Seeking recommendations/advice for lodging and excursions on Fiji

[lbeck]

My wife and I are doing the Princess Au/NZ cruise in February with a few other couples. Then we (just the 2 of us) will spend 3 days/4 nights in Fiji on the way back home to the U.S. The other couples are heading back home after Auckland.

 

My ideal stay at Fiji would be a grass hut (with plumbing and air conditioning, of course) in a remote location. I'm not particularly interested in staying at a high rise hotel complex in a big city. Mainly, we want the romance of a pacific paradise, but my wife isn't too keen on roughing it, so we will need some place for her to plug in her curling wand.

 

Scenic beauty is our passion. I don't know much about Fiji (well...., nothing, actually) so I'm starting from scratch. I know that there are several islands in the vicinity, but don't know how accessible they are from where we fly into NAN. Staying on the main island would be better if there is scenic beauty at a remote location. We have made a couple of trips to Hawaii and our favorite island is Kauai. We were fortunate enough to spend a few days in a motel room close to Poipu Beach about 10 years ago and the location was ideal. The room overlooked a lava cliff with the waves crashing against the rocks. My first visit we spent a couple of days in Honolulu and vowed never to stay there again. It was just like any big city (e.g., Miami) and I never got the beauty except for a couple of excursions away from the city.

 

I hate to throw cost in as a caveat, but we are of course looking for something within reason. The reason we are stopping in Fiji is that the stopover is free in our AUK – LAX itinerary on Air Pacific, and I have a few more days vacation time to spend while on the other side of the world. I figured that 3 days at a couple of hundred dollars per day for lodging and food is a pretty good deal since we’re in the neighborhood. But I’m not prepared to do many short-hop flights or private boat tours to get to some remote island or to pay a fortune at a posh resort. We of course will have all of our luggage that was packed for the 2-week cruise, so it will be difficult to board a small boat to some remote island. Of course, if there is some way for us to stow our bags at the airport the small boat ride is doable. Again, staying on the main island would be better suited for us unless those of you in the know would recommend against it and an excursion is doable logistically and financially.

 

Well, I guess I’ve presented enough information to give a flavor for what we are looking for. I will appreciate any advice that you can provide if you have made the trip or are familiar with the area.

 

Thanks for your help,

 

Lee

[andydee]

Hi

There is almost universal opinion that the best of Fiji is to be found on it's islands, not the mainland if you are a water person. That is because the beaches on the mainland become mudflats when the tide is out and the snorkelling at mainland resorts doesn't come close to the fabulous underwater treats to had at the islands. There is a wide variety of resorts close to the mainland reachable by boat transfers. You can Google Fiji Island resorts and your best bet may be to do a search on the Trip Advisor website to find the resort that best meets your holiday and budget requirements.

Good luck

Andy

[lbeck]

Thanks, Andy. That's the kind of info that I'm looking for, and I will browse Google and the sites that it returns. However, most of those will likely be sites of the places themselves, which of course will be positive and show beautiful pictures.

 

Which of the close islands are recommended? Anyone stayed there?

 

Thanks

[gdlamberth]

The link below is to pictures from our Tahiti to Fiji cruise and includes pictures of Starfish Blue (a 3BDR/3BA) house on the beach where we stayed while in Fiji.

 

Starfish Blue's homepage is http://www.starfishblue.com/rates.htm

 

We would recommend them unequivicly (SP?) However based on this site

 

http://www.vrbo.com/56630

 

Beth Carson (the lady who owns Starfish Blue) is booked 6 Feb 08-5 Mar 08. Depending on your dates there is an opening starting 6 Mar. In general, we've used VRBO.com for everything from ski trips to Hawaii, European and south Pacific trips and have never been disappointed. IF Starfish doesn't work for you VRBO has several properties that may be of interest.

 

You may also want to try this site:

 

http://www.cyberrentals.com/fiji/s/1329/fa/find.squery

 

As an aside I'd definitely stay our of Nadi and Pacific Harbor.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/USNA72/TahitiToFiji2007?authkey=bgCHIfGiGEk

 

Greg

[lbeck]

Thanks, Greg.

 

The information that you have provided is very helpful. I accessed the sites that you recommend and the the Starfish Blue looks very interesting. I appreciate your advice about Nadi and Pacific Harbor. I suspected that those wouldn't be the venues of choice.

 

I'm going to continue my search for a week or so to see what comes up. I hate to book on the first day or so of my search. I did that for my stay at Sydney but may not have made my best choice according to the advice of some on these boards.

