BULAAA – Welcome to Fiji
It was time to move eastwards to the next South Pacific island/country, Fiji. We had a flight from Port Vila to Nadi with Fiji Airways. We arrived in Nadi in the early afternoon on Thursday, 21st of June. The weather wasn’t that great when we arrived. Anyway, we booked a car in advance as we were heading to the south, direction Gecko’s resort. We booked just for a night and planned to explore Pacific Harbour the same day.
We underestimated the size of the main island, Viti Levu, a bit. Therefore, we had an hour drive to our hotel and after check-in another 1.5 hour to Pacific Harbour. We made up our mind and drove along a coastal road all the way to Pacific Harbour. As we arrived, the sun started to go down and we just made it to a restaurant for a delicious dinner. Our target was to check out dive shops and hotels, but a good dinner had priority. We were anyway already too late for the dive shops as it was already evening but the hotels where still on our to-do list.
We drove by three different resorts and made up our minds that we are going to stay at Pacific Harbour the next day and reserved a room for the next night at the Pearl Resort. It was time to drive back to Gecko’s resort as we didn’t stay in Pacific Harbour yet. ????
Diving in Pacific Harbour
The next day we packed our bags, loaded our car and drove after breakfast, another 1.5h back to Pacific Harbour. Still on our bucket list was diving in Pacific Harbour. They are famous for their shark dives and especially for the big variety they have. With that in mind we wanted to get a bit more information about it and as we usually just drive by the dive shops to get our answers but in addition get a feeling about their “vibe”. An important part for us as we are looking for good dive masters that are willing and have the spirit to show us around under water. Our first stop was at Beqa Adventure Divers. Unfortunately, they were fully booked within the next 7 days and we didn’t want to wait that long ????
We’ve got told that it was holiday season for the Kiwi’s and Aussie’s and therefore it was quite busy on the island and the activities were heavily booked. Anyway, we didn’t want to give up already and tried to find the next dive shop called Aqua-Trek. After 15min driving around we finally found the hidden dive shop. We mentioned that we would like to go for a shark dive. As more we asked her and as she told us more about the dive itself, we didn’t want to go anymore as this has nothing to do with diving.
Unfortunately, it is an underwater zoo. They go on a boat with 20 customers which must go off all together, descent to 10m and hold on to a rope. 2-3 dive masters are looking on the back side to ensure that no sharks are coming close and 1-2 dive masters looking in the front and hand-feeding the sharks. You can imagine that this rope is not 20m long and as like in a zoo you need to fight for your spot. After asking if this is a safe thing, we got the answer that they are doing this for 20 years and beside of a few bites on dive masters as the protectors, nothing happened to customers. After her story about how proud they are to teach new divers and also take PADI Discover Scuba divers down to the shark, we knew that we don’t want to support joining the zoo by feeding the sharks.
We booked the night already at Pearl Resort and therefore we stayed in Pacific Harbour. The town didn’t have a lot to offer beside of a few restaurants and 2-3 dive shops. After lunch we relaxed at our stay and ended our day early. The next day we were looking forward to the breakfast buffet but unfortunately it was just disappointing. Overall, the hotel didn’t deliver what they advertised and beside of that the weather was still cloudy mixed with slight rain. It was time for a change. We decided to go back to Nadi, as the weather should be better on the east coast than on the rest of Viti Levu.
Let’s find a surf lesson
Since Asia, we were looking for a surf spot which is suitable for beginners and never really were able to find one so far. But this has to change now and there must be a place in Fiji for that. On our drive back to Nadi, we found way off the main street a little backpacker/surf “resort” called Rendezvous Beach Resort which had good ratings. We decided spontaneously to drive by and having a look at it.
As we arrived around lunch time, they were telling us that they actually go out in the afternoon. They are observing the tide but 2pm usually is the right time to go. We decided spontaneously to join a lesson and stayed for the afternoon.
