One of the only times I have ever used a travel agent was when I was travelling to Australia for a year (well, that was the plan anyway…) and I wanted to make sure all of the Visa stuff was done correctly (it was not…). But those are stories for another day! The reason I mention it is because it was my travel agent who suggested that on my way to Australia I should do a stopover trip in Fiji. This seemed like too amazing of an opportunity to pass up, so of course I didn’t! Fiji seemed to me like such an exotic, amazing location that I truly could not believe that it was also a place I could afford to go.
The trip was booked through a travel company called Awesome Adventures Fiji and the options on their website are not exactly the same as when I went in 2016 but they are quite similar.
I was booked into 3 separate “tours” called the ‘Bula Welcome Package’, the ‘Island Time’ and the ‘Moce Departure Package’. To book something similar now, you would want to choose ‘Arrival Pack’, ‘Coconut Cruiser’, and the ‘Departure Pack‘. The only difference I can see in this compared to what I did, is with the Coconut Cruiser you get 6 nights on a choice of 4 Yasawa Islands, whereas I had 6 nights with a choice of only 3 islands.
Before I get into my trip, I want to provide a little bit of info about going to Fiji. Then for fun, I’m going to tell you a full recap of my trip. Sound good? Okay, let’s get into it:
Top 5 Things to Do in Fiji
- Tour the Yasawa Islands
If you have the time, I would not skip spending some time on a few different Yasawa Islands. They are so stunning and unique. 1-2 nights per island is enough and they are a nice way to unplug. The Yasawa Flyer makes travelling between islands a breeze
- Snorkel the Coral Reefs – and maybe even see some sharks or manta rays!
Fiji has some of the best snorkelling, and although there is no guarantee, seeing manta rays would be amazing! You could increase your chances of seeing them by going to Manta Ray Island!
- Partake in a traditional Kava ceremony
Kava is a beverage or extract made from the Piper methysticum plant. In Fiji it’s a popular drink that is used in ceremonies for relaxation. The name “kava” comes from the Polynesian word “awa,” which means bitter. It makes your mouth feel numb, but it doesn’t last very long, overall it is said to have a calming effect.
- Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple
The Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple is a Hindu temple in Nadi, Fiji. It is the largest Hindu temple in the Pacific. It is at the southern end of the main road through Nadi. It is very brightly coloured and beautiful. Sadly, I did not visit this when I was there, as I didn’t know about it before my trip. Make sure you check it out!
- Sawa-I-Lau Caves
This is a super cool “secret” (not at all a secret but it feels very secret when you are there!) cave that is hidden into an island. It’s been created by the erosion of limestone and is so picturesque and the water is amazingly clear! I did get to go here and it was amazing.
How to get there: I don’t normally touch on how to get places very often, because if you found this, I am sure you know how Google works, but I do want to mention that Fiji Airways does stopover flights if you are going to somewhere like Australia or New Zealand. This is what I did, and I highly recommend if you have time in your journey to add this to check out how it works here. It’s important to note that Fiji Airways is one of the nicest airlines I have flown with too! Economy here feels like Business on our less-than-luxury North American airlines!
Where to stay, Budget and Bougie: *please note, some of these are affiliate links and I will earn a few shillings if you book using one of them. I will be sending good vibes if you do!
Nadi:
Hostel:
- Budget: Bamboo Backpackers, shared dorm room $12-16 CAD per night
- Bougie(ish): Bluewater Lodge, shared dorm room $20-25 CAD per night
*Nadi doesn’t have a ton of hostels, even all hostels have private room options, so as long as you’re cool with basic needs, you will enjoy either option here.
Hotel/Resort:
- Budget: Fiji Gateway Hotel, Deluxe Room with King Bed, $196 CAD per night
- Bougie: Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay, Lagoon View with King Bed, $592 CAD per night
Yasawa Islands:
Hostels:
A lot of the hostels I am looking up now seem to have roughly the same price point. If you read further you will hear about where I stayed. I recommend these three over the three I stayed at:
- Octopus Resort, Waya Island, 14 bed mixed dorm, $35-40 CAD per night
*there is also a required cost of approx. $100 CAD per day for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
- Blue Lagoon Beach Resort, Nacula Island, 8 bed mixed dorm, $35-40 CAD per night
*there is also a required cost of approx. $100 CAD per day for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
- Barefoot Kuata Island, Kuata Island, 7 bed dorm, $37-45 CAD per night
Hotel/Resort:
Many of the below options cross the same price range, and all have several tiers of rooms available, so all resorts can be made more budget or bougie depending on your room and food inclusion choices! I recommend these few:
- Nanuya Island Resort, Nanuya Island, $224-396 CAD per night
- Paradise Cove Resort, Naukacuvu Island, $341-893 CAD per night
- Sheraton Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island, $560-915 CAD per night
- Mana Island Resort & Spa, Mana Island, $420-910 CAD per night
With all the housekeeping items out of the way, now I will get into the full story of my time in Fiji. Learn from what I did, some was great, some was not. And if nothing else, you can use it as a lesson to triple check your travel documents! I’m trying to provide a lot of details, but also convey why I may feel a little bit sour toward Fiji though no fault of it’s on. I was there for 9 days, so this is pretty long winded!