 

I appreciate your help.

 

Lee

[mipps]

Be a little careful as there was a coup there in Dec 2006 and things still arnt that rosey.

This also works in your favour. In NZ they are doing pay one night and get 2 x more for $1. My advice is always to barter by email direct mention the coup and im sure you will get a good deal

My favorite main land one was Outrigger Reef on the coral coast followed by Shangri la Fijian Resort just up the road. 45 mins by private car transfer

http://www.outrigger.com/hotels_detail.aspx?hotel=37

http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/yanucaisland/fijianresort

 

If you want to stay close to Nadi have a look for Denarau

www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/fiji

these didnt really give us that "fijian feel"

 

off the mainland

If you are a lil younger and want to party try Beachcomber Island

http://www.beachcomberfiji.com/

 

getting up a lil more in price

Castaway Island Resort

http://www.castawayfiji.com/index2.html ... loved this place

 

Treasure Island Resort

http://www.fiji-treasure.com/

 

 

Keep an eye on your countries travel warnings and double check your insurance will cover your stay

 

We have fallen in love with Fiji and its people and will return when there is democracy.

 

cheers

Scott

[Pacific Sandy]

Hi - One thing you should consider is that February is the low season in Fiji. Most of their tourists come from Australia and don't go there in their summer. So, you can really bargain for rooms. We went in February and were advised by a friend in Australia to go without reservations and call up Resorts and make an offer on a room.

 

We were nervous to do this but gave it a try and we were SO glad we did. We called the Plantation Island Resort and said we wanted an oceanfront bure and only wanted to spend $100 dollars per night. They said OK. We flew to the Island and were given a gorgeous bure that would normally go for $400 per night.

 

We also did a Blue Lagoon Cruise which went up into the Yasawa Islands. It was, by far, the most wonderful experience we have ever had. Only 32 passengers and frequent stops at the most beautiful islands we have ever been to. The snorkelling was phenominal.

 

If you are planning to stay 3 - 4 days, I highly recommend that you get off the main island and go to one of the Yasawas or Taveuni.

 

We love Fiji so much and hope you have a great time.

[lbeck]

Scott,

 

Those are definately good URLs for leads on where to stay. I plan to search them more fully over the next week or so as we hone in on a place to stay.

 

Sandy,

 

Your recommendation of waiting until we arrive on the island is tempting, but I don't want to spend the first day searching and haggling. Thanks for your recommendation of the other islands. I'll definately check them out. One determining factor will be transportation from NAN. We will be arriving at 9:10 pm so will probably need to spend the first night close to the airport. If we're lucky, I may be able to stay some place where we can stow most of our luggage from the previous 2 weeks at the place where we stay the first night and travel lighter while in Fiji.

 

I'll definately look into the Blue Lagoon Cruise.

[mipps]

stopover hotel

 

we use tokatoka if we need to stay close to the airport (right across the road/free shuttle)

http://www.pacific-resorts.com/fiji/tokatoka-resort/index.html

 

not as flash as the resorts but good food good service

 

:)

[Pacific Sandy]

We use TokaToka as well. It is a great stopover Hotel. Large bungalows. Very clean. Nice pool.

[lbeck]

Thanks.

 

At this point I'm considering several options.

 

We have another couple that we're trying to talk into making the trip with us. If we're successful, We'll probably stay at the Starfish Blue, but a 3 Br house is a little much for just my wife and I. I've checked and it appears to be available for the nights we would stay.

 

I checked on the Blue Lagoon cruises and their time slots for the shortest cruise (3-4 days) don't match our stay.

 

Another option is to stay at the tokatoka and to use that as a base from which to taks a couple of excursions to the other islands (day trips). The advantage to this option is that it eliminates the need to cart luggage around to the other islands that we may visit.

 

Some of the other resorts look good but transportation to/from the island(s) and NAN are issues. I'm still looking at the recommended resorts - especially those off of the main island since one of the posters says that it isn't the best of the Fiji group

 

Thanks to everyone for your help.

[trdltli]

There is luggage storage available at the airport.

Reasonable rates and a real person on duty.

No need to drag all your stuff with you.

[lbeck]

There is luggage storage available at the airport.

Reasonable rates and a real person on duty.

No need to drag all your stuff with you.

That's great! We used to have that in the States but security forced the elimination of all airport storage. Since 911 you can't even leave your bags unattended without the possibility of them being confiscated. Not complaining. I've just assumed that all airports had no on-site storage.

