Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Travelling around Viti Levur

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Fiji

I am currently planning a trip to Fiji and have settled on the idea of travelling around Viti Levu but was wondering if anyone could help me in regards to my intention being feasible? First I would travel from Nadi to Nananu-i-ra and stay there for a few nights. Then I would go from there to Levuka. Having stayed in Levuka for three nights I would the move onto the island of Caqalai for another 3 nights. Then I would go from Caqalai to Sigotkoa for one night and finally from there I would return to Nadi. Is this route feasible? Can I do each leg in a day? Thank you!

Possibly.

1

I like the itinerary.
But you'd probably need to leave from Levuka-- not Caqalai-- to return to Viti Levu for your last leg.
Arrive in Suva at 8a.m. then bus to Sigatoka.

2

Are you intending to travel on local buses? When going to Levuka, are you wanting to go by boat or by plane? You could have problems in coordinating your travel - bus times may not match boat/plane times, and are notoriously unreliable. Might not be possible to do each leg in one day.

3

We have circumnavigated Viti Levu clockwise by bus from Lautoka.
We spent one night at Korovo in the local Tailveu hotel (there is only one, up on the hill) and one night on the Coral Coast.
You need to sit on the RHS going south from Rakiraki to Korovo to get the best view of the river valley.

On another occasion, when we were in Suva, we had a taxi from Lautoka pick us up from our hotel and drive us back to Lautoka via Kings Road, anti clockwise. It cost under F$250 (pre negotiated) for the 4 of us including leaving from Lautoka at 5am to meet us at 9am in Suva. That also included deviating to Lawaki and a lunch stop at the Tenoa Hotel, Rakiraki.

Cheers,
Peter

4

Can I do each leg in a day?

Two are not easy/doubtful.

The main problem, as #4 points out, is coordinating the connections between Nananu-i-ra and Levuka. You'll have to check and double-check the ferry/bus and/or plane times, depending on how you do it.

One day Caqalai to Sigatoga with public transport might be stressy. Even if you can arrange an early morning boat to the mainland from Caqalai via Leleuvia as #3 suggests, I wouldn't expect timetable departures. Also they used to time their boats with the tides, which makes for more problems. And onward same-day to Sigatoga will depend on timings of buses from Suva once you get there. If you hit all the conenctions it should be possible time-wise.

5