11 days in Fiji at easter

Hello Everyone,

My girlfriend and I are having 11 days in Fiji before and including Easter.

We have done lots of research and are still not sure where exactly to spend the time. we both want to do some relaxing on the beach and diving, but we also like some nature and hiking and home stay type stuff.

We've decided maybe mamanucas (beachcomber) isn't really for us, but we are still considering the Yasawas islands. This is where our questions start, we know we would have to get a ferry pass to hop from island to island, which is very expensive, but we are reading that on all the islands you have to pay for all your meals upfront and the food is very poor and expensive...is this actually true, or are all these places just getting the same bad reputation at Beachcomber ?

Also how good are the yawasas ? Are there places which are a little off the beaten track still ? or is it all really touristy ? we don't mind tourist places as we enjoy south east asia and sri lanka...but there is definitely a tipping point where the place loses it's identity and is just a beach and bar which could be anywhere !!! We're quite worried about the food, we like eating local when we go to new places.

also, reading about Tavueni too, would anybody recommend this above the Yawasas for the whole holiday ?

Thanks guys

we both want to do some relaxing on the beach and diving, but we also like some nature and hiking and home stay type stuff

Ovalau island (plus lagoon island 'resorts') - off Suva at east end of Viti Levu - is an alternative to the Yasawas that will give you all of this.
http://levukatourism-com.webs.com/

just a beach and bar which could be anywhere

This is a bit tricky to answer. Resorts anywhere, when they are purpose built, tend to have that generic feel about them.

I think you have to judge individual resorts in the Yasawas on their size. There's nothing really off the beaten track because it is just one string of islands. Some islands have more than one resort -- Waya is a good choice -- and the individual resorts differ in size, ammenities. My experience with the smaller resorts is that you can get some sense of where you are. On Waya you're near a couple of settlements and can see a bit of local life that way. Other resorts, such as Beachcomber is just that .. the one resort on a pancake island and nothing else.

Island/resort hopping increases the expense. I wonder what the worth of it is. Sure, technically they are different places, but in name as much as anything else.

we like eating local

As far as the expense is concerned, you'll see the price of the meals package up front, and make up your own mind based on your budget. I cannot judge anonymous reports of poor quality -- that has a lot to do with prior expectations (maybe people going to top end resorts expect more, I don't know). That said, the few resort experiences (budget/backpacker end) that I've had offered quite good meals as part of their package. In a couple of places, just home cooked meals by someone in the village. You can't get more 'local'than that, and if it's not up to standard, well, that's the way it goes with the Fijian eating experience. You shouldn't worry about it.

reading about Tavueni too, would anybody recommend this above the Yawasas for the whole holiday

Taveuni will give you a more rounded experience -- more to see and do there, from real town-sized places to a small home-stay kind of place. I'm not a beach-nut sort of person, but the beaches around Taveuni probably don't match the postcard white sand sort of images associated with the Yasawas. A practical issue concerns the time and expense getting there and back.

I thought Ovalau offered as much, and is more compact, especially if you have only 11 days to fill .. for the variety I preferred Ovalau and Taveuni to options in the Yasawas, although I did enjoy my stay on Waya island.

Another option to the Yasawas alone is to combine some beach time on just one island with time on the mainland (Viti Levu) with a visit to a homestay, village, in or near the national park. Lautoka would be good base (and another slice of Fijian life outside the resorts).

before and including Easter

One other word of caution. The Fijians take their religion seriously. Even on normal Sundays everything can be closed. If you're already in a resort, no problems. But do pay attention to what's running and what isn't around Easter time.

If you should consider the Yasawas, another hands up for Waya island, IMHO one of the most beautiful islands in the Yasawas. I stayed at Octopus Resort, in the 7 share dorm (no bunks, your own chest w/lock and side table w/reading light, clean shared facilities, great food). Nice house reef for snorkelling, (guided)hiking opportunity to the mountain peak (didn't do that one, but apparently quite strenuous), beautiful long beach for walk to the rocks, with a great view of the backdrop, not seen when on the resort.

In Ovalau there is a similar hike to a mountain peak. I was guided by the gardener from my accommodation, pretty steep hike, so didn't quite make it to the top. Caqalai, close to Ovalau, is a very small island with basic accomm., run by methodists (BYO booze), with great snorkelling.

there is also Leleuvia that you could combine with a trip to Ovalau, if you are coming from Sydney you can fly direct to Suva which makes it easier to get to the east coast places, you could also do a local cruise (4 days) of the Yasawas visiting different islands without resorts every day, the local cruises are only small. one other very interesting sight is the trip up the Navua river, and take the bus around Viti Levu Kings Road, that way in 11 days you have seen a lot of interesting places.

Thanks for the advice

It seems that we need a night in Nadi either side of our flight, so we have 8 whole days.

