Nadi Airport to Suva

This has probably been asked before but I'll do it anyway. I have to fly from Brisbane to Suva and unless I am mistaken, have to go via Nadi. I have 2 choices:

1. Since Air Pacific & Pacific Sun have now merged, I can book my luggage from Brisbane through to Suva, remaining on the transit side in Nadi and clearing Fijian entry formalities in Suva. The problem with this is that I will have 30Kg of check-in luggage (including scuba kit) and they may not allow the dive bag on the small Nadi to Suva plane even if I offer excess baggage payment.

2. Alternatively, I can fly from Brisbane to Nadi, clear formalities, collect the luggage and hire a taxi to Suva. If I did that, any idea how much it will cost, the state of the road between the two towns and how long it would take? I don't want to go by the local buses.

Rules for baggage on domestic flights
Rules for baggage on international flights

You could certainly do 2.
A taxi from Nadi to Suva would be around F$200 by the meter (200km)), but I would spend 10 minutes negotiating first and you might do it for quite a bit less than that.
The road is a bit of a mixture of OK and lousey. There is some road works happening along the way.
You should allow maybe 3 to 4 hours for the journey depending on time of day.
Note that the Nausoi airport is also over 20km from Suva.

Cheers,
Peter

Thanks people. On looking at our itinerary again, we have had to make some changes and now it looks like we will arrive in Nadi from Sydney rather than Brisbane. The problem with that is the Sydney flight arrives in Nadi later and it is going to be very tight to connect to the last flight from Nadi to Suva in the evening AND too late to go by taxi - I don't fancy night travel in a strange country.

Therefore, we decided that we will stay in a small hotel overnight in Nadi and take a taxi in the morning to Suva. We have to arrive in Suva by noon at the latest and so I will allow 4 and a half hours. Can anyone give me names or links of reliable taxi companies in Nadi who can pick us up from the hotel at 07:30am and take us to Suva?

Thanks in anticipation.

we have used http://www.fijitransfers.com on our trips to Fiji. slightly more expensive than taxis but better bigger comfortable vehicle (than taxis) reliable and great service.

Thanks nztourist. That is exactly the kind of company I was looking for. I have saved that page.

The Raffles Hotel is straight across the road from the airport entrance, maybe 300m from the terminal and would be OK for the night.

Cheers,
Peter

Edited by: Peter_n_Margaret

We have been looking at our itinerary and for various reasons have decided to go to Fiji via Sydney rather than Brisbane. This changes the flight schedult slightly and there is an issue that I want to clarify.

Air Pacific FJ 910 departs Sydney at 13:30 and arrives in Nadi at 18:45 local time. There is a late flight from Nadi to Suva, FJ 25, the same evening and it departs at 20:15 hours. In other words, there are 90 minutes between the two flights.

Obviously, there will not be enough time to clear Fijian formalities in Nadi, collect luggage and recheck on the internal flight to Suva. But if Air Pacific allow us to check our main luggage from Sydney direct to Suva, then we can remain on the 'airside' in transit in Nadi, board the domestic flight and clear Fijian formalities in Suva. In that case, the 90 minutes would be enough.

AFAIK, Suva airport does have international arrival facilities. Does anyone know if we can transit in Nadi as described above?

Yes please. If possible, could you specifically ask about booking the luggage through from Sydney to Suva, remaining in transit on the airside at Nadi and clearing Fijian entry formalities in Suva. Thanks.

I've never been able to clear bags in Suva, have always had to collect bags in Nadi and then recheck in for the domestic flight onwards. You can't "remain in transit" in Nadi as you actually have to walk out of the international terminal and across to the domestic terminal. Getting into Fiji is generally quick though - it's usually waiting for your bags to come off the plane that causes the hold up, rather than immigration.

I had a very tight connection once and the Air Pacific staff were very helpful. I told the ground staff as soon as I reached the baggage claim area that I needed to catch the last flight to Suva and she radioed over to let the domestic check in know that I was there. As soon as my bags arrived I ran over and basically walked straight onto the plane... they took my bags and gave me a boarding pass despite the flight officially being closed. Similarly, if you're at the back of a long immigration queue, let someone know that you're in a rush and I'm sure they'll sort you out.

If it were me, I'd book the Nadi-Suva flight and go for it. If you miss it, just cross the road to the Raffles and grab an early flight / taxi the next morning. A taxi will take maybe 3 hours, but will cost the same as flying. You'd be very lucky to get $200... the ask rate at the moment is $300.

Edited to add - I know Suva has some international flights (never taken one) but there's really nothing there... you walk down the plane steps, across a runway and out of a gate. You'll have to clear immigration and quarantine in Nadi for sure.

Edited by: becks

Thanks for that. I'll then have to use my Plan B; this involves flying out (and back to) of Sydney rather than Brisbane and on Virgin Australia (formerly Virgin Blue) instead of Air Pacific. If I did that, there are very handy flight times to Nadi and enough time to clear Fijian formalities and board the local Pacific Sun flight. The only drawback is that as a non-Air Pacific international passeger, I would not get the preferntial luggage allowance on Pacific Sun and have to pay excess baggage. But the rates are quite cheap for that between Nadi & Suva.