I started my trip by visiting a friend in California, and then I flew from Los Angeles to Fiji. When I had originally planned this entire trip I was going to be going to Australia for a year and getting a job. Things changed, and I was only going to be staying there for 2 months. I say this to emphasize the fact that financially I had ABSOLUTELY no business going on this trip, and I was on a freakin’ TIGHT budget. Anyway, the flight from Los Angeles to Nadi Airport in Fiji is somewhere between 10 and 11 hours. I was in economy, but the flight was sooo nice. Fiji Airways is one of the better airlines I have flown with. The seat reclined really well and I was actually able to get some sleep. Upon arrival, I had to find the Awesome Adventures Fiji office to get my transfer to the first hotel. This was super hard to find, even though the airport is really small. The office seemed to have no idea I was supposed to be there, and had no real plan in place to transfer me to my hotel. But, they figured it out and I got in a 9 passenger cargo van with some guy and he started driving me, well, somewhere I guess. Then, we stopped on the side of the road where there was a station wagon taxi and he told me to get inside that vehicle instead. I did it, even though I did assume this was the point of my trip where I was about to be kidnapped.
That didn’t happen and the van actually went to the hotel I was spending my first night at in Nadi, Aquarius on the Beach on Wailoaloa Beach. This place was both a hotel and hostel when I went, but it has been refurbished and doesn’t appear to be anymore. Now, for one night in a budget room with a queen bed the cost is $85 CAD. It’s a good thing they decided to refurbish, as when I first arrived I thought it seemed a bit run down. The bathroom was kind of gross and the dorm room was very, very basic. It was on a road with several other accommodations of varying price points (one I will mention in a bit). This was probably somewhere in the middle cost/amenity wise, as it did have a pool and restaurant, but the room I stayed in was not really nice.
I was in a 4 bunk dorm room, but there was only one other person staying there who barely spoke to me (I think they might have been working at the hotel), so it was kind of lonely. For the majority of my time there, I just read my book and relaxed by the pool. I did try to go for a walk in search of an ATM, but had no luck and instead changed my leftover USD for Fiji currency. As soon as I left the main road things started to all look a bit similar and I was a bit nervous to go off alone and get lost (I didn’t pay for any data on this trip as once you are on the Yasawa Islands you have no service anyway – again another thing that seems to have changed as I look at things now, 7 year later). You will begin to notice the theme of my time in Fiji was that it was nice, but if my budget had been better, or had I planned a bit more of it myself rather than attaching to a tour I think it would have been a better time. This hotel was fine, but I likely would have had a better time at Bamboo Travellers or Smugglers Cove down the road simply because they were backpacker hostels and I would have met more people. However, for one night after a long journey to get to Fiji, it was fine. It ended up being a good thing that I didn’t spend time exploring, because I decided to email my travel agent to ask him when he would be sending me my paperwork for my Australian travel visa (that I required to enter the country). And it turns out he didn’t file that paperwork, so with spotty internet I had to scramble to get him everything he needed to make sure I’d be able to get into the country when I arrived. I wasn’t too worried, I know they process pretty fast but I was REALLY annoyed. That night was one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen though, on Wailoaloa Beach!
My second day in Fiji I was off to Port Denarau to board the Yasawa Flyer and start my island hopping adventure! For the next 6 nights I would be travelling to 3 different islands, staying 2 nights on each. On this portion of the tour, there would be 3 meals per day provided, one activity included from each island, and no wifi. The no wifi part really is important to how this story progresses.
You get to choose with the tour which islands you want to stay at, and which order too. When I booked, you could also choose 1, 2, or 3 coconuts (these represented the level of luxury you would be staying at).I chose 1 coconut because it was the cheapest. As well, I decided to go to the island that was furthest away on my first day. On the boat, there is wifi, so I took that time to make sure I had all my plans laid out, and sent a few emails to let everyone know I was okay. The first boat ride out to the first island was about 4.5 hours. I chose to spend my first two nights on Nacula Island at Nabua Lodge.
Nacula Island is beautiful, it is very green and the beaches are lovely. It is the third-largest and is the second-farthest north in the group of islands, and has 4 resorts on it. Nabua Lodge was situated just down the beach from a cute tea house.
I stayed in a dorm room with two other younger travellers (one American and one Australian) who were both really lovely. The room was pretty basic, but it was fine. There was a bathroom in the same cabin which was nice though, albeit there was a dead cockroach in the shower which gave me the heebie jeebies. This place also had private cabins.
Looking it up now, it apparently has wifi! Wow, when I stayed they turned the electricity off at night. A lot can change in 7 years! The food here was soooo good though, that was a definite highlight. I did a lot of relaxing in a hammock near the beach. The included excursion from this island was a visit to the Sawa-I-Lau Caves which were super cool. The guides we had even took us from the main cave, underwater to a dark and scary cave. I almost chickened out, but the group we were with convinced me to do it, and I am glad I did! Included with our stay here as well was a 30 minute massage and that was lovely. The staff here were so kind and really made it an awesome place to stay. They performed dances, fire dances, and included us in a Kava ceremony. It tastes kind of like dirt, and makes your mouth and tongue numb.
