered water where a vessel can safely anchor — an island without one is an island you can't always reach. frame it, with a 200-foot reef break admitting yachts over 200 feet.

Access & Utilities

A formed airstrip, central water reservoir, employee housing, multiple jetties, a ring road and an overgrown formed golf course remain from the earlier build. Power and communications are early-stage and should be assessed directly; roughly US$20M was reportedly invested previously.

Ownership & Use

The natural path is to complete the resort or turn it into a private estate. Its rarity — freehold, with a runway, in the Lau Group — is the core of the case; the counterweight is the scale of the redevelopment still to do.

Provenance

Owned in the 1950s by Australian aviator Harold Gatty, who ran a copra plantation on the island and founded Fiji Airways while based in Fiji; decades later John and Shelley Miller bought Katafanga in 1996 and brought in Miami-based entrepreneur Christian Jagodzinski as a 50% investor in 2000, who became majority owner after a 2005 budget overrun and was awarded full ownership by a Fiji court in 2009, and has been trying to sell the island ever since.

Specification

Status	Under Offer
Offering	For sale
Region	South Pacific · Lau Group, Eastern Fiji
Country	Fiji
Size	225 acres · 91 ha
Tenure	Freehold
Development	Partially developed
Holding-cost band	Moderate — partial infrastructure
Access	airstrip, boat
Nearest airport	About a one-hour flight from Nadi International to the island's own airstrip
Power	Early-stage utility infrastructure (to assess)
Water	Central water reservoir
Structures	One completed luxury villa, ~19 villas at various stages, Employee housing, Jetties, Ring road, Formed airstrip
Marina / mooring	Reef break admitting large yachts into the lagoon
Foreign ownership	Permitted (see notes)
Publicly marketed	since 2006

Price record

Documented public figures over time — asking prices, reported sales and reductions, each attributed. This record is maintained editorially and may lag the market.

The full traced record — ownership lineage and every dated event back to the earliest public mention — is in The Ledger, for members.

From above: 2005 vs today

Legal & Ownership Notes

Freehold accounts for only around 10% of land in Fiji, and large freehold islands with runways in the Lau Group are described as nearly extinct — a scarcity worth weighing against the redevelopment task.

Satellite reference: open map view.

Common questions

How much does Katafanga Island cost?

Katafanga Island is profiled at: Under offer. Figures reflect public record at time of writing and may change; the profile keeps a dated price record.

What tenure does Katafanga Island have?

Katafanga Island is held on freehold tenure. Always confirm the exact instrument and any remaining term on the title.

Can a foreigner buy Katafanga Island?

Foreign buyers may own property here subject to local approvals. Freehold accounts for only around 10% of land in Fiji, and large freehold islands with runways in the Lau Group are described as nearly extinct — a scarcity worth weighing against the redevelopment task.

How do you get to Katafanga Island?

Access is by airstrip, boat. Nearest airport: About a one-hour flight from Nadi International to the island's own airstrip.

How big is Katafanga Island?

Katafanga Island is approximately 225 acres (91 hectares).