[2manyplaces]

Just now saw this thread. I researched Fiji a few months ago and found some real experts on Tripadvisor.com. Just type Fiji in the search box. Give them details of type of accommodations, whether you prefer quiet or lots of activity, type of water sports, etc. and you will receive several suggestions of islands/resorts to research.

[lbeck]

Just now saw this thread. I researched Fiji a few months ago and found some real experts on Tripadvisor.com. Just type Fiji in the search box. Give them details of type of accommodations, whether you prefer quiet or lots of activity, type of water sports, etc. and you will receive several suggestions of islands/resorts to research.

Great advice. Thanks.

 

Right now I'm still working on the Starfish Blue option (trying to talk the couple on the fence to fall on my side). If that doesn't pan out I'll need to continue my search and definately will do the tripadvisor.com search.

[2manyplaces]

Good luck. I have seen many recommendation for vrbo rentals on Trip Advisor. Also, if you are possibly considering a cruise in Fiji there is an Australian company called Captain Cook Cruises that does cruises of up to a week in the Yawawas and Mamanucas. We took a Captain Cook cruise on the Great Barrier Reef and it was great. Very small ships, and consequently you can't compare them to a big ship experience, but we were two of only 5 Americans on board. It was mostly Aussies and Kiwis and they are wonderful people!! If you are up for that type of experience, it was terrific.

[gdlamberth]

You'll find a Starfish Blue write up on Trip Advisor. Also one on Wananavu, where you can use all of the facilities while staying at Starfish.

 

Greg

[cheznandy]

Hi ibeck,

 

I have cruised to Fiji and also done land based there. We stayed at Octopus Resort for our honeymoon in 2004, beautiful island in the Yasawa group, they now have a pool and new beachfront restaurant, so check out their website, they have packages for 3 to 7 nights which include tranfers from Nadi/Lautoka and meals, the island is stunning, and you can snorkel from the beach, very laid back and relaxing.

 

We also spent a week at Club Fiji, run by an Aussie/Kiwi couple, this is about 10 minutes from Nadi airport, we used this as our base to do some tours, cheaper to hire a taxi driver for the day, we paid $60 AUD and he took us where we wanted to go, make sure you take a trip to Natadola beach, about an hour from Nadi, it is stunning. The resort is on the bay, this is not a great swimming beach, but they have a small pool.

 

If you decide to stay on the mainland you can organise to do island hop day tours which include 2/3 islands, lunch etc,

 

Please feel welcome to come over to our P&O Australia forum, you might get some great ideas for your Sydney/New Zealand cruise and as most of our cruises go to the South Pacific.

Hope you have a great holiday/cruise:)

 

Chez

xx

[lbeck]

Thanks for all of the advice and comments. One thing for sure - time doesn't stand still. Our cruise begins next month. I haven't been able to talk the other couple into going with us, so I don't think we'll be renting the starfish blue.

 

Right now, I'm thinking of staying at the Sheraton Fiji Resort on Nadi as a base camp and booking a day-trip with South Sea Cruises to one of the outer islands. I understand that the Nadi beaches aren't the greatest, so we probably will do our swimming and snorkeling on the day trip and just watch sunsets for the other 2 days and maybe so some shopping or other touristy things.

 

I haven't booked anything yet, so am still open to advice. The other 2 places for lodging that made it to our final runners-up are Matamanoa Island Resort and Bounty Island Resort, but the www presentations didn't look as good as the Sheraton..... But I know that pictures can lie - so let me know if the others would be better choices. Or if there is another place or plan that we should consider.

 

Again, thanks for all the help (I need it!).:)

 

Lee

[lbeck]

Thanks to all who responded. I have booked at the Sheraton Fiji Resort with full awareness of its shortcomings. On balance, I decided it is my best bet for security and value. We will be arriving in Nadi at aroung 10 pm if the flight is on time and having transportation to the resort and someone to check us in is important. The Sheraton also has shuttle service to adjoining areas (and maybe to Nadi) and is close to the departure point (with free shuttle) for our cruise to the outer islands. The other resorts on Denarau Island are more highly recommended but at about twice the cost and the Denarau Island beaches are apparently not great no matter where you stay.

 

I have tentatively decided on a 9 am - 6 pm Malolo island tour that includes lunch and 5 hours on the island. This will give us time for a short hike and a dip in the more pristine waters of the Mamanuka islands.

 

So we'll sleep in and be lazy the first day, have a long cruise/hike/swim day in the middle of our stay, and spend the final day packing and preparing for our trip back to the States after our 3-week Australia/NZ/Fiji tour.

 

Thanks again for all the advice.