Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Caqalai or Nananu i ra Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
jaimeo 06:47 UTC 02 May 2008 | Hi My fiancee and I are travelling round Fiji in July- we have arranged accommodation on Caqalai which LP describes as the perfect backpacker island. LP is also keen on Nananu i ra though. We were planning 2/3 nights on C and then 2 on Nananu i ra. However, we are now considering 4 nights on C and missing Nir in favour of going to the Abaca Village/ doing some trekking. Has anyone been to both Caqalai and Nananu-i-ra? Is it worth leaving the first early in order to squeeze in a day or two at the latter? Ive been looking at it but so far its hard work- however Caqalai's resort has already confirmed my dates and the option to extend. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks Jaime |
bulabear 08:33 UTC 03 May 2008 | You cannot compare those two Islands. They are as different as an apple and an orange. It starts with the size. Caqalai is approximately 6 hectare small and you can walk around the Island in 20 minutes, whereas Nananu-I-Ra has approx. 355 hectare and no, I did not try to walk around. Caqalai is flat and surrounded by a wonderful white sandy beach and offers only 1 basic backpacker accommodation, whereas Nananu-I-Ra has several hills,grassland and several more or less nice beaches. You did not say where you want to stay on Nanau-I-Ra? There are at least 7 Resorts - most definetly are not in the backpacker price range. Bethams is probably what comes closest to Caqalai island. If you have only a short time I would recommend choosing one Island and try to get to know your surrounding better. It will also take you at least 5- 6 hours to travel from Caqalai to Nananu-I-Ra. | 1
oldpro 06:01 UTC 04 May 2008 | Once on a beach, the experience starts getting similar. So, while the two islands are different, I wonder if they are different enough. One advantage of Caqalai is that it is close to Ovalau, which in itself is a good place to do some jungle walks and have a look at the local culture. Anyway, I''d think it would make for a more interesting experience to visit caqalai (maybe side trip to Ovalau/Levuka), then spend the rest of the vacation trekking. | 2
jaimeo 00:40 UTC 19 May 2008 | thanks! after reading more about the islands we have decided to go with caqalai for 4 nights. We will definitely see Levuka too for a couple of nights. I couldnt really get many consistent reviews of the accomm on Nananu-i-ra whereas LP describe Caqalai as the perfect backpacker island so I went with that! Thanks again Jaime | 3