Lautoka Voyager of the Seas Nov 9 2013

[Buffybear]

Can anyone tell me something good to do in Lautoka? Only thing I can find on the net seems to be the markets which appear to be all fruit, vegetables and fish.... Wonder if there are any animal parks/aquariums to visit?

[joejoe 59]

Can anyone tell me something good to do in Lautoka? Only thing I can find on the net seems to be the markets which appear to be all fruit, vegetables and fish.... Wonder if there are any animal parks/aquariums to visit?

We are doing a tour with the ship Jewel of Fiji, can do it independently but check times. Would not be good to miss the ship.:eek:

[Gerko]

Hire a car and drive down the coast to Nadi and back. The Budget depot is only a short walk from the dock and we got a nice little SUV for about US$80 for the day.

[annenic]

Although Latoka is the 3rd largest city in Fiji - please don't expect anything too wonderful....it is really only a town.

 

If you do hire a car - perhaps go to the Orchid Gardens - about halfway to Nadi - these gardens are beautiful and located in a bit of a rainforest so it is very cool and pretty. Costs about $12FJ to enter gardens. Lots of varieties of orchids.

 

As well as Nadi you could also do Denarau Island which is about 20 mins past Nadi. This is where all the big hotels sit side by side....and is so completely different from Latoka (the real Fiji!) and Nadi.

 

Nadi is interesting - at the bottom (top?) of the main street is a huge Hindu temple.

[Bob&Janet]

Can anyone tell me something good to do in Lautoka? Only thing I can find on the net seems to be the markets which appear to be all fruit, vegetables and fish.... Wonder if there are any animal parks/aquariums to visit?

 

Lautoka is essentially a commercial and residential town and apart from the shops (good if you want to buy clothes) and the markets, there isn't much else. The market is mostly a fresh produce one (but interesting to see if you haven't seen native markets before ... selling off tarps on the ground, etc) but there is also a craft type market there if you are interested in local handcrafts.

 

There are likely to be taxis/vendors outside the port offering trips to local villages and attractions on the way to and in the Nadi area ... these will be at very reasonable prices compared to what the ship will be charging!! As a first-time visitor, I'd suggest you have a look at them.

 

There are no animal parks or aquariums in the area that I have found, but nice places to spend half an hour or so include the Garden of the Sleeping Giant (orchid gardens established by Raymond Burr, aka Perry Mason on TV in the 1960's) and the nearby Sabeto mud pools, the Hindu temple in Nadi, and Viseisei Village (a historic but fairly prosperous Fijian community village that has been home to some of Fiji's past leaders ... if you can find a tour that can also takes you to a less prosperous more typical village, that would be better).

 

A hire car, as Gerko suggests, is also an option (and is what we are doing on the same cruise as you) but a tour is probably preferable for a first-time visitor unless you know exactly what and where you want to go.

 

Cheers

Bob