Request to Locals/Fijiphiles - Help me plan a secluded getaway to Fiji

First off - I appreciate everyone and anyone weighing in on this request (below). Usually travel agents and good friends provide me with travel recommendations (and I pay for it one way or another), but this time, I want to go straight to the source and see what the locals have to say about where to go given that I want to get away from it all. So, without further ado, here is my request:

I need help planning an itinerary that will get me away from it all (and, of course, not cost me a fortune). Fiji might not be huge on a map, but it's hard to select where to go being so far away from it all (I'm in San Francisco), so I'd like your help planning a week and a half trip (in late October) where my interests are few and as follows:

• Lying on the beach
• Swimming
• Kayaking
• Snorkeling
• Reading
• Drinking beer and eating local food
• Avoiding 80% of tourists - I love tourists, no really, I do! But I want to be secluded this time around

I really want to stay in a beach hut (a bure, I guess is how you call it), and I would prefer to stay away from resorts. I am not into meal plans or family vacations and I don't need internet or television - so unless it's a resort in name only but not in function, I am not that interested. I have traveled through many parts of the world and spent time in a number of places where amenities were few but the ones that were provided were essential...so I guess I am looking to recreate that experience here.

I am open to spending a few days in one place and a few days in another and another, and would love some recommendations on how a trip like that might pan out. What, in your opinion, is the best of the best for a luxury vagabond traveler?

Again, thank you so much for reading through this request.

This is pretty low key and might suit you.
http://www.macsnananu.com/index.html
10 minute walk to the opposite side of the island and you probably won't see anyome.
There are other places on this smae island that may suit as well.

Cheers,
Peter

I'm interested t know Peter if you have been there? In my experience the only one of 's_veronica's criteria that apply would be the last one.

Yes, spent three nights there in early January this year.
The beach dissapears at high tide, but you can lay in a hammock on the waters edge or find another nearby.
You also have the choice of eating there or just up the beach if you want. "Local" food? What is that exactly?
No problem with any of the rest of the list.

EDIT. No thatched roof bure. :-(
And the "best of the best" is definitely somewhere else.

Cheers,
Peter

Thank you - it's totally worth checking out, so I appreciate the direction. Just curious though - if you consider the "best of the best" to be elsewhere, what is that? Maybe I am being shortsighted in planning this trip and Fiji is more about lying in paradise with nothing to do?

I'd love to hear your thoughts so I don't travel all those miles and miss out on something to be seen...

Thanks!

Difficult to reconcile the "best of the best" with NON resort and NO tourists.
These things seem mutually exclusive?
There are some very fine exclusive resorts in Fiji (not that I have stayed in them) and I am sure you could find a private spot up the beach somewhere to escape the other patrons, or get yourself transported to a remote uninhabited beach for the day (by water taxi) with a picnic lunch and a bottle of cold bubbly?

Talk to us a bit more about what you seek. What is the budget?

The best we have stayed at so far is Nanuya Island Resort. http://resort.nanuyafiji.com/
It is relatively small (only 12 rooms), has really great food and is in a beautiful location in the Yasawas. Plenty of activities and visits available (if you want them). You would need to book ahead, as they are usually full, always a good sign.

Cheers,
Peter

That's a great recommendation, Peter! They are already booked many of the nights we would be in Fiji, so that's a shame - but as you said, a great sign of a good place, so maybe I can stay there a couple of nights and then push on for a different experience.

I know shamefully little about Fiji, but I have been taken with the Yasawas. Are there other places there you would recommend after a visit to Nanuya or is it worth taking the time to go to another island?

As always, many thanks!

Oh, and to answer your other question, my needs are so simple that I am not looking to spend more than $150 USD/ night. For a great place, I can certainly spend more, but I am taken by rustic places where natural beauty reigns and I find those are usually pretty cheap. I appreciate a nice spa and good food like anyone else, but I can get that at home...I would like to do things different from home in Fiji. And I also hate feeling like I was stuck on a resort and didn't see the place, which is why I am looking for something more basic. Does that help?

Another way to phrase it is, What do expats do in Fiji? I've identified with many expat communities - aside from the drunks, they usually know how to have fun ;)

We live in Lautoka, which is NOT a tourist town. If you want to see Fiji, first get away from the tourists.
Last long weekend (3 days) we circumnavigated Viti Levu by local bus. It could possibly be done in 2 days, but would not be good. 4 or 5 would be better and next time we would probably simply take a taxi so we could stop wherever we wanted whenever we wanted. I reckon you could get a taxi for F$120 per day plus accomodation for the driver, but I have not priced it. We don't like the 'fine print' for hire cars.
Then again, as a first time, the bus is a great experience and mixes you in with the locals.
The NE side of the Island is really worth a visit. Sit on the drivers side (RH) going clockwise in the bus.
We had one night in a local hotel (not in Lonely planets). Cost F$80 including dinner for 2. The second night we spent at a resort on the Coral Coast.

Cheers,
Peter