Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Safe to travel in Cyclone season?

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Fiji

Hi
I am hoping to travel to Fiji in late November/ early December and have read lots of reports sating that this is the start of cyclone season with flooding mudslides etc. Has anyone been in Fiji around this time and is as bad as it sounds??

thanks!!

Well, it's the cyclone season in the South Pacific every yr from Nov to the following April. All this means is that there may be a cyclone somewhere in the SP, which is about 7000 miles wide by about 3000 miles from top to bottom, an area as large as all of the US and inclduing the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Europe.

The chances of a cyclone hitting when you are there, and exactly where you are, are much less than one percent.

The main thing is that it is also hotter and more humid during that period. And when it rains, it can really pour, but in an hour it could be sunny again!

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Considering I have never been unlucky enough to experience a cyclone (although I was once camping when one formed), I actually prefer this season in some parts of the Pacific. I don't know about Fiji, but in Tonga the trade winds drop and the seas are much much calmer (most of the time). The warmer weather is also a bonus in my opinion....

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