SUVA, FIJI

How is SUVA as a city? Architecture, quality-of-life, restaurants, cleanliness, public transportion, getting-around, cost-of-living, etc.?

Seems like one of the larger urban areas in the Pacific outside of Hawaii.

It's a small city, cheap taxis, a couple of architectural places, but not a lot, some areas have a bit of crime, esp. at night. And the hawkers and pushy guides can make it unpleasant at times. But it is worth a couple of days.

It reminded me a lot of Hilo.

Hmm.. like HILO.. Hilo is fairly small.

Always thought Suva might be more urban feel.. with a lot more Indian shopkeepers, etc.

Sounds like Suva might be kind of quiet and local if it has a Hilo feel.

Suva didn't strike me as quiet and local when compared to the rest of Fiji. And I thought it WAS the largest urban center outside Hawaii. The population is diverse (maybe 35-40% indo-fijian, who seem to run most of the shops etc). Busy market. A University. Gov't buildings. Embassies.

Lots of buses (which I rarely used) that cover the town and surrounding area. I don't know how to rate 'cleanliness'. I've been to a lot of places, so my standard may be lower than that of your average tourist. Seemed OK to me. Certainly enough places to eat (lot of chinese), a lot of food-court types of setups, but not a great deal of variety from my budget perspective.

I have some photos on my BLOG of some of the colonial era wooden buildings scattered about the center of town. Suva is not a reason why most tourists go to Fiji, but I found it a good slice of life. Stayed there about 9 days, during my 2 months in Fiji. Didn't notice any hawkers, touts etc. I sometimes wonder if I am immune to them ... I never have problems anywhere with those guys. Maybe I don't look the type they prey on.

In terms of population, Suva's about twice the size of Hilo (77,000 vs 40,000), and there are more suburbs with more people as well, so it is more populous. It reminded me of Hilo in that it was a small, low-rise city on the wet side of things, with a long history as a port, some old wooden architecture, and a sense of a long-term purpose that doesn't involve tourism. As the seat of an often-weird government, it has a vibe that's not very Hilo, and the large Indian presence also produces its own energy, as you'd expect, but the laid-back dampness and South Seas inertia feel like they're winning.
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If you're looking for something Hiloesque, but drier, try Lautoka, which is almost the same size as Hilo, with lots of the same economic underpinnings.

It's a small city compared to cities overseas, for Fiji it is big, growing over the years not only in population, but also not very picturesque "high-rise" buildings (unfortunately a lot of beautiful colonial houses were demolished to give the town a more "modern" ambience, ) and a chaotic traffic system, which contributes to air and noise pollution. Not a lot of public garbage bins to be found on the streets.
Rents are pretty high. All imported items (there is a cost-u-less) are quite expensive, locally produced goods and food is cheap. Well stocked daily fruit and vegetable market in downtown.
Restaurants are plenty from simple take-aways which offer very cheap lunches up to gourmet restaurants.
Some nice bars and pubs, like Traps and O'Reilly's even offering live musik on weekends. The cinema is showing the newest movies.

Public transport is good and cheap with busses, also taxis are reasonable.

Since the coup 2006 Suva city became more safe - not many touts around anymore, still there are some areas which you should not walk alone during the night (but that's the same all over the world, isn't it?)