Help us choose

We are a group of 8, 4 adults and four children going campervanning around NZ for 11 days and have booked flights to Fiji with 5 nights to spend...We do not want to stay on the mainland or stay at a 5* resort where you could be anywhere in the world and so far a few places have really caught our imagination only to be spoilt by a random awful review, we need some help from people who have been before as we are now scared of making the wrong choice!!
Top of our wishlist is a white sandy beach where we can have a few beers whilst we hardly notice the children playing in the sand and paddling in blue waters ( watched at all times of course!).
A relaxed atmosphere is also important and a feel of Fiji on a resort run by or employing local people.
We have so far shortlisted The Octopus(bit worried that the beach is not great)The Botaira,Navini island resort(sounds pricey and over our budget) and countless others which due to sitting at the computer for 6 hours I have now totally forgotten... any help with these choices would be very helpful x

Nothing wrong with the Octopus beach and if you'd like photos PM me with an email address to send them to. You don't say when you are going so your biggest problem there could be that they are booked up.

Thanks for the reply..... the octopus seems to tick all the boxes but we read a review that said the beach is unusable for 12 hours in 24 due to high tide and that there is no sand on it only coral!! Perhaps they had some other axe to grind!!
We are going in April 2008 and they do have availability at the moment.Email slturner10@tiscali.co.uk photos would be really helpful thank-you!

People can have very particular standards when it comes to beaches, not easy to sort out the subjective from the objective info. Yes, Waya island (location of Octopus) is subject to tides. Usually the upper end of beaches are sandy but can get small at high tide -- 'unusable' seems an extreme judgment. After all, the peak high tide does not last 12 hours! Low tide exposes more sand, but then can sometimes make access to water awkward...exposed reef etc.

Another option, although requiring more time to get to, would be the resorts off Ovalau island east of Viti Levu. Leleuvia's beaches are as white and sandy as they come. Some sections of beach are large even at high tide. There's also a section at low tide with easy access to water. Nearby Caqalai is similar. When I was there, a family with 1.5 and 3 yr old kids were having a great time.

Thank you old pro very useful info and as yet havent looked at all at Leleuvia or Caqalai.. or even come across them if I'm honest but Iwill soon! Another option which seems really attractive is Castaway Island,do you know of the resort there and although classed as a luxury how does it compare to the Octopus and is it worth all the extra money??It would be helpful to hear from anyone who is reading this to let me know how the two measure up as our party is split with some preferring the luxury of castaway where I have an inkling that Octopus will give us a better atmosphere and a more genuine Fiji experience. The beach at Castaway looks amazing is this the case?
Cheers!

Castaway beach is lovely - actually I find with a group in Fiji on an island you really can't go wrong!

Haven't been there, but maybe TaiMarilyn and the others might comment on whether you really have enough total time---five days---to get there and back and really enjoy the place. Might it not take a day of travel time to get there, and another to get back, for the int'l connections?? Again, I don;t have the answer, but it seems like it might be a consideration???

I am about to send photos to your email address - then you will be able to judge for yourself what the beach is like. The tide comes in and goes out twice during a 24 hour period - some of that, funnily enough, is when it is dark, so,,,,, Tides get a little later each day. They can also vary in height depending on the state of the moon's cycle. Maybe whoever declared that the beach is "unusable for 12 hours a day" comes from somewhere like the middle of the USA & hasn't been on a beach before- and was there at the time of a particularly low midday tide (for one day only!!).
Raro is right - you will first have to look at the times of your international connections & see whether or not you have to spend 1st & last night in Nadi. With only 5 days I would think going to Caqelai or Leleuvia would involve too much internal travel.
I haven't stayed at Castaway, only been past it in a boat, but I would think that Octopus "ticks" more of your boxes (especially with regard to contact with locals & the chance to visit their village). Their own boat goes out from Lautoka around 10.00am daily, gets back in around 4.00pm. Other option is the Yasawa Flyer that leaves Denerau (Nadi) at 8.30am, back there around 6.00pm daily.

Thanks TaiMarilyn!
Your photos are beautiful and I need no convincing that Octopus is the place for us but not so others in the group..... is there any way of getting to Octopus privately ie hire a small boat which will get the eight of us to Octopus late in the evening as our flight does not arrive until 2105 and apart from Navini no others will transfer us late at night, we are trying to avoid staying on Nadi for a night if we can. Navini sounds as though it may be a little too quiet for us and is also very pricey.Castaway remains popular with everyone but if I can engineer a way to get to Octopus on the same day I may be able to swing things my way!!Thanks again for all your help and advice it is very generous of you.
TTx

Unfortunately there is no way you can get there so late. Very few boats would move around Fijian waters at night - too many reefs, and if I found one I doubt I would try it!