Oceanographer and conservationist Jean-Michel Cousteau dives on Rainbow Reef in Savusavu, Fiji.
Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort
Jean-Michel Cousteau sits poolside at his Fijian resort, watching scuba students struggle with buoyancy. It’s a far cry from his introduction to the deep.
Cousteau, 87, remembers standing on a beach near Toulon, France, at age seven. His father, the legendary oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, strapped a prototype Aqua-Lung to the boy’s back. The device was unproven and uncertified.
Cousteau smiled at his family and jumped into the frigid bay.
“I never stopped,” he says.
That immersion launched the career of the world’s most famous living diver. It also inspired the philosophy that now governs the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort in Savusavu, Fiji: Protect the ocean and you protect yourself.
Johnny Singh stands in front of Jean-Michel Cousteau Dive Resort’s recycled water pond.
Aren Elliott
The art of conservation in Fiji
Johnny Singh, the resort’s marine biologist, makes this philosophy work. Conservation here and elsewhere in Fiji is not a brochure promise, but a daily struggle between nature and guest comfort.
He points to two ponds filled with lilies and tilapia. They look decorative, but they’re part of the resort’s natural filtration system.
“This is the heart and soul of our wastewater,” Singh says. The resort treats its sewage and then feeds it into these ponds, where plants and fish naturally scrub the water clean before it returns to the earth. It even serves a dual purpose as a trap for pests.
“We market directly to the mosquitoes,” Singh jokes. “‘Don’t go anywhere, we say. Come here. Look at this luxury pond we have for you’.”
The larvae hatch, and the tilapia feast.
Sustainability even dictates climate control. Singh notes that before 2016, the traditional thatched bures (huts) didn’t need air conditioning. But as climate change brought hotter, wetter summers, cooling became a necessity. Rather than installing standard units, the resort sourced a coolant type called R32, specifically chosen for its low global warming potential.
“In that way, the guests are happy and we are being sensitive to the environment,” Singh explains.
These water tanks are part of the resort’s water treatment facilities.
Aren Elliott
What’s growing at Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort
Then there’s the landscaping, which doubles as a pharmacy. Singh and his team have propagated more than 10,000 native plants, replacing ornamental imports with species that belong here.
He stops at a snake leaf plant, used to treat infections.
“You cut the leaf off, put it on a hot plate, and put that ooze in your ear for infection,” he says, explaining the local Fijian remedy. “It really works.”
The vegetation isn’t without controversy. Singh points to the mangroves lining the shore. They’re essential tools for fighting climate change that capture four times the carbon of terrestrial forests.
Yet, they present a conflict.
“Guests often ask, ‘Hey Johnny, what’s the point of having these mangroves on the property?'” he says.
After all, one of the room categories at the resort is “Ocean View” — and you can’t get an ocean view with a mangrove forest in front of it.
His solution is a pragmatic compromise: the team prunes the wild mangroves like hedges.
“We have the mangroves,” Singh says, “you have your view.”
So what does the rest of the industry have to say about this resort’s conservation efforts? The resort has won a few awards for its environmental leadership, but it doesn’t make a big deal about them. Singh shrugs off the need for external validation.
“We don’t need to prove it,” he says. “The work speaks for itself, and is embedded in our resort’s ethos.”
Cousteau’s thoughts on saving the planet
Back at the pool, the splashing of the dive class subsides. Cousteau adjusts his gaze toward Savusavu Bay.
Although he doesn’t own the resort, he lends it his name because it supports his Ambassadors of the Environment program. It’s an environmental education initiative that offers eco-friendly activities for families and locals to learn about and connect with nature and Fijian culture.
For Cousteau, the biological health of the ocean and the cultural health of humanity are the same struggle. He fears a world where unique cultures yield to a homogeneous way of living.
“Diversity is synonymous with sustainability,” he says. “As for anything on the planet, and that includes the species, the human species, I’m all for diversity.”
He pauses, looking out at the guests enjoying his version of paradise. After eight decades of diving, Cousteau’s mission has evolved from exploration to preservation. His goal is to ensure the rest of the world learns how to save what remains. And this resort is his classroom.
