Holiday in Fiji

[rumy Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumy]

Seeing this is a general discussion forum and most people on here are well travelled I thought I would ask about Fiji. I have a family of wife and two kids (10 & 8), we want to go to Fiji but we are confused with all the choices. What experiences have you had, what are the prices for food like and what are the does and don't? Where would you recommend we stay, our budget is $10000 which must include everything - food, accomodation, flights from Brisbane, spending money. We want to go this September and want to stay 8 nights. What day trips do you recommend and don't recommend?

BULA

[mudboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mudboy]

Holiday in Fiji

I stayed there last year at denaru
We stayed at the sheraton, the place was great and they really look after kids

I would stay at the Sheraton villas next time as bigger rooms for the family


Food breakfast was included and for meals generally ate at the marina
Price is good especially with the exchange rate, food was good

[LargeInAPrado Member Find all posts View Profile Close LargeInAPrado]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

Need a little more on what you actually want on your holiday ie to relax, party, adventure everyday, solitude...fiji can offer it all

Christmas this year we stayed at the Sheraton Denarau. Great for kids (mine are 2 and 6) really was relaxing and the kids adored it and my 2 year old still talks about it think that ended up at around 9k for 7 days...

Also have been down to the coral coast that was before we had kids (the fijian) was good then but is a bit tired nowadays apparently but if your kids are young it adds a 3 hour car trip to an already decent flight travelling by dodgy car on dodgy roads down to one of the resorts on the coral coast and be prepared the roads are really bad at the moment... or outback dirt roads blow them away

Depending on the age of your kids i think depends on where you would go

young < 10 - denarau its all there close to the airport 6 good resorts to choose from, day trips out to the islands on boats jet skis, great fishing
teenagers - coral coast or an island, take your pick for that budget youll have a great time, fiji time.

Or mix it up, some time on an island and some time on the mainland ... Whatever you chose as long as your relaxed youll love it

[rumy Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumy]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

OK booked it today for September school holidays ... we are staying at Radisson in a 2 bedroom unit by the lagoon for 8 nights. We are going on the Robinson Cruso tour, Whale Tale tour, the Sigatoka River experience and the Arts village tour. Anybody else recommend anything???

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

We stayed at the Shangri-La on the coral coast and would go back there again. We loved it!!
2nd time we went to Fiji we stayed at the Outrigger at bit further along the coral coast and it was nice but overpriced.

We plan on taking our daughter there in the next couple of years and will be definitely heading back to the Shangri-La.
(a bit late but hey... )

We paid a taxi driver to be our guide one day. he picked us up from our hotel early in the morning and dropped us back late in the evening. The tour was so much better with him as we had a private tour of a village and a private Kava ceremony. We also had private tours of the last Cannibal tribal village (only stopped practising 70 or 80 years ago ... can't quite remember) and a community project (farming project). He guided us through the Sigatoka markets, suggested the best Indian in town for lunch... etc etc etc... I'll see if I can find his business card. He even offered us accommodation next time we visit :shock: Don't know about that :?

Don't be scared to venture out into the local village. We bought all our drinks, cereal, milk, beers etc from the local convenience store. Also, we found a local pizza joint on the beach next to the hotel (Outrigger) that made the BEST pizza's and the Fiji Bitter was $1.50 Fiji rather than $8.00 fiji in the resort.

With the Kava ceremony, participate but follow the guidelines... they do get offended if you don't get it right. Any local guide book or even the resorts have a "guide to the Kava ceremony" available.

[johnsy79 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close johnsy79]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

Interesting thread which I will be keeping a keen eye on.
I have just booked our honeymoon for 8 nights in May, staying at Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa! Room is 1 B/room King Club Suite. Breakfast daily and 2 hrs every afternoon of free drinks and canapes. Not really planning to much touring, maybe golf for me and spa for the missus (we will be accompanied by our 18mth old daughter) Probably visit one of the villages to see some of the local culture and maybe an island daytrip.
Hurry up May dammit!

[mudboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mudboy]

Holiday in Fiji

We also did the Robinson cruiso day trip

The best one was whale tail, male sure u are in a drinking mood that day, soon as u get on board they give U a drink and your glass will never be empty all day

[xlr8_87 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close xlr8_87]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

Don't stay on the mainland whatever you do!

I've been to Castaway Island twice and it's awesome. You should be able to fit that into your budget. Great for the kids. Great snorkelling starts about 10m off the beach. Heaps of stuff to do.

[bertram35 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bertram35]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

Hey Johnsy,

We stayed at the Intercon a few months ago....great place, food is excellent, gofl course sensational.
Good for little kids - we had a 4yo and 2yo and they loved it, mostly spent the time around great kids pool.
Kids club was excellent and nannys are good if you want a night or two without the kids.
Try the 5 star restaurant one night - food was first class, pre-order fresh lobster for a treat. We had a big night there with another couple and total coast was around $100 each inc booze, 3 courses, coffe and port etc etc
Also there is an al fresco dining area between kids and adult pools - really good as kids eat free and relaxed setup so the kids can run around etc. Prices very reasonable for a 5 star intercon hotel!
Hope this helps - have a great time
ML

[bitdist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bitdist]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

I would echo stay on an island not the mainland.
We have 4 kids so for 6 of us it looked a bit expensive but...
We stayed on Musket cove island after finding some private houses for rent. You can use the resort facilities by paying $15 per person per week (big deal)
Gave us heaps of room with a whole house to spread out in
They had a little supermarket so we did our own breakfasts and some lunches
Including airfares trips to other islands food etc, cost about 7k for 11 days which I thought was pretty good.

[rumy Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumy]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

After looking at all the resorts I don't think you can go wrong where ever you stay at Fiji. Every one I have spoken too that has been there say their resort was great and I should stay there. Next time we stay, we will stay at the bottom of Fiji so we can experience both sides of Fiji and then the island stay after that .... I get the feeling once you go once there will be several more visits in my life time.
Thanks for all the replies .....

[bunsen Member Find all posts View Profile Close bunsen]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

Yep, another vote here to not stay ion the mainland. We went to Fiji for our honeymoon a few years ago, with our 1yr old. We spent 1 night on Denarau at one of the big resorts, then 6 or 7 nights on Malolo Island. We found that the small island resort was awesome, as you get to know the staff, and they LOVE kids!

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

Yup the mainland is not that flash

If you have kids this is the place http://maloloisland.com/

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

I have stayed at the Shangri-La Fijian many, many years ago, was reported as being a bit tired elsewhere in the thread but I believe has been refurbished recently. It was a great place to stay especially if you have kids, they really looked after them.

Last trip there we stayed on Castaway Island which was awesome, if you go there ask if they remember the Kookaburra Lady LOL. We travelled there by boat from the mainland and it was about a 2.5hr trip from memory as we stopped at other resort islands along the way. You have to book well in advance for Castaway though as it is very popular, we stayed in a beachside bure which IIRC is the only type of accomodation they have there but it was cool with louvre windows and plenty of fans.

From there we scored a helicopter ride to the Outrigger Reef Resort on the Coral Coast (it was in our accomodation deal as it's a sister resort). That was pretty special as we got to fly over the highlands and via the airport for a re-fuelling stop. The Outrigger was nice but a bit Las Vegas for me and the beach was pretty un-usable due to the tides. Travelled from there up to The Warwick which is an older hotel but really friendly with a great outdoor restaurant on a small man-made island.

I've done the canoing on the river tour and it was very enjoyable but mostly I go for the scuba diving which at Castaway was never more than a 10 min fast speedboat ride away. Now this is making me want to go back :lol:. Hope this helps someone planning a trip!

http://www.castawayisland.com/

[tyloma Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tyloma]

Re: Holiday in Fiji

Hi all,

We're looking at having our second honeymoon in July to celebrate 10 years of marriage. We're definitely going to leave the kids with grand-parents and we've got about 6 nights to de-stress, relax and romance!

Fiji looks awesome, but there is an overwhelming number of choices. We're thinking maybe Denarau as it's close to everything with lots of luxury resorts.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Cheers,