Tips for Fiji?

[iceman (Mike)]

The family and I are looking at potentially visiting Fiji in July 2013 to celebrate my wife's 40th birthday.

Looking for opinions, ideas, the good and bad, things to do, places to see, places to avoid, best places to stay, etc.

We'll be taking 3 kids (14, 12, 9), so ideas/places/things to do will need to be kid friendly.

Don't even know if July is a good from a weather point of view! I know it's not monsoon season but that's about it

Happy to hear of your experiences. Have heard of good specials like kids stay + eat free, etc. But don't know of any catch etc.

Cheers

[AstroJason (Jason)]

Hey Mike,

I highly recommend the Shangri-La. Its one massive resort on its own island and even has a golf course, putt putt and tones of different pools around the place, very kid friendly. Also you can snorkel right off the beaches there. We went there in May for a wedding so yeah I think the "winter" months are better and less chances of rain.

Also stayed at the Hilton for the second half of our trip and it was great as well. Its at Port Denarau which is very close to the air port. The good thing about Port Denarau is that you can visit all the other resorts and pools which are there too and its close to the port so you can do day trips out to the smaller island. I love snorkelling so the only thing I didnt like there was that you could not snorkel right off the beach like you could at the Shangri-La.

Hope that helps a little! Enjoy your trip!

Cheers,

Jason

[Danack (Dan Ackroyd)]

I normally recommend trying to see all of a country, not just the resorts, but including places where the local people live and shop.

I don't recommend that for Fiji, at least not for the capital Nadi.

Arrange a taxi from the airport to the wherever you're going to first, and then get the earliest possible ferry to your resort. The capital was pretty unpleasant, and although the native Fijians were very friendly to Westerners, the open racism they showed against the Indo-Fijians was also not pleasant.

Although other parts of the mainland may be nicer, just getting to one of the island resorts as quickly as possible, is probably the best bet as the resorts are very nice.

Sorry, can't actually recommend which resort would be good for you but you should definitely research them carefully, as some are really designed only for either newly-weds or people who wish to drink vast quantities of booze (which is the one I went to). Getting one that's setup for family based activities would obviously be a lot better for you.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by iceman

The family and I are looking at potentially visiting Fiji in July 2013 to celebrate my wife's 40th birthday.

Looking for opinions, ideas, the good and bad, things to do, places to see, places to avoid, best places to stay, etc.

We'll be taking 3 kids (14, 12, 9), so ideas/places/things to do will need to be kid friendly.

Don't even know if July is a good from a weather point of view! I know it's not monsoon season but that's about it

Happy to hear of your experiences. Have heard of good specials like kids stay + eat free, etc. But don't know of any catch etc.

Cheers

It depends a bit on the age of the kids - the big resorts in Fiji are barely making a profit because the international response to an oppressive and tyrannical regime that overthrew their elected governmnet a few years ago was to desert the place in droves. If you don't plan getting far from a resort, then any of the majors would do but the Outrigger on the Coral Coast is a good one.
If you would rather self-cater, use a smaller esort like Sandy Point which is right next to the Outrigger but is only 5 or 6 cabins in a quiet and well-manicured resoirt right on the beach where you can do your own cooking etc and not have to dress for a resort restaurant. Bob and Carol Kennedy run it and a terrific people.
Avoid Suva. It has little to nothing to offer a tourist - especially with kids. It's a tense and heavily repressed city these days.
The whole of Fiji is fringed by broken and dead reef so there are no surfing beaches except for one at Natadola but it is a dangerous rip there and several drowninggs have happened there.
Denarau is an enclave where you could be anywhere in the tropical world. But it's clean and safe - althopugh has little in the way of restaurants worth a damn - but it isn't a bad place to work out from.
Peter

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Are you 'fixed' on Fiji ? There are other pacific Islands that are much more friendlier than there. Samoa, Rarotonga, Vanuatu etc etc.
We spent a week on Vanuatu a few years back, the people and the food was awesome and it was safe as houses.

[Moon (James)]

I've only been there there on a business trip i.e. Suva so I'm sad to say my experience of Fiji reflects that of Dan.
As for the family holiday thing, on our recent holiday I found that I could get up early before everyone else, head down to the beach for a quick sunrise timelapse and be back at the room before everyone else had woken up. So my tip is to look for a hotel on the beach facing east :-) example
Sunsets are a no go with dinner plans etc.

The kids are going to love it.

James

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I visited Fiji a few years ago.
While its people are lovely, and the scenery beautiful, I didn't feel safe in Nadi. You can see and feel the political tension on the streets, at that time. eg. the lolly pop man at the high school was carrying a high powered rifle, and one of the ATM's we used also had a machine gun toting security guard.
As advised in previous posts. When you arrive at the airport, head straight for your resort or motel.
The high light of my visit there was a guided tour of the Cannibal Caves (the guides themselves had their own stories too). Second favourite outing was an island hopping boat ride that took us to the island where they filmed "Castaway".
The ex took the kids there earlier this year and said if he went again, he would book accommodation on one of the smaller islands instead.

