rtw rookie: planning fiji
Bula! It’s RTW Rookie, ready to share the next leg of my round-the-world adventure. We’ve talked RTW dreaming, planning, flying, and starting in Hawaii thus far. Let’s not stray too far from the beach… Next up: planning Fiji!
We’re spending one week in Fiji (by the way, Bula means hello in Fijian). To be perfectly honest, I’m still not completely set with my Fiji plans. However, time is ticking! It’s fine, I’m not too concerned. And don’t worry, I’ll keep you folks abreast of any major deviations (and would seriously appreciate any feedback). In the meantime, let’s check out what we have in the works.
Photo credit: First Landing Resort
After Doc’s time travel magic, I land in Nadi. This is the largest of the 330+ islands that make up the country. While researching Fiji, I became seriously overwhelmed. Remember the 330+ islands? How do you narrow things down when you only have one week?
Once my travel partner talked me off the ledge (read: told me we’re not spending all five months on Fiji), we narrowed things down. In the end, we decided that our best bet is to split our time between the main island and the famous Yasawa Islands.
the itinerary
- Day 1: Land in Nadi, which is on the main (and largest) island of Viti Levu, and travel to Danny’s Village Homestay on the Coral Coast for a night. Danny’s is located on the beach, and all meals are included in the price of a room. Best of all, it offers a bit of insight into a Fijian community. You can visit the town’s school or church, go hiking, and enjoy some local food. After watching some enthusiastic youtube videos about Danny’s, I thought this would be a fun place to get an introduction to the country and local culture.
- Day 2: After seeing out how the locals do it at Danny’s, we’ll head back toward Nadi for a relaxing night at First Landing Beach Resort and Villas.
- Day 3: Planning for an early wake-up call before hopping a boat out to the Yasawa Islands and heading to Oarsman’s Bay Lodge on Nacula Island–smack in the middle of the Yasawa Islands. We’ll be staying in a double bure. The bure is walking distance to the beach, and on-site activities cover everything from snorkeling to massages to volleyball. I see no issue making myself at home here.
- Day 4 – 6: Island hopping, of course. How do you get around the outlying islands in Fiji, you ask? Well I had the same question, and the most common answer I found was the Bula Pass. The Bula Pass by Awesome Adventures can pretty much take you anywhere you want to go. Plus, you get unlimited rides for the length of your pass (5 to 21 days). We’ll probably get a 5-day pass (~$225 per person). This will include our trip from Denaru (near Nadi) to the Yasawa archipelago.
- Day 7: After checking out of Oarsman’s, we’ll head back to Nadi. Here, we’ll spend one more night at First Landing before we shove off for New Zealand.
so…any thoughts?
Deuces!
RTW Rookie
@RTW_Rookie
Lazy Travelers
The Lazy Travelers are two transatlantic best friends who have mastered the art of exploring a new city. Though Ashley is based in London and Carolyn is in Philadelphia, we'll use any excuse to reunite around the world. We’re professional bar hoppers, pub crawlers, and food testers, and you’ll never see us zipping around, checking things off a list of “must-sees.”
11 Comments
RTW_Rookie
Vinaka, Lazy Travelers! As you can tell, my Fijian is RAPIDLY improving (vinaka = thank you, if you didn’t guess).
As experts in relaxing and imbibing, do you ladies know the beverage of choice in Fiji? Missed that during my research.
Lazy Travelers
we don’t know, but we assume it involves coconuts and rum, so you should be just fine.
Lazy Travelers recently posted..rtw rookie: planning fiji
The World Wanderer
Fiji Gold Beer was pretty fantastic.
The World Wanderer
Okay, RTW Rookie, can I tell you how impressed I am with your Fijian!? Bula is seriously their favorite word, and you will eventually wish that every country used that greeting…seriously. I can teach you how to say Hi my name is RTW Rookie if you’d like, but the pronunciation is a bit different from the spelling so maybe I’ll have to message you it.
Anyway, Fiji is one of my favorite places! A couple tips. If you land and it’s almost night time, you will notice fires EVERYWHERE. I freaked a bit, but it’s just burning sugar cane, so nbd. Next, if you have time, try to go on the Sigatoka River Safari. Sigatoka is on of the main towns on the Coral Coast, and they take you upstream and into the middle of Fiji to a village. Such a great experience. Plus, they take you by jet boat, and on the way back you do 360 turns. Adventure and culture in one tour!
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RTW_Rookie
Thanks for the Sigatoka tip! I think it’s between Danny’s and Nadi, so maybe a minor detour is in order.
Pola (@jettingaround)
OK that picture makes me want to hop on a plane and go somewhere where the day’s high temp isn’t 30F…
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RTW_Rookie
…yep. makes the long flight sound much more appealing.
@mrsoaroundworld
I have a better idea – can I go instead? Would love Fiji!!
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Kieu ~ GQ trippin
I thought you meant to say “buya!” at first. LOL. We had an unexpected layover in Fiji at the start of our RTW trip on our way to New Zealand. Would love to go back one day.
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Wondering&Wandering
Hey, looks like a great plan! My boyfriend and I are heading to Fiji in a couple of weeks and are thinking of following a very similar itinerary. Wondering what you guys budgeted or ended up spending while you were there. Thanks!
– Alex
Lazy Travelers
ahh you will have an amazing time!
we budgeted about $200/day in total for our RTW and stayed pretty close while in fiji. island hopping ended up costing more, just because you have to get a pass on the yasawa flyer. i would definitely say that it’s worth it, though!! feel free to email me with any specific questions 🙂
thelazytravelers [at] gmail [dot] com
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