Caqalai and Fiji weather

I was just about to book a flight to Indonesia, (my favorite chill-out place), but then stumbled upon some very enticing posts about Caqalai, in Fiji.

The accommodation in the Caqalai huts looks very basic, which I'm fine with. I'm wondering though, whether it gets pretty hot and stuffy at nights in the huts, without a fan. (I'm assuming there's no fan!) I'm hoping to go for around 3 months, from April to July. Is there a bit of a sea breeze that kicks up at night to cool things down?

Is there usually an electricity socket in the huts? (where I could charge up my ipod etc). And, are there hammocks to laze around in? (I am doing some very careful planning of my three month snooze-fest!!)

One last question...what would be the fastest way from Suva to caqalai?

thanks heaps in advance,

Emma
ps for anyone whose interested I've just found a pretty cheap fare from Sydney to Nadi, (return,with air pacific $440). Seems like a good price to me.

Edited by: emma33

Not a lot of forum users have much to say about these places, so I'll pass on what I know.

Leleuvia is another place to consider .. next door to Caqalai, but dropped off the tourist map for a while due to management change. Leleuvia was the island I stayed at so can't comment personally about Caqalai. Overall, facilities/costs are similar (maybe Leleuvia has inched ahead on both after renovations).

Someone with direct experience with Caqalai will have to tell you about the electricity situation. On such low-end resort islands the electricity, if present at all is from generators. Leleuvia didn't even have a generator when I was there. Using electrical outlets (for recharging) is sometimes only possible in the public areas, not guaranteed in individual huts.

I don't know about the earlier months in your time frame. Later it can get cool enough in the evenings (getting down towards 20 degrees) that you don't even have to worry about sea breezes. Light fleece/sweater for evenings didn't hurt, as well as light wind/rain jacket.

Hammocks are almost a necessity of life in Fiji .. can't imagine them being absent on Caqalai. Perhaps bring one of your own, just in case demand exceedes supply.

Getting to either island from Suva. You could arrange transport with the resort directly (fastest, most direct). This will require you to take public bus to a certain pickup point on Viti Levu (bridge at a river, can't recall the name .. they'll tell you). They get you there with motorboat, cost of boat is around FJ$30 oneway. Otherwise, take bus/ferry or fly to Ovalau and they'll pick you up in Levuka. Levuka and Ovalau are worth a visit on their own. I'd recommend this way of doing it. But you'll likely be finding your way to Levuka at some point. Caqalai is very small. Even Leleuvia, which is the larger of the two islands, takes only about 20-30 minutes to walk completely around.

Some photos of Ovalau, Levuka and Leleuvia. Caqalai is the green pancake on horizon, left of center in photos #9 and #10.

I'm a bit confused by your post - you're not considering 3 months on Caqelai I hope!
We stayed there a few years back. The huts are very small and extremely basic, no electricity/fans - in fact if they haven't changed them no windows either, just wooden push out shutters. They did have a dorm room that was not being used when we were there and that was a small wooden building - with windows. Electricity by generator at night but not during the day then, and only in the kitchen/dining area. Shower facilities were a small corrugated iron enclosure with bucket which you filled at the nearby tank. The island is tiny and can be walked round at low tide in less than half an hour - thats with stops on the way!
Can't comment on heat, we were there in July and it was the only time I've ever felt cold in Fiji. We went because I had been told about amazing snorkelling, but I was quite disappointed by it - maybe we just didn't hit the right spot in the 3 days we were there. No hammocks when we were there but could have got some since.
We went to Ovalau - Levuka - first, then got them to pick us up in their small open boat from there to take us round to the island. I can recommend doing that first, Levuka is fascinating. The other way is to book ahead and they will pick you up from Natovi Landing (bus from there to Suva around 1 & half hours) - but again I think you will travel in an open boat, a couple who were there with us did that, they told us later that it was a very wet trip.
I could scan some photos & email them if you want to PM me with an email address.

Hi guys,

thanks so much for this info. Yes, I was thinking of staying three months on Caqelai - but, I don't think it's for me. I forgot to say in my first post, that I take medication which has to be stored in a freezer - so i need somewhere that has electricity throughout the day (and a freezer, of course!)

I'm also on a really tight budget of US$40 a day, which I can manage OK on in Indonesia, but it looks like I couldn't do that on Fiji, because I'd need to pay a lot more to get a place with 24 hour electricity.

thanks anyway for all your information, it was great - and I'm sure it will be useful for someone else who is lucky enough to get to go to Caqelai!

cheers
Em

actually, although I wouldn;t disagree with anything any of the others have said, don;t rule out Fiji too soon; a lot of the backpacker resorts in the islands do have a small kitchen generator which is actually on for 24 hours to keep a fridge or freezer going. They don;t necessarily share this information with tourists (diesel is expensive!) and space in the fridge/freezer will be very limited, but there would be no problem about keeping medicine. I travelled here extensively as a backpacker before coming to live in Suva. Caqalai definitely represents the lowest end of the scale (in terms of facilities; it is a nice place for a few nights) but there are affordable places with electricity. You should also bear in mind that prices on the web are geared to the usual backpacker, wanting to stay at most 4 or 5 nights en route to somewhere else, either island hopping or just stopping over in Fiji for a few nights on the way to Aus/NZ. If you want to stay for more than one week, it should be possible to negotiate a much better rate. In my backpacking days (about 10 years ago) the discount would be around 40%. I hesitate to quote current prices, because I'm not really in touch with the backpacker market now, but I'm sure for US$40 per day = FJ$80 per day you can find some places with dorm bed, 3 meals a day and access to a fridge. Leleuvia, mentioned by someone else, used to have a fridge and is certainly in that price bracket. Over in the west side (less rain, more heat all year round than east side, e.g. Levuka, Caqalai, Beqa) there are so many places in the Mamanucas (Malolo, Mana islands). Most islands are small; three months may be too long. I suggest e-mailing places explaining medicine and suggesting a 2-week stay (which will get you their best rates) then can stay longer if you wish, or move somewhere else.

thanks heaps ccfiji...great info. :) I was wondering what kind of long-term discount I could get off the internet rates.

cheers :)
Em