Nadi Airport to RakiRaki - early in the morning transfer?

G'day all,

I'm doing a week-long vacation in RakiRaki, Fiji. My flight arrives into Nadi at 5:10am on a Saturday morning.
My hotel stay in RakiRaki doesn't include airport transfer and the hotel wants an astonishing FJD230 (AUD 125) for a one-way transfer.

• How much would a taxi cost?
• I've checked Sunbeam - I think there is a bus via transfer from Latuoka but it only leaves at 7:10am. Do they have other earlier services?
• Is there another bus company that you know of? I've checked Akbar Buses' website but there was no timetable.
• Any suggestions for an alternative means of travel? I don't mind spending 2.5-3 hours on the bus if needed, but wouldn't want to pay more than FJD100.

Thanks in advance to all for help!

Bula!
It works out fine to take public transport. The main road from the airport to Nadi or Lautoka is just a few hundred feet outside the terminal. You can catch a cheap shared van to Lautoka or Nadi. You will want to
get one for Lautoka and it will cost a couple dollars. In Lautoka, there is a central bus station from where
you can catch a bus to RakiRaki-- super cheap and takes about 2 hours or so. ( BTW Lautoka has a great
outdoor food market which has fascinating produce- including kava.)

Check out the timetables at:
sunbeamfiji.com / pacifictransport.com.fj

Thanks for the quick replies kenko! A few follow-up questions:

1. Are the shared vans easy to find on the road even at 5:30-6am early in the morning?

2. From Lautoka to RakiRaki, I could only find two bus companies: SunBeam and Akbar. Pacific Transport doesn't operate on King's Road. The earliest bus via Akbar Buses is at 10:45am, which means I would have to hang around in Latuoka for 4 hours.
   * Do you know any other buses that can make the Latuoka-RakiRaki trip earlier on a Saturday?
   * How much would a taxi cost from Latuoka to RakiRaki? Is 100FJD a good estimate?
   * And finally, if I decide to spend 4-5 hours in Latuoka, do you know a luggage storage place there?

Sorry to bombard you with questions, but hopefully they're straightforward :)

Bula!

you are extremely lucky- you won't be able to make the 7:10 bus from Lautoka to RakiRaki you mentioned.
Remember, you are now in life-in-the-slow-lane Fiji. You have to shed the "I -wanna- get- to- my -destination-right-this-minute" that we westerners tend to bring to the islands. Relax. Slow down. If you can't do this- then my suggestion is to take a cab.( I don't know what it will cost) There will be shared-vehicles (usually minivans or trucks with bench seats. These are called "carriers" in Fiji)

on the road from the airport after sunrise. Fijians use them to commute to work in Lautoka. You might
have to wait a bit -- but they will be there eventually. Wave one down and hop aboard.

When you arrive in Lautoka you can go to the Cathay Hotel or Lautoka Hotel with your luggage and have breakfast in their dining room.
Then you ask the front desk to watch your luggage, which they are happy to do. If you have a
couple hours to kill-- I'd suggest taking a walk to the marketplace after getting your bus ticket across the street I take my day-bag with me (bookbag)

with my camera/electronics , and leave behind clothes in the main luggage for the hotel desk to look after.
(It's actually a lot of fun exploring the market and a bit of Lautoka- it's not a large city The distance from the
hotels to the the market/bus station is less than one-half mile.)
Then, you can collect your luggage at the breakfast hotel and walk or cab it to the bus station for RakiRaki!

Bus from the road outside the airport to Lautoka is under F$3 and takes about 40 minutes. A mini bus is another option. There are lots of them and they are a bit cheaper than the regular busses, but have more crashes too....
A bus from Lautoka to Raki Raki takes 2 1/2 hours and there are plenty of them. Cost F$8.75 from memory.
A cab from Raki Raki to VoliVoli will be F$15 (fixed price) and takes about 20 minutes.

Cheers,
Peter

By the way, a taxi from the airport would cost F$5 flagfall plus F$1 per km.
From the street outside the airport flagfall is F$1.50.

Cheers,
Peter