Island Cruise, Activities + Accommodation

Hi there,

At the beginning of October I am heading off on a RTW trip - first port of call being Fiji.

I am keen to venture off the main island and have been checking out the Awesome Adventures packages, inparticular http://www.awesomefiji.com/lon_ultimate.aspx<BR><BR>I'm wondering if anyone has any experiences with Awesome Adventures (good or bad) they can share with me.

While I am pretty independant, I will be travelling solo and this being my first stop I'm keen to jump on a package, allowing me to meet people etc. If you have any alternative suggestions to Awesome Adventures, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks in advance,
Sarah.

The Yasawas are beautiful! I did the Bula pass from Awesome adventures, which sorted out the transport, and I booked my accomodation independently. The Flyer is the best way of getting round the islands and you will meet alot of people on the boat. It seemed very safe and well-run. I did end up at a few of the resorts Awesome Adventures use and met quite a few people doing the tours, most of whom seemed very happy. The resorts are all independently run, and can vary quite a lot, from quite swish to salt water rustic, which for me is half the charm! Mantaray has great snorkelling, and the rays in season are one of the most amazing experiences. Very sociable. Nanuya Lailai is a lovely island and if you dive then westside watersports are a fantastic operator. Resorts are basic but largely run by local families- I stayed at Seaspray (next to sunrise- very basic but charming) and had a wonderful time. The Blue Lagoon is beautiful. Oarsmans was enjoyable. Approach Kuata with caution- overloaded longboats, snorkelling trips from boats in dangerous seas, and a kayaking trip while I was there got stranded on a coral reef at low tide. Upside was the best massage I ever had! A day there was enough though. Didn't visit South Sea but looks very small and cute- very Robinson Crusoe.

You'll find most of the Yasawas are very sociable- it's easy to meet people even if you do go independently.
Have a great trip!

(if you want more detail or want pictures to drool over, my trip report and photos are at travelpod)

Most people I've met on my trips to Fiji were quite happy with Awsome Adventures. I would recommend travelling on the bula pass. But if you want a hasslefree trip, book one of the ones they have in advance. I'd recommend the ultimate lei and would then asked if i could stay at waya lai lai instead of kuata. It's better to travel on your own but sometimes because of poor communications in the area it can be quite difficult to get to stay at the places you want and it was very easy to just go with a preset schedule. I've stayed at South Sea Island and it's a wonderful little island but don't stay too long, not much to do there.

To sum it up, it really depends on what you wish to do. I booked a trip the first time and then went on my own the second time, either way you'll get fairly the same experiences.

Have fun!