First trip to Fiji - 10 days - Where to start?!

[nrhill11]

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are planning a 10 day trip to Fiji, and I am already overwhelmed with the options. We want to experience awesome diving and incredible beaches. LIveaboards are out of our price range. I could see us doing 5-6 days of diving and spending the rest of the time relaxing on a beach.

My main question is where to go and where to stay? We are open to taking domestic flights or ferries to get to other places, but we don't want to move around too much once we get there. I would say that we would stay at two different resorts at a maximum. We want to prioritize the quality of diving, so we don't mind going one place for the diving and another for the beach time. For the dive time, we don't mind a budget place as long as it has A/C. For the beach time, I think we would be willing to pay a bit more for a nice resort.

Any suggestions will help at this point. Also, if anyone knows of another thread with a lot of information for people just beginning to do some research, please point me that way as well.

Thanks!

 

[kingsnwings]

Just got back from honeymoon on Taveuni; amazing diving. Planning on writing up a report. Taveuni is not known for its beaches; however they do exist, and the beach we had was very nice. There are also other resorts that are on beaches. From Nadi it is another ~$250US to Taveuni (1-1.5h flight). We stayed at Coconut Grove which has a private beach and was very nice. Also stayed at Nakia (parent resort of Taveuni Ocean Sports; no beach). The Dive shop will pick up from any resort in Matei, like Coconut.

No A/C, but this time of year the weather was 70-80F and very pleasant, if we had it, I would not have used it.

Overall Taveuni was amazing, but don't expect luxury. Family from New Zealand said Taveuni >> Kadavu.

 

[edurst]

We had a spectacular trip at Home - Wananavu Beach Resort . the diving was amazing the food was world class. I would highly recommend it.

 

[diverguytasmania]

Also depends on what kind of diving you are after, your comfort level around diving, experience etc. if you are a new diver then staying on the Coral Coast and diving there is fine, as is the Manamuca islands (easy access from the main island). If you want really spectacular diving and can handle a bit of chop and currents then the Bligh strait (Rakiraki, on Viti Levu) and the Somosomo strait (Taveuni) is where you want to be. I just got back from Volivoli Beach Resort, one week stay with wife and 3 yr old daughter, and we had an excellent stay with great diving. The passage off Volivoli can be rough but they only go out there if it is reasonable, however it can change when you are out there and can be choppy. The resort there is quite luxurious with very good food. Somosomo strait has some great dives and can be accessed from Vanua Levu or Taveuni. Taveuni is my favourite island, IMO best diving in Fiji unless you are on a liveaboard and can dive around Namena island (way out there between Rakiraki and Taveuni). Fiji is really about spectacular soft corals not so much beaches, although there are a few nice ones on the Coral Coast.
Kadavu is worth thinking about if you want to totally avoid other tourists and are looking for the real Fiji. The culture is quite strong there with most people still living in their tribal village. It's out of the way but is worth making the effort to get there. Diving on the Astrolabe is good, no Great White Wall but plenty of mantas and sharks, especially on the outside of the reef.
The big five star places are at Denerau and further around on the Coral Coast - try the Shangri-La or the Outrigger or the Intercontinental.

 

[nrhill11]

Just got back from honeymoon on Taveuni; amazing diving. Planning on writing up a report. Taveuni is not known for its beaches; however they do exist, and the beach we had was very nice. There are also other resorts that are on beaches. From Nadi it is another ~$250US to Taveuni (1-1.5h flight). We stayed at Coconut Grove which has a private beach and was very nice. Also stayed at Nakia (parent resort of Taveuni Ocean Sports; no beach). The Dive shop will pick up from any resort in Matei, like Coconut.

No A/C, but this time of year the weather was 70-80F and very pleasant, if we had it, I would not have used it.

Overall Taveuni was amazing, but don't expect luxury. Family from New Zealand said Taveuni >> Kadavu.

Thanks for the tips. That is helpful to know that A/C is not a big deal when the weather is so mild. Coconut Grove looks great!

 

[nrhill11]

Also depends on what kind of diving you are after, your comfort level around diving, experience etc. if you are a new diver then staying on the Coral Coast and diving there is fine, as is the Manamuca islands (easy access from the main island). If you want really spectacular diving and can handle a bit of chop and currents then the Bligh strait (Rakiraki, on Viti Levu) and the Somosomo strait (Taveuni) is where you want to be. I just got back from Volivoli Beach Resort, one week stay with wife and 3 yr old daughter, and we had an excellent stay with great diving. The passage off Volivoli can be rough but they only go out there if it is reasonable, however it can change when you are out there and can be choppy. The resort there is quite luxurious with very good food. Somosomo strait has some great dives and can be accessed from Vanua Levu or Taveuni. Taveuni is my favourite island, IMO best diving in Fiji unless you are on a liveaboard and can dive around Namena island (way out there between Rakiraki and Taveuni). Fiji is really about spectacular soft corals not so much beaches, although there are a few nice ones on the Coral Coast.
Kadavu is worth thinking about if you want to totally avoid other tourists and are looking for the real Fiji. The culture is quite strong there with most people still living in their tribal village. It's out of the way but is worth making the effort to get there. Diving on the Astrolabe is good, no Great White Wall but plenty of mantas and sharks, especially on the outside of the reef.
The big five star places are at Denerau and further around on the Coral Coast - try the Shangri-La or the Outrigger or the Intercontinental.

We are both experienced divers, so we will likely venture out to some of the better dive spots. Thanks for the tips on that! We might try to go to one more location just for beach time after 4-5 days of diving. Thanks for your help!

 

[Kikabock]

Also depends on what kind of diving you are after, your comfort level around diving, experience etc. if you are a new diver then staying on the Coral Coast and diving there is fine, as is the Manamuca islands (easy access from the main island). If you want really spectacular diving and can handle a bit of chop and currents then the Bligh strait (Rakiraki, on Viti Levu) and the Somosomo strait (Taveuni) is where you want to be. I just got back from Volivoli Beach Resort, one week stay with wife and 3 yr old daughter, and we had an excellent stay with great diving. The passage off Volivoli can be rough but they only go out there if it is reasonable, however it can change when you are out there and can be choppy. The resort there is quite luxurious with very good food. Somosomo strait has some great dives and can be accessed from Vanua Levu or Taveuni. Taveuni is my favourite island, IMO best diving in Fiji unless you are on a liveaboard and can dive around Namena island (way out there between Rakiraki and Taveuni). Fiji is really about spectacular soft corals not so much beaches, although there are a few nice ones on the Coral Coast.
Kadavu is worth thinking about if you want to totally avoid other tourists and are looking for the real Fiji. The culture is quite strong there with most people still living in their tribal village. It's out of the way but is worth making the effort to get there. Diving on the Astrolabe is good, no Great White Wall but plenty of mantas and sharks, especially on the outside of the reef.
The big five star places are at Denerau and further around on the Coral Coast - try the Shangri-La or the Outrigger or the Intercontinental.

This is really a fantastic Fiji summary-- spot on!