A few days layover in Fiji from NZ....or not

We (the husband and) are planning a three week trip to New Zealand in February, mostly for hiking, kayaking and exploring. We just realized it's a cheaper plane ticket to fly through Fiji. We're trying to decide if it's worth it to cut our 3 week trip in NZ to 2.5 weeks and spend 3-4 days on Fiji on a long layover. Are New Zealand beaches interesting enough that we'll get our fill of warm weather? (We live in an Arctic climate). Is it easy to spend 3 days on Fiji, logistically? Any recommendations on where to stay in Fiji? We pretty much just want to lie on the beach and snorkel for our beach time.

I live at 60N latitude and have done what you are considering.

We spent a week in the Yasawas and really enjoyed it. Three or four days is a bit short to see or do much in Fiji. In the off season you might find some specials at some of the resorts.

You could veg out on a beach for a day or two on the mainland. Or, if you don't mind constant travel, hop on the Flyer and spend one night in the Yasawas and come back the next day and fly out that night.

If it's winter back home anything south of the equator will feel warm. NZ is a great place and worth all the time you can afford to spend there.

Given you live in such a cold climate, then a brief stay in fiji would be good - water is much warmer there than NZ (even though summer in NZ). You can go to some nice places in Fiji a short boat ride (few hrs total transport) from the airport.

I agree. Fiji is an easy country for a few days on the beach, and there are great island resorts very close to the airport of Nadi.

3 weeks is tight for NZ, 2.5 is obviously even tighter. However you won't find tropical waters or guaranteed good weather in NZ, so for the beach Fiji is good. Coral Coast is easily accessible from Nadi although it is only swimmable at high tide.

Have a look at Navini Resort - easy to get to from Nadi. Only a short boat ride. A small island with great swimming. Much better than the Coral Coast, though the latter has some great resorts.

Have a look at the reviews on TripAdvisor and you may also get some other ideas there.

Do a stint in Fiji....why not? You're here anyway so do it :) Will be worth it for the (hotter) sun and warmer beaches....NZ is beautiful, but it's still not Fiji. You can go back knowing you've been to Fiji as well as NZ. Be careful where you spend those few days though....if you want to just relax ont he beach and do snorkeling, it would be best to look up a relatively nice affordable place to do it. Don't get me wrong, there are LOADS of places where you can do that but I just get tired of hearing tourists complain about the locals trying to con them into paying for places that don't turn out to be as expected. Try and get in touch with a nice local who can guide you! All the best :)