First time to Fiji

So my boyfriend and I are planning our first overseas trip together to Bali for 6 days in December 2014. We have spoken to a travel agent who has quoted us $3000 for flights and accommodation at the Sheraton Resort in Nadi ... As we've never been before I have a few questions I'm hoping someone can answer:

1) Is this resort good? Clean, helpful staff, things to do, easy to organise/ access shops, food and touristy things outside of the resort?

2) I've heard that Nadi is not really very "Fijian" BUT as we are on a budget would it make sense for us to stay here and travel to the "better" parts of Fiji? Eg. Islands, lautoka, sigatoka, etc. - OR can anyone recommend somewhere nice but not too pricey in any of these places? (we don't want to stay in a hostel)

3) How much spending money would YOU recommend for 6 days - we will probably want to venture out to islands, buy 2 meals per day, buy alcoholic beverages a couple of nights, do a little bit of shopping, go snorkelling, etc. - Would $1000AUD each be too little?? (we are planning to budget around $6000 but I would feel safer knowing we have some money left over for any surprise situations)

4) Anything you would recommend we see or do? - We want this to be a relaxing, "romantic" holiday.

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to respond! Any help is greatly appreciated!!

my boyfriend and I are planning our first overseas trip together to Bali

I assume a typo?

I'm a bit confused about something in your post. You mention

somewhere nice but not too pricey .. (we don't want to stay in a hostel)

but you are considering the Sheraton Resort .. a top end resort. There is a lot of distance between a hostel and a Sheraton Resort. OK, it's part of a flight package, and cost-wise they can be good deals.

Anyway, with that ambiguity at the front of my mind, my "advice" may be off the mark. Apologies in advance.

Question 1: I've never been to the Sheraton resort and I ordinarily do not go to such places. However, considering its price class, I assume it scores high on the points you mention (it has +8 rating on booking.com)

Question 1+2: the potential problem is that the resort isn't even in Nadi, but on Denerau island which is even more of a package tourism enclave than is Nadi. The hotel might be good, but the location is not. Fine, if a person wants it, cocooned in a plush resort for a week. But it's not the sort of place anyone should go to if they have at least some interest in the country of Fiji and has interest in doing some excursions.

I see no reason at all to stay in the Nadi area. It's really only a small town with a main street devoted largely to tourist shops. It is not appreciably closer or a more convenient base for day trips, etc.

The other locations you mention have relative advantages, but this depends more on what you want to do.

If you are mainly interested in a resort/water sports holiday then research one of the resort options in the Yasawa or Mamanuca islands. There are resorts to fit any budget.

If you are mainly interested in mainland (Viti Levu) attractions Lautoka is certainly an interesting and "authentic" Fijian/Indo-Fijian town, way better than Nadi as a land base. But there's not much choice regarding resort-level accommodation (hence my uncertainty about what level you want). A couple of good low-budget hotel options. I'm not sure Lautoka would fit what you are looking for.

If you want a combination of beach resort plus ease of taking mainland tours, a resort around Sigatoga would be a good alternative. I've never stayed around there either (again, not my style), but I see the place as a better alternative to Denerau.

Question 3: This is a toughie, how much does a person need? Precisely where you stay will have an influence on how much you can spend. If you were to book an island resort, they usually include a meal package .. thus, meals already paid for. On islands, there is usually nothing outside of the resort where you can spend money. No village, and if a village/settlement, no shops etc. People recommend bringing a bottle or two of duty-free booze when on island resort holidays (depends on your drinking habits).

If you stayed on the mainland, you might avoid hotel meal packages and eat less expensively in town restaurants. It's a trade-off. But then there are more temptations regarding shopping and various day-trips.

$1000AUD each ought to be enough for what you mention doing. What I usually do is bring my life savings in the form of a bank card, which is enough to cover anything I could conceivably want to do. But I'm a bit of a cheapo traveller, and $1000AUD would do me for 2-3 weeks. I may not be the right person to give advice about costs.

Question 4: another toughie. For romance, relaxation and 6 days I'd go for small rather than stars when it comes to resort. And I'd probably pick an island resort and limit activity to water sports and other sorts of relaxation. Time passes surprisingly quickly .. stay on the mainland if you want to be busier.

I'd definitely think of another option, unless you want to sit by a pool drinking, and pay for excursions etc. I think a local cruise is a good option, you get to see a lot of Fiji, move every day or sometimes twice a day, get to swim and snorkel and see Fijian life, you could do a 4 night cruise and then have a couple of other days traveling around the main island. Also if coming from Sydney Air Fiji now flies direct to Suva which opens up other island resorts on the east side, you could combine Ovalau, and Leleuvia