a starting point

hi y'all!

i'm at the very beginning stages of planning a trip for november 2012 to a sun destination with my then 3.5 year old. I've been thinking Fiji but I'm looking for something rather rustic. i dont want the typical all inclusive 5 star hotel vacation; i'm thinking more 'hut on beach and no modern amenaties'.

i've never been to the Pacific so dont know too much about it.

can anyone offer some advice and a starting point where i can research some places?

thanks for any and all information :)

happy travels,
iseezombies

Start by purchasing a Lonely Planet Guidebook from this website?
After that you'll know whether its the right place or not.

This may suit you, but it isn't in Fiji. It isn't exactly a beach, more like living in the middle of a huge swimming pool. And there are local children for yours to play with.

thanks ozziegiraffe! that place looks amazing :)

peacochater - its one thing to look through a book than to get an opinion from someone who has been there and maybe done something similar to what i'm asking. i've looked through books and online but all i find are the big resorts and not the quaint experience i'd like. thanks for the suggestion though.

There is one warning though, you need to travel b boat (or possibly plane) then in the back of a truck, to get there, unless you are lucky enough to find a direct boat.
Posters are slow on this branch - wait a week or so, and you may get more suggestion.

There's quite a few places where you can do a home / village stay in Fiji... many are inland rather than by beaches though. What's your budget? If you've got money for flights, http://www.moanasguesthouses.com/ might suit.
If your budget's tighter, look up Bobo's Farm or Silana village stay.

I spent a month in Fiji a couple of years ago. At first I did a couple of weeks on the Yasawas which was full of 18-20 year old gap year students on RTW tickets staying in dorms on the islands. That was fun for a couple of weeks, but I wanted to see a bit more of Fiji and get a bit more of the culture so I went via Suva to Levuka on Ovalau which was a charming town (the old capital) with ex-pats and locals rather than backpackers. If you stayed a few days the whole town would know who you are. There's no beach to speak of, but a lot of character. From there I booked a trip to The Lost Island where I was the only guest on the island. It was just me and the family, what I ate was what they were having, sat in the evening watching their kitten chasing frogs, there was no electricity and with more time you could get involved in the family's routine a bit (unfortunately I only had one night). It was definately "hut on a beach with no modern amenities". Having said that the beach also wasn't that clean and you had to have flip flops on because of broken glass etc. I then went via another more resorty island (I forget which one) back to the mainland.
The Yasawas get the most tourists, most of the other islands (like the ones on the east) will be quieter.

Check out the Cook Islands' outer islands,,, Mangaia, Mauke and Mitiaro have what you describe. In many cases you'll be the only visitor on the island on these three.

A good way to investigate is Google World... take a look at the pictures and videos.