After my stay here, as much as I enjoyed it, I had heard good things from some other travellers about the island I was heading to next, so I was happy to leave and keep seeing new things. I also convinced myself that things would get even nicer from what people had been telling me. The next ride on the Yasawa Flyer was shorter, and this is really where the trip took a turn. I was using some wifi to email, and I wrote what date my flight to Australia was. And I realized, the dates for when my flight was, and what I was currently doing did not line up to when I was out of booked accommodations. I had enough time to fire off an email to my travel agent about it. By this point I really hated this guy.
Then I arrived at White Sandy Beach Resort on Naviti Island. This island was also very beautiful, it has lots of trees and all the villages are connected by footpaths. One cool thing about this island is that it is home to the Yasawa High School, the only high school in the Yasawa Islands!
I immediately had a few positives about this place, and a few negatives. Good stuff: open beach with a beautiful view of the sunset, the beds had mosquito nets, and there were lots of board games. Negative: nasty communal toilets pretty far from the room and there were sooooo many flies, like a regular house fly. They were super annoying. The people staying in the dorm I was in were really awesome though, and they made the time there more fun. I even still have 3 or 4 of them on social media now!
The mood I was in from my discovery on the boat was pretty foul. I realized I needed to figure out two extra nights of accommodations on an absolutely razor thin budget, and also ration the rest of the cash I had. Alcoholic drinks and snacks were not included in our packages, so I had to go without for the rest of the time I was there. And honestly, that is a bummer. I’m not a big drinker most of the time, but a beer with new friends is nice!
Anyway, the excursion I was able to go on from this island was to take a boat out to a reef and go snorkelling. I’m a pretty nervous snorkeler, made even more so on a windy day, which this was. The water was rough as hell, and although I did get in and see some beautiful fish, I wasn’t in there long. The two guys that were also on the tour said they saw some reef sharks, but I didn’t. After the excursion, a girl, Shannon, and I walked to Honeymoon beach, and it was gorgeous but really windy.
That night at dinner, a small cockroach fell from the ceiling and got tangled in my freshly washed hair. This place was really bad for cockroaches in the main dining hall, but especially so in the bathroom. After dark I only went inside the toilets if it was super necessary. There was no electricity at night and when you would shine your flashlight in, all you could see and hear was cockroaches scattering. So gross. I mean, I know that it’s a pretty remote area and there isn’t much to be done about it, but I was definitely feeling like it was a 1 coconut problem and people staying at nicer places were not dealing with this at the same level.
For my last island, I chose South Sea Island which is a very tiny island that is popular with day-trippers coming in from Nadi, but only had about 20-30 dorm style beds. They have since added some small private cabins which look really nice. This island is technically the Mamanuca Islands, but is still accessible from the Yasawa Flyer.
When I arrived there, I was feeling really good about my decision to stay here, the pool looked lovely, the beds were pretty comfy, the food was good, and the vibe felt right. I decided to see how much it would cost to add another night to my stay here to eat up one of the two nights I needed to find accommodations for. The per night price was $142 CAD which was a lot relative to what I had paid for the whole trip, but not unreasonable so I decided to go for it. There were 3 cool British girls there, who I had actually met on my cave excursion. I slept really well the first night!
The next morning, some of us noticed that there was a pretty serious bed bug infestation though… There wasn’t much I could do about that but resign myself to knowing everything would need to be taken to a laundromat in Australia!
From this island we went on a really fun booze cruise (where the drinks were included!) called the Sea Spray Cruise. I didn’t drink much because I wasn’t feeling that great, but the boat was a great time anyway. The food was really good too.
The boat also takes you to the same island that the Tom Hanks film ‘Castaway’ was shot on. You have the option to snorkel over to it, or take the tiny boat. I snorkelled so I don’t have any pictures on it which was kind of a bummer.
For my extra day on South Sea Island, there were no more excursions included, so I found a really big book and started reading it by the pool. I was super tired because the dorm was filled with loud people partying the night before. The day trippers there made the island feel very crowded for several hours, but it wasn’t too bad. They were not allowed up to the dorm area, but I had a hammock and a book, so I was good to relax for the day.
When I arrived back in Nadi, I was taken back to the Aquarius Resort for what should have been my last night in Fiji. Once I arrived, I went in search of where I could book one more night for a cheap price, and settled on the Bamboo Travellers Inn because it had a little cafe and didn’t cost too much. This is the same place as Bamboo Backpackers link above. I ended up having dinner with some guy named Chris and we agreed to meet to go for a walk since neither of us got to look at the area too much. This was something I did actually want to do, but I ended up falling asleep and totally standing him up. The accommodations here were basic, but I would have preferred to stay here over Aquarius simply for the social aspect and the cheaper food!
Because of the drama with the poorly booked schedule, I felt like I didn’t have as much fun in Fiji as I hoped simply because every extra dollar I needed to spend stressed me out. I would really love to return someday and follow some of the recommendations I have provided at the start of this article, and redo some of the ones I enjoyed without worrying so much about how much everything costs.
