Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Which Pacific Island?

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea

I am thinking about taking about a week long trip to a Pacific Island in a few months time with my husband. We have been to Fiji before so would like to go somewhere new. I'd be in the second trimester of pregnancy, which may impact my energy and my husband is a keen surfer. We'd be interested in doing some snorkelling and exploring like walking, and then chilling out and reading while he surfs. We had a fantastic time in Indonesia last year, travelling at our own pace, so perhaps we'd even be better off going back there... Gili Island were a particular favourite, so a similar vibe would be great. We're not really into spending a lot of time at a resort, but maybe due to the pregnancy would be more likely to enjoy this...?? Any advice from people who've travelled when pregnant would be helpful!

If the Gilis were your fave spot, just head back to SE Asia.

Nowhere in the Pacific is quite similar, though some spots in Fiji would be closest.
In general, the Pacific is much more expensive than SEA, and hardly any places are as busy as the Gilis.
Some Malaysian or Thai islands might suit you best.

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"Fiji" covers a lot of territory. Have you been everywhere or do you want a different country as a matter of principle? You mention the Gili islands and what popped immediately to mind was Leleuvia island, off Ovalau.

Alas, I have never been pregnant so cannot offer personal advice. Although, while I was on Leleuvia there was a couple with two kids and she was more than half-way into another pregnancy. Didn't seem to bother her much .. swimming, swinging in a hammock, or taking lazy walks around the island or onto the reef flats at low tide.

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Thanks for your replies.
Yes Fiji is definitely an option. When we last went it was our first time travelling and we booked a package deal type thing, so definitely there would be a lot more to see. Leleuvia Island looks gorgeous, definitely an option. My husband is a very keen surfer, so a place with surf would definitely be good. We'd be keen to do other things like snorkelling, paddle boarding, maybe kitesurfing too. That's really what we liked about Gili islands off Lombok, not so much the business.

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a place with surf would definitely be good

Then scratch leleuvia from your list. It is an inner lagoon island, no waves, and very little to nothing in the way of sporting activities such as paddle boarding and kitesurfing. I didn't see much of that anywhere.

The good surfing around Fiji is most outer reef breaks. There are a couple of resorts in/near the Yasawas that are specialized in surfing holidays, boating people out to the breaks. But it's for the good intermediate to expert (from what I've heard). There might also be some tamer surfing possibilities out of the resorts on Viti Levu.

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