Musket Cove Island Resort & Marina on Malolo Lailai in the Mamanuca Islands is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, and the family behind Fiji's oldest resort company is using the milestone to refresh the property without losing its low-key charm.

Dick and Carol Smith founded the resort in 1976, opening its doors on 3 October with just 12 bures. Half a century later, the property has grown to 55 bures and villas, plus a marina, spa and restaurants, employing more than 170 staff. It remains family-owned, now under Will and Josephine Moffat.

Sales and marketing director Wayne Deed credits the resort's longevity to relationships rather than gimmicks. Some staff have been there for decades — Lithey Lice for 28 years, Gloria Osborne for over two decades, and Joe Mar, whose family links to the island go back further than the resort itself. Guests are just as devoted: some have returned 10 to 12 times, often bringing the next generation with them.

Musket Cove isn't only a beach escape, either. Its marina and the annual Fiji Regatta Week, now in its 42nd year, have made it a magnet for international sailors, widening its appeal beyond sun-and-sand holidaymakers. Sailors cruising the South Pacific frequently use the marina as a provisioning and stopover base.

The anniversary brings a rebrand, new uniforms and upgraded guest experiences, but the bigger story is environmental. The Moffats are putting sustainability at the centre of future development — waste reduction, recycling, energy efficiency and sourcing goods locally — and working with Fiji's forestry and fisheries departments on mangrove planting, coastal seeding and dry-forest restoration. Solar power is part of a managed move towards renewables. Will Moffat is blunt about the approach: sustainability has to make commercial sense too, and shouldn't slide into greenwashing.

For travellers, Musket Cove offers something increasingly rare: a resort that has kept its barefoot, family-friendly character for five decades while genuinely investing in the island's future. If you've been before, the anniversary refresh is a good excuse to return; if you haven't, you'll find a place where the staff might remember your name and the reef restoration is more than a brochure line. For Australians especially, it's an easy, long-loved island getaway — now with a lighter footprint in the works.

This piece is based on reporting by Karryon.