Fiji-anyone been there?

[spoilers yellow]

Looking for somewhere a bit different to try, quite fancy the fiji area.
Has anyone got any recommendations for hotels and/or any sort of itinery on how to get there, did you go east or west and with which carrier?

Thanks in advance

[gooneydog]

Air Pacific is the local carrier going outta LAX and CYVR Try the Blue Lagoon cruises or some of the resorts Its a lovely island country with very nice folks

[wingattack]

Went there on honeymoon 10 years ago. (Sheesh, 10 already). We stayed on the east side of the main island (Viti Levu?) which seemed to be the wetter side of the island. The better weather was on the west side, back towards the airport.

Flew with Qantas from SYD, then onto LAX. Great. Take a MasterCard as Visa not widely accepted there.

Take a boat trip out to one of the islands for a day or at least try and find your way to Natandola beach - quite hard to find but worth the trek.

Seriously friendly people and blokes in kilts. Pay as much as you can afford for the hotel. Try the Sheraton.

Hope this helps!

[Rollingthunder]

Been quite awhile since I was there as you'll see when I mention a/c type. YVR-HNL-NAN with CPAir (now Air Canada) DC8-63.

Not much to do in Nandi but some good duty-free shopping. Bought a Nikon on impluse and shopkeeper accepted a Canadian cheque in Can $$$. It finally cleared 3 months later. Stayed at some hotel that was quite nice overnight. Then hotal bus to Lautoka. Boarded a good sized sail boat and sailed to Beachcomber Resort. It's a tiny island off the coast. You can walk around it in 15 miinutes. Stayed in a bure (grass thatched hut) with beds, sink, overhead fan and not much else. Showers and toilet outside. Shower water heated by the sun. Was about 25 feet from the water. All meals (good food) included in price and eaten communally, just pay extra for drinks. If you want champagne for brekkies, order it the night before. Fresh water is barged in from the mainland. You could rent snokelling gear and hobiecats. Has the clearest water I've ever seen. All the people I met were great folks.

A little more upscale was Treasure Island, about a quarter of a mile away. They had pavement and inside lavs.

Every few years a cyclone goes through and flattens it. They start all over again.

Probably best holiday I ever had.

http://www.beachcomberfiji.com/

no affiliation with beachcomber

[Pax Vobiscum]

I support all the comments on the beauty of the island and friendliness of the people. We stayed at the Regent of Fiji (now Sheraton Royal Denarau Resort) as a stopover coming back from NZ. Excellent wine list and high standard of cuisine in the restaurants (although this was back in 1992). Given the likely cost of the flight, there's really not much point in skimping on the hotel accommodation.

FWIW our route back was ANZ (-HNL-LAX) and BA (LAX-LHR). Going east (from UK) is theoretically a slightly shorter route, but almost all scheduled flights go via HNL/LAX or Australasia (the only eastbound routing seems to be via Tokyo). You could get a round-the-world ticket, which might be cheaper and would allow for interesting stops on the way (if you can afford the time :{ )

Only negatives are that it's a long way to go - 24 hour flight from UK with at least one plane change - and in the rainy season (Nov-Apr) you can pretty much guarantee a tropical downpour for an hour or so every afternoon.

[reynoldsno1]

Been a few years since I was there - stayed in backpacker style accommodation - very basic, but very cheap!! Went rafting down the Ba river - great fun!! Can recommend Beachcomber Island as well....

[B Fraser]

Been twice, Beachcomber and Castaway (or was it Hideaway ?)

Best country on the face of the planet, locals extremely nice and the diving beat the Barrier Reef for variety which is really saying something.

In short...truley awesome.... must take the girlie next time :E

[DOME]

Last there 6 months ago - ShangriLa Resort. Excellent, Fijians top people. There are excellent deals available through any Travel Agency in Australia, which could be accessed via the Web. Need to travel to/from SYD though.

I can thoroughly recommend www.pacificholidays.com.au - consultant Lorda Doueihi. She arranged tailored packages - flights, accom. - for us a couple of times.

Bula!

[spoilers yellow]

Thanks all for the helpful replies.

[busz]

I can recommend Beachcombers as well as the Beachouse on the coral coast. My favourite was the latter. More relaxed.

www.fijibeachouse.com

Some pics:

These are of the Beachhouse.

http://www.ctc19.com/Fiji/BHStroll.JPG

http://www.ctc19.com/Fiji/BHSet.JPG

http://www.ctc19.com/Fiji/hammock.jpg

http://www.ctc19.com/Fiji/BHBeach2.JPG

And Beachcombers:

http://www.ctc19.com/Fiji/bcombe.JPG


http://www.ctc19.com/Fiji/BCGroup.JPG

http://www.ctc19.com/Fiji/BCIlse.JPG

http://www.ctc19.com/Fiji/BCPool.JPG

Hope this helps

Regards

Alex:ok:

[Wycombe]

Ahhhh, the tub at Beachcomber!

Brings back happy memories of my honeymoon there (and other spots around the World) in May '95.

So, yes another vote for Beachcomber. Not big, not luxurious, but a simply fabulous place.

Bula Bula!!

We flew trans-pacific with Air NZ, that was very good too.

[smile]

I stayed at the Outrigger Reef Resort for my honeymoon last year. Big huge lagoon style pool and high quality accom-- choose between hotel rooms or Bures. Also lots of activities to keep you amused-- daily volleyball games, kava ceremonies, water sports, toad races.

totally rcommend ithttp://www.outrigger.com/hotels_detail.aspx?hotel=37