Fiji

Ranging from $20 a night to thousands, you will find exactly what you’re looking for in Fiji. There are adorable, low-key boutique properties all the way up through incredible luxury hotels on pristine beaches. Depending on your budget, you can find some incredible steals. Our favorites are Serenity Island Resort, on the lower end, and Yasawa Island Resort or Kokomo on the higher end.

Due to the proximity to Australia, you can typically find excellent deals for luxury hotels on luxuryescapes.com, or, as we often do, check out trivago.com.

Typically, travelers will arrive to Nadi International (NAN) before transiting to other islands. Fiji Airways is the national airline and is an absolutely incredible flight experience (they even serve my favorite wine, Matua).

Port Denarau is approximately a 20-30 minute drive from the airport and is the main Ferry Terminal in Nadi. Port Denarau offers great shopping, as does downtown Nadi, if you have some extra time. Ferries are an excellent way to get to some of the neighboring island chains and it’s how we accessed Serenity Island Resort. Ferries and taxis are not as cheap as they are in developing countries of Asia, etc, so expect to spend more than $30-40.

The Yasawas and other island chains are further away and require domestic transfers via tiny prop planes. Flights are typically organized through your hotel directly, and sometimes the cost is included in the hotel rates. Expect to pay upwards of $300 per person for flights to farther away chains.

Like many resort destinations, there are endless options when it comes to dining. When traveling to more of the remote areas of Fiji, the majority of your dining will happen on property.

In the main cities and towns, there will be a number of dining options. In Nadi, for example, you can find anything from Indian cuisine to low-key sandwich shops. Prices range, but are more expensive than some of the other island destinations we have traveled to in the past. One recommendation we have is to pick up some Fijian Rum on the way to your island resorts to save money.

Nadi and the port of Denarau offers great shopping if you need anything from clothing to skincare. The islands are more limited, but some of the hotels have excellent gift shops that have a number of local products and crafts.

Note that you cannot take Kava through security at the airport. If you plan to bring Kava powder home, purchase it after security when you leave the country.

Fijian people are so kind, fun, and cannot stop smiling. They are generous, open and incredibly honest about their lives and their country. Fijians are so welcoming and want to include you in their personal lives and really treat you like family in a genuine way. Our experience at Serenity Island, for example, was so different from many experiences we’ve had around the world. We met some of the nicest people who have lived their whole lives on these islands and want to tell you everything about it. They taught us how to pick our own coconuts, they brought us cold coconuts with little umbrellas on them in the mornings, just because they could, and they invited us to their private staff Kava ceremony on a Sunday night. We absolutely fell in love with the people and we still smile and can’t stop thinking about them.

On that note, it’s important to understand the history of Fiji, particularly when it comes to the main island and Nadi. Indians were brought to Fiji as indentured servants to work on the sugar plantations in the late 1800s. Since then, many have settled in Fiji and made it their home. We experienced some interesting tensions in Nadi (not on any islands) between Fijians and Indians. It’s important to keep your eyes and ears open and be weary of any scams, no matter where you go in the world. While your guard may be down from your amazing experiences with the islands, be sure to trust your gut in the major cities. Max and I almost fell pray to a bit of a bait and switch scam when were were shopping around and it made us a bit uncomfortable. This happened a couple times and I do think it’s important to mention here.