6 weeks in Fiji - Trip Report

Hello,

its been a while since my last post. I said I'd post my experiences, but I've been busy setting up my life once again...

Now, however I'll try to share something...

First we arrived to Nadi. 3 days there - not much to say, a tourist gateway which has a good amount of "questionable" street vendors trying to fool to buy things, beware...

Flew to Savusavu, where we stayed for the next 3 weeks, taking it easy. Savusavu town has a few restaurants and shops - of these, of course MH is the best stocked one - I prefer the north end MH instead of the southern one... Of restaurants, the indian next to Farmers supermarket has the best foods - best value. Second best is straight opposite the bus station, (someones) foodcourt or something like this... There's Savusavu hot springs to see, but these aren't really "OMG" jawdropping springs, don't expect too much..

We once took the bus to Labasa and back, spending a few hours there. Labasa as a town is a lil bit bigger than Savusavu, and we ate some excellent food, but it feels crowded. The trip itself has some EXCELLENT views but not a lot of them - depends on what you have accustomed to, of course.. But a few really really nice views. Considering that there isn't lot to do in Savusavu, this might be the pick of the bunch, but requires one day, and sitting in a bus for hours might not be the ideal vacation activity for many.

Then we headed to Taveuni by Bus-Ferry combination. Be sure to grab ALL OF THE SAMOSAS on the bustrip stop from the shop that is on the right side of the road. The best samosas of all time, and let me tell you as a vegetarian I've had samosas so many times from so many different vendors that I think I know at least partially what I am talking about...

In Taveuni we spent 1 week in Lavena, staying in Lavena Lodge of course... Rats rattle in the walls in the night and spiders crawl here and there after dark, plus there is only a few hours of electricity, the people don't understand vegetarians fully, and it might not be the "perfect" place in terms of quality, but who needs it when you're in a place like that! Really good place, and we went to all of the sights - Lavena Coastal Walk and the waterfalls there, Tavoro waterfalls (secret bonus level: swim left side to a "red rock", climb up and you can jump from the ledge - just don't jump directly into the fall!! About 4m drop), Waitabu marine park (THIS WAS SHIT, totally. Of all the places I've snorkelled this might be the worst EVER) and Vidawa Rainforest Hike (This was really nice, recommended if you like walking and nature!)

After Lavena, we stayed 2 days in the west side of the island, in Chottus Motel. Excellent value, very very good, recommended. Got a trip to the Rainbow Reef - (Vuna Reef to be exact), very cheap, and of course the reef was magnificient at least in terms of coral diversity and health - Not much fish, most small ones, but pleasant experience.

Then we headed for Ovalau - had to stay one day in Suva, and then we headed there...

Ovalau... Well, I'm glad I went but it wasn't for me. The "old capital" charm had vanished by the time I got there for sure! I wouldn't spend more than 1 night here...

Then off to Caqalai for 3 nights.. This was of excellent value, but as the amount of people decreased day by day, the quality and amount of food went down too, this was a bad thing. Not really vegetarian friendly - basically they do the same food and pick just the meat pieces out, sometimes they use meat stock or broth and won't consider it as meat.. But yah, EXCELLENT SNORKELLING with different types of places, "normal" reef on the southwest side and a dropoff reef on the northeast side... This dropoff is gooooooood, but requires some swimming.

Then we spent one day in Suva, and flew to another country from Nadi....

General stuff.... Fijians are very friendly, the price range caters for everyone and outside Suva and Nadi you can experience some of the "real fijian" culture.

Hope this helps someone!

Now that's how you write a trip report!

Can't wait to read more.

Thanks for the info.

Good to get some feedback after all your research. I had the same experience with food at Caqelai - I'm not vegetarian but quality & quantity was greatly lacking.

A+ on your report.

And I loved the samosa advice !