Fiji for 15-30 days

Ok so I have spent days on end now reading through every ones posts on Fiji and where to stay; can you camp; bula passes etc etc etc.
The more I read about most of this and check prices I feel kind of bumbed out. It seems the main areas everyone talks about are pricey and not 'backpacker' sounding despite being labeled as such. It reminds me of being herded around like cattle in places like the Thailand islands. So I am looking for some good hearty travelers that have done something OTHER THAN the Yasawa and Mamanuka groups.

I will most likely spend a few days or a week there... but that's easy to plan / organize. I want something more off the beaten track. I have a month layover in Fiji and want to go explore. I may take 2 weeks and fly to Vanuatu but haven't decided yet.

I am an avid diver (commercial diver and padi instructor) and would like to do some diving while in Fiji though its not the end all be all of my trip. At any rate this is a factor in my plans non the less.

I am not afraid to get off the beaten track. This is now my 5th overseas backpacking trip. And all of them have been 6+ months. My last adventure put me deep into the Borneo jungle for 10 days :)

I keep hearing random comments about Caqelai, Ovalau, Kadav, and Taveuni. Can anyone expand on these or get me pointed in that type of Fiji travel / direction. I am looking for suggestions on accommodation and travel.

Cheers

Edited by: thorak

A month is a long time in Fiji, its good for chilling, but probably so good you'll be done well within a month. Mamanucas and Yasawas get the main numbers as they are accessible from the nadi/mainland airport but they are fantastic. You can circuit Viti Levu but it's mostly just a 3rd world nation and not much infrustructure. You can fly to Vuanu Levu but being more remote its even harder to get around, more chilled but little tourist ease infrustructure so easier to just stay at a budget resort there, its good for sailors on a boat in the cute harbor and the other cheap accoms is a bed and local meal and not much else so can be hard to meet others to enjoy things with. Tavenui I haven't been to but you'll need to hire a 4wd from all accounts, llooks ok though. I'd met a guy up the Yasawas once from NZ who was returning to one of the villages (that service one of the resorts up there) and basically worked and stayed in village and volunteered laboring in the hill crops which may be possible with the local Chiefs permission but you'd need to commit for a while and carry your weight. If that idea is of interest you might be able to get a Yasawa resort to arrange it for you up front. Anyways, have fun!

Some corrections to the above first.
Viti Levu is very easy to circle by bus on good roads.
Vanuau Levu can be reached cheaply by frequent ferries, and has a good road and bus system connecting its main towns, too.
Most of Taveuni also has decent roads and buses.

All these 3 largest island get regular stream of tourists, but (apart from Viti Levu's Coral Coast) it is just a trickle compared to crowds flocking to the Yasawas or the Mamanucas.
Ovalau (including Caqalai) and Kadavu also get a regular trickle of visitors, but just about any other island (except the resort islands) will be totally off the beaten track - the Lau and Moala archipelagos especially.
The interior of Viti Levu and much of Vanua Levu is also largely off the beaten track.

Of the islands you've listed I found Taveuni the most beautiful, but Viti Levu and Ovalau also very interesting - Vanua Levu less so.

Dive resorts are scattered throughout the country, though obviously in places where they can get customers, so if you want to keep diving, you won't be too far off the beaten track.

You probably will not find this one on line, but Navotua Village on Nacula (pronounced Nathula) Island has recently opened a simple home-stay bure which has a double bed and two singles with mosquito nets and a separate shower and toilet - they are asking $40FJD per night which is very cheap. The bure is in the village right on the waterfront. The idea is to create some sustainable tourism within the village from this small accommodation. The bure has no cooking facilities because they would like the villagers to cook for you during your stay. We tried things like the crabs, smoked fish and freshly made roti to name a few. You could also ask to experience a traditional Lovo night. if you are interested then telephone Ben 6799613610 or Aparosa 6798441220. This is a great way to live in a real Fijian Village for however long you care to stay and become a part of the village whilst relaxing and having a look around. Living in the village is basic. The home stay does have a flushing loo and a cold shower. There is also a composting toilet in the village. There is solar electricity in the village hall. This can be used for mobile phone recharge, but hopefully you want to get away from all that.

I would recommend that you spend 2 nights in Nadi either at the Nadi Bay Resort Hotel or at the Mercure and go shopping for some food supplies to take with you to the islands. Good supermarkets are a 70cent bus journey up the road in Namaka. Take some fruit and veggies, some flour, oil, foil, sugar, tea, coffee, milk etc and give this to the villagers for making some meals. You might like to take an esky -there is no refrigeration in the village. You should also bring 750g-1kg of waca root with you to offer to the village - this is what they make kava from. The villagers will also appreciate the local papers,they don't see them regularly. note that the village is alcohol free.

