Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Fiji general Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
emmanuela 13:58 UTC 29 Oct 2008 | Just came back from Fiji, and was wondering, although I am not sure if this is the correct place to wonder, so please advise appropriate branch, anyway, I found Fiji rather over-estimated as a destination altogether, at least as far as sea or beaches are concerned (I only went to the Yasawas and the Mamanucas). What do you people think? |
mandja 23:23 UTC 29 Oct 2008 | "over-estimated as a destination altogether, at least as far as sea or beaches"..."I only went to the Yasawas and the Mamanucas" I was in the Yasawas (Oarsman) in July, and the beach there was brilliant. When you say "overestimated" - what were you expecting? Ive seen great beaches in Australia, New Caledonia (esp Isle of Pines), Thailand, and even in Portugal (Algarve) . All are wonderful in there own way. | 1
mandja 23:25 UTC 29 Oct 2008 | Othere good beaches Ive visited , now I think of them, were in California, Israel , Phillipines and Hong Kong. Id go back to any of these at once. Many had features not seen in Fiji, but that takes nothing away from Fiji (Coral Coast near the Fijian was good too). | 2
mandja 23:28 UTC 29 Oct 2008 | Incidentally, I spent my honeymoon in Greece (where I see that you are from) , in the southern Greek Islands - Dodecanese , and whilst I had a great time, must relate that as beaches go, they were a disappointment. We visited many beaches on 4 different islands and they were in the main pebbly and/or dirty. | 3
Taimarilyn 04:11 UTC 30 Oct 2008 | Yasawas beaches are fantastic - that's what I think! | 4
oldpro 06:52 UTC 30 Oct 2008 | It's not easy to account for expectations, and expectations play a big role in how you react to a place. "Over-estimations" probably say a lot about the people doing the estimating - on both sides of the under and over, and of course the 'just right' middle. To pick up on example mandja gives, I go quite often to Greece, and know exactly what sorts of beaches you'll find there. Certainly not coral 'sand', and no barrier reefs to protect the shoreline. It's not the tropics or south seas. The whole geography of beach structure is different. So standards and expectations have to be adjusted to what any place has to offer, and there are good and less good beaches of a wide variety in Greece. Of course, even the best may not be what someone is looking for ... and that's the issue here. What is someone looking for? I went to Fiji with not many expectations (except the south pacific paradise fantasy!). I just wanted to have a look at the reality of the place. The result? I have few complaints about Fiji in general, and the beaches in particular. There are no doubt other places on the planet which are "better", giving some criterion, but that does not concern me. IMO, I more often end up the winner of more positive experiences, the fewer expectations I have. | 5
hardnosethehighway 00:03 UTC 31 Oct 2008 | My understanding is that locals were underwhelmed by OP-but what did they expect? | 6
emmi22 00:33 UTC 31 Oct 2008 | i agree very much with oldpro! i would like to know more about what OP thought of fijian beaches and why, as i am heading there in feb. (wet season, btw? hope it will be fine) what were your expectations? what didnt yu like, what made up for it etc. i like the variety of beaches in the world, variety is what makes travel so great. i recently had a similar experience where, after being spoilt by sandy australian beaches, i headed to croatia for...cliffs and a bit of pebble, and some nasty cuts to the legs from rocks! however, the water was magnificent and the atmosphere of the places i visited was incredible. i now know what to expect from dalmatian/mediterranean beaches!!!!! | 7
emmanuela 14:34 UTC 31 Oct 2008 | I am not suggesting in any way that Greece has "better" beaches, so as to compare. Expectations is probably the most probable answer, as you put it. I did not expect to find dirty beaches and dirty water, that is, for example, sewers from the hotels running directly inside the water in front of them, which I did find. I have never been in the Pacific before and more than sure I had in mind the paradise-postcard-crystal water-coconut image. Still, I was in Samoa right before Fiji, which felt coming up exactly to the "postcard" level expectations, and at some moment I thought to myself that "OK if Samoa, actually looks like paradise, then Fiji should be like ten times better". And that last expectation failed me. | 8
Taimarilyn 20:42 UTC 31 Oct 2008 | Please tell us which ones so everyone else can avoid them! I have not come across that situation myself in the Yasawas but as I like to try different places now & then it would be good to know. | 9
oldpro 07:51 UTC 01 Nov 2008 | #8 how many places in Fiji did you visit? Where did you go? Or are you making a sweeping generalization about the entire country on the basis of only one place you visited? | 10
raro 08:53 UTC 01 Nov 2008 | Yes, OP. please, giving us more details on those places where the sewage is dumped right near the beach would be good. Also, that's illegal in Fiji (and most islnd countries), so maybe a complaint to the Fiji Visitors Bureau, which is in charge of accrediting accommodation places, might help. | 11
emmanuela 14:14 UTC 01 Nov 2008 | Particulars: Nabua Lodge, Nacula Island: muddy turbid water with dirt bubbles on the surface Naviti Island: Saw a sewer pipe running inside the sea. There were three resorts on the bay (Coconut, Korovu and Sandy White) so it was someone's but can't tell whose, and piles of plastic bottles and crap at both ends of the bay. Beachcombers: Dirt bubbles and bad smell when tide was down. Also went to Bounty island, Treasure island and Plantation. Obviously I havent been everywhere in Fiji, actually, as I said in the first place, just did a little round in a very particular area and more than sure I had in mind a dream vacation perfect place. That is exactly what I wanted to hear from other visitors. Did I make bad place choices? Did I have too high expectations? I mean anyone can throw away plastic bottles anywhere, so why wouldnt they do that in Fiji, as they are doing it in Greece or elsewhere. Am I unfair in my description of Fiji? That's exactly what I was wondering | 12
oldpro 16:30 UTC 01 Nov 2008 | I'm too literal-minded to be able to untangle the OP and posting #12. Hopefully I'll learn from someone else's attempt at a reply... | 13
mandja 11:25 UTC 02 Nov 2008 | Im sorry about your bad experience at Nabua Lodge on Nacula Island. I was also on Nacula Is (on the other side) in July this year (at Oarsmans Bay) and found none of the problems you did. In we fact had a wonderful stay.Oarsman is clean, pleasant and picture postcard quality - just what you said that you were looking for. Maybe Oarsmans is nicer as it is a little dearer? | 14