Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Layover in Nadi

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea

We have a 8 hr layover in Nadi coming from Vanuatu to Los Angeles on Jan 6th. Plane lands at 3pm and hopefully heads out at 11:00. I'm looking for something that 3 adult females and their 6 kids (ages 8 and under) can do in this time frame. I think by the time we get out of the airport and have to be back we have around 3 or 4 hours at the most to enjoy. We've been to Fiji a couple times before and got out of Nadi right away so I'm not too sure about what we can expect of the city, shops, harbor etc.
If anyone can give suggestions on transportation (hire car, take taxi, bus etc), fun places we can go with kids that would be really helpful. Thanks much

If I had 6 kids aged 8 and under to entertain for 3 hours in Nadi I would take tham right across the road to Raffles Gateway and let them use the swimming pool and waterslide. Not sure how this works if you are not a guest, but most hotels in Fiji are pretty accommodating in this respect. Just buy a few snacks and drinks and hire the towels from reception. You will then board your flight to L.A. with 6 tired, happy kids who will go to sleep as soon as the plane takes off - result!

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Nothing particularly attractive about Nadi -- 'town' is a better discription than 'city'. The main street has the usual shops selling tourist trinkets, etc. You could walk from one end to the other in 15 minutes. Some local color at the market. It's not on coast, so no harbour as such. All considered, rather bland as far as distractions are concerned. Not a first choice with 6 kids in tow.

#1's suggestion certainly sounds good. It would be easy enough to phone and ask if it's possible. Perhaps, depending on exactly how much time you have, you could go into Nadi for a quick look around, then spend the rest of your time relaxing at Raffles.

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I agree with #1, but suggest you try to book a "day room" in advance, if they do that. Then you have a place to leave things, the younger kids can take a nap--- or you can after amusing them for a few hours! A day room is often about 50-60& of a nightly rate.

You can also take the bus into Nadi town for an hour or so, but not much more to see other than the market.

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Jan. 6th is a Sunday, so everything in Nadi town will be closed. If the above suggestions don't work out, take a taxi to the Bounty Restaurant, a 10 min. taxi ride from the airport. Have a nice dinner and go back to the airport. You'll need some Fijian dollars which you can exchange at the airport bank for the taxi, the restaurant takes plastic. The restaurant is not expensive and serves great food.

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