Caqalai or Nananu i ra

Hi

My fiancee and I are travelling round Fiji in July- we have arranged accommodation on Caqalai which LP describes as the perfect backpacker island. LP is also keen on Nananu i ra though. We were planning 2/3 nights on C and then 2 on Nananu i ra. However, we are now considering 4 nights on C and missing Nir in favour of going to the Abaca Village/ doing some trekking.

Has anyone been to both Caqalai and Nananu-i-ra? Is it worth leaving the first early in order to squeeze in a day or two at the latter? Ive been looking at it but so far its hard work- however Caqalai's resort has already confirmed my dates and the option to extend.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks

Jaime

You cannot compare those two Islands. They are as different as an apple and an orange. It starts with the size. Caqalai is approximately 6 hectare small and you can walk around the Island in 20 minutes, whereas Nananu-I-Ra has approx. 355 hectare and no, I did not try to walk around. Caqalai is flat and surrounded by a wonderful white sandy beach and offers only 1 basic backpacker accommodation, whereas Nananu-I-Ra has several hills,grassland and several more or less nice beaches. You did not say where you want to stay on Nanau-I-Ra? There are at least 7 Resorts - most definetly are not in the backpacker price range. Bethams is probably what comes closest to Caqalai island.

If you have only a short time I would recommend choosing one Island and try to get to know your surrounding better. It will also take you at least 5- 6 hours to travel from Caqalai to Nananu-I-Ra.

Once on a beach, the experience starts getting similar. So, while the two islands are different, I wonder if they are different enough. One advantage of Caqalai is that it is close to Ovalau, which in itself is a good place to do some jungle walks and have a look at the local culture.

Anyway, I''d think it would make for a more interesting experience to visit caqalai (maybe side trip to Ovalau/Levuka), then spend the rest of the vacation trekking.

thanks! after reading more about the islands we have decided to go with caqalai for 4 nights. We will definitely see Levuka too for a couple of nights. I couldnt really get many consistent reviews of the accomm on Nananu-i-ra whereas LP describe Caqalai as the perfect backpacker island so I went with that!
Thanks again
Jaime