Anyone been to Fiji? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

HockeyPuck · 10-09-2008, 08:14 AM

Hey all,

I was just wondering if anyone here has been to Fiji? Mrs. HockeyPuck and I are going at the end of the month and we're staying at one of those all inclusive dealy's but we also need some recommends and avoids... Must do's and Don't do's....

So come on CP - grant to me some of your wisdom!

JohnnyB · 10-09-2008, 08:51 AM

I went to Fiji once. The thing I remember most about it was the incredibly stark contrast between the super luxurious resorts that we stayed in as tourists and the phenomenally poor conditions of that the employees of the resort lived in outside of the resort grounds. The wealth gap between locals and tourists was very striking, and that is certainly not the only country I've been to that is really poor, but it really stuck out there. The only similar place I can think of is Siem Reap in Cambodia, except Cambodia seemed to have more of a range of accommodations.
Still, it's beautiful. Make sure you bring your bartering skills for when you go to markets.

Scrambler · 10-09-2008, 10:32 AM

BULA!

Probably the friendliest place in the World. Almost everyone in these islands have a big smile on their face. A great destination for beach, golf, culture and some of the best diving in the World. Value is also good here, they use the Fijian Dollar, which is worth about 69 CDN cents!

I encourage you to visit Fijime.com to get a good idea of what Fiji has to offer.

Been there a couple times and I love it. One of the highlights definitely visiting the villages behind the resorts while sharing Kava with the locals.

Vinaka vaka levu!

mots · 10-09-2008, 10:54 AM

hey i backpacked across a LOT of Fiji for over 2 months last year.

Fire me some questions, and ill try to answer them as best as can. Keep in mind travelling to some remore area's will be tough.

How much time do you have and where are you staying? (where i mean what area of Fiji - guessing the Yasawa's?)

HockeyPuck · 10-09-2008, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mots

hey i backpacked across a LOT of Fiji for over 2 months last year.

Fire me some questions, and ill try to answer them as best as can. Keep in mind travelling to some remore area's will be tough.

How much time do you have and where are you staying? (where i mean what area of Fiji - guessing the Yasawa's?)

We're staying at the Warwick Resort and Spa for 9 days/8 nights. I guess it's supposed to be 90 minutes from Nadi. Are we going to be out in the boonies? Anything interesting out that way?

Did you feel pretty safe in the cities, esp. with that gov't upheaval? Are there any golf courses out by the Warwick that you know of? Thanks (I'll probably think of more when they come to mind)...

HockeyPuck · 10-09-2008, 11:30 AM

It's about $5k. I bought it off of Skyauction.com. The package was air from LAX to Fiji and a 8 night stay at the all inclusive for about $4200, and then we had to find a flight from Calgary to LAX.

You can find some pretty good deals on Skyauction, but you have to be mindful of the extra taxes that they dump on you. Fortunately, this package had relatively low taxes.

MaDMaN_26 · 10-09-2008, 11:30 AM

I'm curious as to costs as well...

Scrambler: Did you scuba there? What did you dive? What dive shop did you use?

HockeyPuck · 10-10-2008, 07:52 AM

Nobody else has been there?

ZDogg · 10-10-2008, 09:21 AM

Was there last Dec for 5 days. Stayed in a Hostel type deal on the south coast of the big island (Coral sea?) at a place called the Beachouse. The place was really nice and dirt cheap.

I went on a river rafting adventure with Rivers Fiji and did the Upper Nauva River. I had seen it on Survivor when a couple of them won a reward challenge. Also heard Chuick Norris has been there and done it.

That was definately the highlight of my Fiji trip so I highly recommend it. A bit pricy but worth every penny.

FlamesAddiction · 10-10-2008, 09:26 AM

I have never been there before, but a good friend of mine from back in high school lives there now. He wanted to be a commercial pilot in Canada but it was discovered that he had a heart murmer so he moved to Fiji and flies for some small outfit there. I guess they don't have the same restrictions or something...

Scrambler · 10-10-2008, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

I'm curious as to costs as well...

Scrambler: Did you scuba there? What did you dive? What dive shop did you use?

I used and have recommended these guys to my clients:
http://www.fijidiving.com/

They are at many of the Resorts, even the backpacker ones in Beachcomber.

Beautiful corals, definitely not Great Barrier Reef in Australia or Belize Barrier Reef, but still beautiful and worthwhile diving.

surferguy · 10-10-2008, 10:12 AM

Sounds like you are not going on the same budget trip I did. I stayed at the beachouse 5 years ago and also went to beachcomber island. AGaing I Was on he budget trip, you are not. From what I can recall there are some golf courses ust outside of nadi (pronounced nan-di) near the sheraton hotel. There is a small group of resorts in this area that cater to the higher end tourist. You should go there for info on golf etc.

AS far being out in the islands groups, understand FIJI TIME. You are going there to relax, don't worry about what time it is etc, just try and shut down and really soak in what is going on around you. If you are spending that kind of money, they will be able to help you with whatever you need at your resort. For more info, sneak away to a chapers for a while and pick up a lonely planet book and read about Fiji. It will take about an hour to get all th einfo you need about your specific area of the country. If you don;t see a fiji specific book try the south pacific islands book. I know it exists at the chinook chapters as I just bought on 2 days ago. I fly to samoa and tonga on sunday for a month of travel before going to nz until may. Enjoy your trip, there is no place like the s pacific on earth...trust me.

FireInTheHole · 10-10-2008, 01:27 PM

I went to Fiji as a stopover on the way back fron New Zealand back in 1997. We stayed at a resort called "The Hideaway". We landed at the airport later at night, and drove in a rickety taxi 1.5 hours on what is basically a narrow dirt road until we finally arrived at the resort (ps - make sure you negotiate the fare first). The accommodations were interesting as instead of a hotel, you stay in a "hut" or bure with no a/c and litle bug or pest control, except for the complimentary can of bug spray they leave on the bathroom counter for you.

I remember walking into my room at around midnight completely exhausted and being attacked by a flying cockroach upon entering the bathroom.

The food in Fiji was, for the most part, some of the worst I have ever had. Breakfast was always good, and safe - so I would load up in the morning. Dinner was interesting to say the least. I remember ordering chicken one night and getting something that had a vertibrae... not sure what that was.

On the positive side, I have never been anywhere as beautiful as Fiji. We were there in January and the water was very warm. It was also a very deep blue - so blue that it was green. Snorkling was amazing - as there was a wide variety of very colorful fish to look at.

For a day trip, we did something called a "3 Island Cruise" where they took us out on what looked like a pirate ship to 3 small islands off the coast. One island was tiny - you could walk from one end to the other in 30 seconds - it was pretty cool. One of the other islands was the home of another resort, which was also very cool.

For another day trip we took a taxi into Nadi (where the airport is) and did some shopping. There were a number of stores there with clothing priced very cheap with designer labels - I suspect they were knock offs. Definately be ready to bargain with the vendors.

Anyways... enjoy your trip. There is certainly lots to see and do... and don't forget to try the Kava