Have you thought about Vanuatu instead? It's much more laid back. Though it can get a bit shaky at times, with small earthquakes occurring very regularly. They say the only time you to worry about the quakes is when the locals are hanging onto the lamp posts. LOL
The island of Tanna is amazing. You can drive almost to the top of Yassur volcano, walk the last couple of hundred metres to the very very top, and look down into the heart of this active volcano. It's awe inspiring.

[MortonH]

Don't bother packing a telescope. I went for a week and never saw a star!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by MortonH

Don't bother packing a telescope. I went for a week and never saw a star!

I packed my little iOptron Cube mount and a 300mm lens. The FOV was a bit wide, but I was pleased with the results just the same.
What did frustrate me was the fact that there were clouds on the horizon every afternoon at sunset. I soooo wanted to catch the green flash.

Smart Traveller gives the OK for Fiji, but advises exercising a high degree of caution if going into Suva.
http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Fiji

[rolls05 (Roland)]

Well, I think I can safely say Fiji is off my bucket list.

[allan gould]

Really can't recommend fiji as a destination. Very expensive at the resorts ie be prepared to spend the same in AUD as you would in Sydney or Melbourne for lunch and dinner . The children will have a great time but the tensions outside the resorts are apparent and care needed. Bali would be far better say in a quiet place like Sanur.
Been twice to Fiji and the last time was to visit my daughter who was working there. Quite a number of horror stories.
Just my 2c
Allan

[Moon (James)]

Mike - I hope we haven't destroyed your holiday before it even began.
In support of the Bali alternative, our lot really enjoyed Waterbom
They have Bintangs there too. just saying...

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Bali is beautiful.
Don't recommend staying in Kuta though. It's full of drunk Australians.
Ubud, up in the mountains, is a lot cooler, accommodation is cheap as chips and it has Monkeys.!! (Each time I've been I've stayed with a local family for $8 a night including breakfast)
You can hire a car and driver for around $40 for the day and he will take you where every you wish to go.

[louie_the_fly (Stew)]

We went to Fiji in 2003. Our kids were 8 and 11 then. We all had a really great time. We stayed on Plantation Island for 9 nights. Really awesome, and lots to do. We went snorkeling, dolphin cruise, an island BBQ & snorkeling cruise, & lots of walking and swimming.

But;

The food was OK at best
Nadi is a dump
The car drivers are absolute madmen
The kava tastes like dirty soapy water (but you gotta try it)
The people in the big souvenir shops are a bit rude & pushy, but their beer was cold

We also hired a car and drove to the Coral Coast, which looked nice, and lots of resorts, and to a town called Sigatoka. We went to a Tongan village and had a guided tour. That was really interesting. All the shops were shut. Who would had thought everything would be closed on Good Friday in Fiji? We bought lunch on the roadside. Enough fresh fruit to last us for 3 days - for F$2. Apart from the fruit, the best meal we had was a pizza on the last night.

In all, we all had a really good time. It was an experience, and it only cost us around 6K including flights. So reasonably cheap in the scheme of things. Would we go back? Probably not. My next Pacific holiday will most likely be the Cook Islands or somewhere like that.

Whatever you choose to go, have a great time.

[DavidTrap (David)]

We stayed on Castaway. I understand it's owned by Australians and has since had a new pool built. Great holiday overall - but I'd seriously weigh up the costs of Fiji vs the Whitsunday Islands. Unless you've already got passports, you'll add $500-1000 in costs for the five of you.

One annoying thing is if you fly into Nadi, you can't transfer by boat to the islands the same day - you have to overnight in Nadi and catch the ferry out the next morning. You can transfer by chopper, but that ain't cheap!

DT

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Mike

We went on an all inclusive including grog stay at one of the coral coast resorts in 2003..yes the one that burnt down a couple of weeks ago.
Every single person in the resort was Australian, you may as wel have been in the Gold Coast!
Pleasant enough, we even took a bus ride to Suva, whic is the capital to visit the Fijian museum

But I doubt I'd go back till things change

On the other hand I'd go back to Vanuatu in a shot.

Great snorkelling, friendly people, watch out for the dogs(also friendly but have they had thier shots?)
Lots of places to eat. Fewer sea snakes..well that may be just be sampling bias.
Less expensive, lots of nice places to stay.

Been to Fiji, Vanavatu and New Caladonia. vanuatu by a long shot is the one I'd return to.

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks for all the great feedback so far!
Very informative.