To get to the village you will need to arrange with Ben for a boat pick up from the ferry. Awesome Adventures run the ferry to the Yasawas. You can get the village to pick you up from the ferry and take you direct to the village, or you can get your gear picked up and walk about 20kms from the southern end of the Yasawas to the village with a local village guide Aparosa.

Other activities available from the village include joining in village activities (e.g. work in the gardens, weaving, visiting the school, church on sunday...), traditional Meke (dance) night, visiting the cave on adjacent Sai-I-Lau Island (by kayak or boat - fees applicable for getting there and for cave admission), snorkelling (bring your own snorkelling kit), fishing,hiking, visiting nearby islands and sea kayaking (organise in advance through Southern Sea Ventures - ssvtrips@southernseaventures.com).

Scuba Diving can be arrange through Blue Lagoon Beach Resort (on Nacula) or try Coral View on Tavewa Island or Nanuya Island Resort (if they are still running diving). Blue Lagoon are at the southern end of Nacula island. The snorkelling from Navotua around the west coast of nacula is stunning.

Hey Laszlo: Do you know what the two port cities you used to cross between Viti Levu and Vanau Levu? Or the ferry if you know it :)

Thanks for all the tips guys. Ive been making some good notes / plans with this info.

On Viti Lavu the easiest derparture point is Suva itself, from where boats go to Savusavu and Taveuni twice a week or so, I think.
Ships on the shorter hop between norrthern Viti Levu and SW Vanua Levu were not operating when I was last in Fiji - check.

There's also a ferry every day from Natovi (eastern Viti Levu) to Nabouwalu on western Vanua Levu (both these are sort of in the middle of nowhere, but buses are set up so that you can board in Suva and get off in Labasa). Also, I can vouch for the fact that, up until about a month ago, a ferry was running between Lautoka and Labasa at least once a week. Not sure if that's still on, the boat is the Westerland of Bligh Water Shipping.

Edited by: conorpr

Great tips from the others- I think you'd really like getting out to either Taveuni, "the Garden Island",
or Kadavu, which is very much an end-of-the-world locale. I dive and Kadavu has the Great Astrolabe Reef
for world-class diving and surfing as well. Kadavu is very exotic with volcanoes and few people. Taveuni has awesome diving as well in the channel between the island and Vanua Levu- the next island which is
25 miles away. This is where the Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall are famous dive sites. Ferries
leaving from Suva reach Taveuni via Savusavu on Vanua Levu. The Suva-Savusavu leg takes 12 hours and
the Savusavu-Taveuni leg takes 8 hours more. There are cabins available on some ferries
or you can just hang out. Keep in mind, so many travellers say they have one week or 10 days in Fiji
so getting to these more-remote destinations in Fiji is not an alternative. Cheers!

Hi

I noticed you said you are a diver. I went there not too long ago and did some diving. I stayed at The Beachouse www.fijibeachouse.com/ on the south coast of Viti Levu and I loved it. It has accomodation ranging from dorms to basic bure style huts and the crowd was very social and fun. They run lots of cheap and free activites but no diving. But there is a smal dive op (diveaway) at the next resort over and they can pick you up by boat for some dives. I did a few dives with them and they took me to some very nice walls. It was just me the dive guide and the driver for most of the dives. On one dive however they were doing some discover dives so we ended up in a shallow sandy area which was still a good dive but nothing special. I had most of my own gear so didn't hire much. The air fills were a bit on the light side but the air tasted ok.

I then went to Pacific Harbour to do some shark dives. I don't recommend staying in Pacific Harbour if you can avoid it as I found it was very boring. I was on my own and I went with a bure instead of the massive dorm that was the other option. All the dorm people seemed to be on some tour and were literally herded into the resort one day and shoved out the next. They weren't social at all and if not for another lonely diver there I would have been on my own entirely.

The diving In Pac. Harbour was great though. I dived with Beqa Adventure Divers (BAD) http://fijisharkdive.com/ and they were very good. The boats and gear looked in good order and the dives were well run. For the shark dives they take you on 2 dives in the one day. The do feeding on the dives, which I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not but it does mean the sharks are protected (and it's safer to dive with well fed sharks I figure). You lie flat on a ledge and just in front and below the guide feeds big bull sharks with tuna heads and then in a new location they feed black tip reefs, white tip reefs, grey reef and tawny nurse sharks. The do other dives apart from the shark dives but I didn't do these.

I also heard the diving up in the north islands is good but I didn't have enough time to go there on my trip.

I hope that helps.