What good to do in Fiji

I'm going out to fiji in november for four weeks. i have a fairly modest budget but i'm looking for good, cheep places to stay. places ti visit and the best islands to go to and how to get there. any information anyone could give me would be amazing
thank you
Seawood

Some of the cheapest accommodation is listed here.

Though more expensive, this area is also popular with backpackers.

For more info, fork out a few dollars for this.

If you can afford a trip to Fiji, then you can afford a guidebook. One of those handy things will give you a lot more information that anyone here can or will provide.

In the meantime, you can browse this site. Won't get better than that.

Off topic (not talking of this poster - yet):
Oldpro, believe it or not, some people on TT claim not to want to buy not only a guidebook, but not even a mere PDF chapter for $2!
I wasted much time on one such idiot on another thread, advising him on eastern Indonesia. Eventually he ended up complaining that I didn't put accommodation rates on my website and asked me to do so! When I told him that's exactly what guidebooks are for, he declared he'd never buy one, not even a chapter...

i have guide books for all the places im going to in this trip :-), i bought them from the shop on this site and i am slowly reading through them all, i know that the information in the book is good. I just thought that if anyone had been out there recently then they might have some personal opinions on the places to go, instead of going on just what a one author says, like for instance there is very little mention of surfing in the Fiji book. but i know that the surfing is amazing out there.
speaking of which do any of you know anything about any quite nice places to surf?
thank you so much for all of your time all the advice is being written down keep it coming :-).
Seawood

Edited by: seawood

Great idea, i'll do that.

The Lonely Planet Fiji travel guide is brilliant. But there are so many different islands and places to visit that I can't possibly fit everything into 2-3 weeks, so personal experiences and advice is invaluable

Where are your favourite spots in Fiji?

As my budget is about £130 a week I don't think I'll be able to dive as i'd have to do a qualifying course, but I hear Fiji is great for snorkelling?

Also, do you know of any good accommodations on the smaller islands? It looks like most of the backpacker hostels are located in Nadi and Suva...

Thanks

Sorry, surfing is really not my thing.
You could try posting a new thread specifically about surfing in Fiji here, but I guess you would have more luck on special surfers' sites.

You could try checking out fiji-hotels.com.fj - they have a number of places out in the islands with rates and information on accommodations. A number of resorts have camping or dorm accommodations that are quite a bit cheaper.

I prefer big, hilly-jungly islands in general, so my faves were Viti Levu, Taveuni and Ovalau.
Off the coast of the latter there are also some small islands that offer backpacker accommodation cheaper than the Yasawas.
Look through this site!
I actually didn't find Fiji all that great for snorkelling, but admittedly didn't look too hard either.

most of the backpacker hostels are located in Nadi and Suva

there are practically no backpacker hostels in Fiji. That's not where the inexpensive accom is. There are some inexpensive hotels with dorms which have a hostel-like character (see the fiji4less link in #1 - run by a youth-oriented organization). There are also a number of so-called backpacker resorts which do not have the up-market facilities one would expect in a resort, usually also with dorm accom, eg Leleuvia and Caqalai of Ovalau.
Most of the inexpensive accommodation, in addition to low-end hotels in the moderate-sized towns, will be guesthouses.

there is very little mention of surfing in the Fiji book. but i know that the surfing is amazing out there

Almost no beach break locations and of low quality. The surfing in Fiji is mainly reef breaks, so you have to be good to even consider it. It's a specialist activity, not something which is common or mainstream. You're taken out to the locations by boat and a few resorts specialize in this. GOOGLE 'surfing Fiji' to find them, eg Funky Fish. Many will be located at east end Viti Levu (mamanuca islands).

personal experiences and advice is invaluable

you're not giving enough attention to an important part of travel, what the person brings. I read a guidebook (Stanley's guide) and made my personal experiences, guided by what interests me generally and by my mood on any given day. Why can't you do the same? Get out there an explore, and don't worry so much about having people tell you where to go. That's my advice - and you may notice that the worth and value of advice depends on how it fits the person receiving it.

If you have a specific question about a specific place that's a different story.

I actually didn't find Fiji all that great for snorkelling

You'll have to take account of people's experiences or lack thereof. I had almost nothing to compare with. So, even if Fiji snorkeling rates 5 on a universal 10 point scale, it was still pretty amazing for me. Of course, after a couple of months and some experience with different locations, I developed a sense for what makes one place more interesting than another. Considering my subjective reaction to what I thought was good on Fiji, it makes me wonder how I'd react to something even better.

How about someplace like this or this?
And that's what you see before even plunging in. ;-)

Be prepared to pay the local chief for using their reef for surfing-those reefs are Private Property.

Hopefully whoever is running you out to the breaks has included the village tariff in his fee.

#10 I see the progression .. certainly a lot more "lush" looking. A larger number of different species as well?

Definitely.
The above reefs are in eastern Indonesia, right at the center of the "Coral Triangle" and global marine biodiversity. The first is actually in the Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua, where surveys are claimed to have "recorded the highest coral and fish diversities found on Earth, including 537 coral species— an incredible 75% of all known species —and 1,074 fish species".
Of course I did not keep counting species of coral and fish seen everywhere I snorkelled myself, but as an overall impression, diversity seemed to drop sharply south and east of northern Vanuatu.
By the time I reached Samoa, I found the reefs very poor indeed - even in the much-praised Palolo Deep Marine Reserve.
But of course I agree, without previous exposure to better spots, any coral reef must be a truly amazing sight!

I enjoyed Levuka a lot. It has a nice sleepy feel and I stayed in the Royal Hotel which was like stepping back a hundred years (and fairly cheap). Also the trip out on the ferry was quite enjoyable.
Take the bus up to Kolo-I-Suva rather than going on a tour - it's an accessible bit of rainforest and a pretty spot.
Tubacula (???) Beach Cottages was a cheap place to stay on the coral coast, see Fiji4less.
A lot of the Mamanuca/Yasawa places seemed very heavily hyped and the boat rides ($F75 for 20 minute transfer) seemed like a real rip off. It sounds like they might be out of your budget anyway, a dorm on one of the nearer islands with a cheap boat transfer sounds like what you might be after.
I was not particularly impressed by the snorkelling in Fiji off the beaches. If you want to see really nice coral it may be worth taking a boat trip out to one of the dive sites. For what it's worth, the best snorkelling I've seen was in Palau - fantastic.

Oldpro, your negativity is offputting. This forum is for asking questions, no? I don't think there's anything wrong with asking for personal opinions, particularly when guide books aren't necessarily accurate.
Seawood, I had the same questions, and I thank those who have taken the time to reply in a helpful manner. I hope you enjoy your trip, I plan to!

russy1-OldPro has been to the places he talks about and his post is 100% accurate.

I don't agree with him all the time either nor he with me but the fact is that many people who have never been to Fiji have preconceived ideas that have no basis in reality and these people sometime have to be brought up short-sooner rather than later.

I have just reread oldpro's posts and failed to find the negativity in them.
In fact all I can see is that he has spent the most time posting detailed replies to this thread.

Thanks everyone for all your help, I really appreciate people taking the time to share their experiences: keep them coming!

Raised more money for my trip! Up to just under £200 a week budget now :)

we've been living in fiji for over three years on vorovoro island in vanua levu

i'd recommend for chill-out on the beach near to nadi, go to the beach house. for adventure sports go to uprising resort (nice local crowd) otherwise head to vanua levu - savusavu and then across to labasa

talo!

Edited by: docbrown on 05-Nov-2009 14:00