We have decided against the yawasas. They are just way too expensive and look a bit touristy.

so we are trying to decide between doing suva/ovalau/caqaui......or going to tavueni.....

which do you think would be the best for beach time and diving ? and to see some fijian nature and wildlife ?

and when these place are described as remote, they still have restaurants and a bar there don't they ? and dive shops ?

Thanks for your help everyone

8 days isn't a lot. I'd strongly recommend you don't island hop and just go to one place. If you want to visit Fiji at it's most laid back I'd suggest you hop on a plane to vanua levu. There's not a lot of tourism and people are way more friendly. Couple of days in savusavu to find your feet then maybe hire a car and explore. Fijian culture places a major emphasis on hospitality, amongst themselves as well as to visitors. I suggest that while in savusavu hang out at the market, have 'parsela' for lunch ($5 gets you fried fish, taro, fried onion and lemon, pretty traditional village fare). Take photos from home, chat to the ladies over a tea and later have a bowl or two of yaqona (kava) with the guys also at the market. Express an interest in learning more about Fijian culture and see what happens. Chances are you might just get an invite to visit for a meal or even to stay for a night or two. That's when the magic starts. If that happens take a sevusevu (dried kava roots, about 500g should do it, available at the market for $15-20) to give to your hosts. A great thank you present is to photograph your hosts, get the picture enlarged and framed and post it back. FYI I've been visiting vanua levu for 30 years. I've just completed a kayak trip around the island staying in villages along the way. Every night we gave our sevusevu and did the photo thing. Yeah it'll be pretty basic but if staying with people and experiencing the culture is your thing, there are few places where this is as easy as vanua levu.

when these place are described as remote, they still have restaurants and a bar there don't they ? and dive shops ?

'Remote' should be taken literally. That's why the resorts have meal plans. It is the only option.You are not going to find a village/town with a tourist strip lined with cafes and restaurants. That's not the way the tourist industry is set up. As often as not the resorts cannot even be reached with public transport -- you need to arrange a boat pickup with the resort itself. You can't even count on much from a settlement near a resort. There's not going to be a main street. There won't be any shops, possibly someone sells packets of noodles, tinned fish, and breakfast biscuits (of the sort Scott took on his antarctic expedition) from their home.

They will also tell you about diving facilities: some resorts focus on diving and have all you need, other do not.

There are a few small towns with out-of-resort facilities: Matei at north end of Taveuni, Savusavu on Vanua Levu (sort of a yachtie haven, and a more obvious and visible expat presence), and Levuka on Ovalau. Even in these cases the nearby resorts (such as Leleuvia and Caqalai near Ovalau) aren't necessarily nearby in the sense of a short walk to a tourist strip.

By the way, the word 'resort' has to be interpreted liberally. Anywhere with 2-3 bure will call itself a 'resort', as will a 5-star all inclusive retreat.

There is no shortcut to balancing all the factors you have to take into account: total expense, types of activities available, convenience of the logistics. You are going to have to compromise with something.

You don't have much time. Wherever you go, you have to assume a couple of days spent getting out and back to airport to get home. You might as well treat this as part of the vacation.

On pure logistics grounds - with your time available and what you want to do (and discounting the Yasawas) - going to Ovalau is easiest. I already mentioned that it is more compact. Taveuni is a big island and it takes proportionally more time (and more knowledge and pre-planning) to get around.

Levuka on Ovalau is basically a one-stop destination with everything else on your list planned from there, and with less travel time to cover the excursion possibilities. Browse the link I gave above and

http://www.owlfiji.com/

fijian nature and wildlife

Most of the wildlife will be under water. Bird watchers might have something to add. Other than that, it's insects.

Thanks everyone for your great advice. Tavueni or Ovalau sound perfect.

Really looking forward to the holiday now.

If most of the wildlife is under the water we might as well go for the place which has the best diving spots. I must admit I'm struggling to find a dive shop in Ovalau. I've sent emails and had one reply from a place saying they are closed.

I'm struggling to find a dive shop in Ovalau

Have you checked here?

http://leleuvia.com/index.html

Most of the resorts on Taveuni are more upmarket, so it might be a problem finding a package deal inside your budget. You can do it all yourself, by staying at less expensive guesthouse accom and going directly to a dive operator .. but that will be some tight arranging for 8 days.

You could browse here for info:

http://www.taveunidive.com/

I stayed at http://www.dolphinbaydivers.com on Taveuni and enjoyed both the diving and the cooking (mostly local dishes, beautifully presented - truly one of the high points of my stay in Fiji). The accommodation is simple (just what I wanted) and the setting is lovely. Plus there are plenty of (very low-key) activities so even if you don't dive/snorkel your day is not too monotonous. Also, the beachcombing is pretty great.
It is a bit of a production to get there though.

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