We drove with their minibus to the Natadola beach break, direction south, just at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa. It was fun and finally I was able to stay on a surf board and ride a wave instead of usually just vanish with a wave. On the other hand, Alisha was already able to catch every wave and even the surf teacher was impressed. However, the lesson was a bit a hit and miss for us with the instructor so we decided to not come back to that spot. We anyway booked already a stay in Nadi and so we left as soon as we got back to the resort.
Back in Nadi
We booked for two nights in the Tokatoka resort just next to the airport. It was a bigger resort but they were quite overwhelmed by the amount of the guests coming in at the reception. I think a flight just landed recently. After 30min we somehow got a room assigned which wasn’t ready when we opened the door. We quickly got another one and finally we were able to settle in as we were really tired from our sporty day.
We got what we wanted, nice warm sunny weather on Fiji. The next day we relaxed as they had a nice pool and restaurant. We used the time to discuss our further travel plans. Since we arrived on the South Pacific Islands, the way of travel changed. As in Asia it is easy to find stay options in every price category, an oversupply of activities and daily flights for a fraction of the price, here in the South Pacific it is not that easy. Flights are not scheduled daily and the islands are not all connected with each other depending on their “owner” country like Cook island where you have to fly via New Zealand and so on. In addition, hotels and activities are more suited for aged tourists and therefore you don’t find a lot of young/world travellers as us. Nevertheless, being for once on the other side of the world and able to see all the different cultures, colonization impacts (bigger than I thought) and their natural beauty was still predominant.
We wanted to explore the little islands of Fiji, which actually means “Many Islands”. Another lesson we had about James Cook. We decided to go for day tours as you have to combine the northern islands with stay options. Our first choice was a day tour to Schooner island with Whales Tales Cruise. We booked it for the next day and couldn’t wait for our next adventure.
Schooner Island
Early morning, we got picked up. Still a bit tired, we arrived at the Port Denarau. After check-in it was already time to go on board and the adventure started. It was literally an adventure as the boat was looking like a pirate sail boat with two decks not to forget to say that they already served champagne with orange juice for breakfast. Yes, they had plenty of food and all alcoholic and soft drinks where included. We were ready to sail to Schooner island, Ahoi!
We met some people the same age as we on the boat for once and so we had a good time. The crew was more than helpful and they were singing and playing guitar in their spare time. Let’s say, the boat ride to Schooner island was already an adventure in itself. We had a lot of fun and have not even seen the island.
Schooner island – Anyone in?
Finally, we arrived on Schooner island. It was a tiny island with a big hut, a toilet, and a beach volleyball field. I don’t know how you can play volleyball in that heat but who knows. It was a mix of activities on that little island. It started with snorkeling, then a coconut show by a staff member followed by a delicious lunch. There was another snorkeling/glass boat session in the afternoon but we decided to stay and play around with the drone. Luckily, we stayed because we just heard a staff member calling us and as we ran to the water he was feeding the reef sharks at the beach. Unbelievable, we were only able to see reef sharks during dives and not more than one or two but here we saw at least 10 of them including their youngsters coming for lunch. Another highlight for that day and after few hours on the island, it was time to go back. After another 2h boat ride we were back in Nadi and more than happy. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had a lot of fun with Whales Tales Cruise. We can highly recommend it if you go to Fiji ???? Find our amazing drone movie about Schooner island here.
Whale’s Tale Cruise – Drone shot
Savala Island
It was our last night at the Tokatoka resort and as they had no availability for the rest of our days we booked for the rest of our stay in Fiji the Oasis Palms resort. The next day we packed our bags and moved to the Oasis Palms resort a bit outside of the center but closer to the coast. We used the day after our cruise to relax and for our further planning.
We decided to go on another cruise for the next day. It was one of our best day trips we had so far on our travel and this was what we were looking for in the South Pacific. Therefore, after a quick decision and a call we booked another day cruise but this time with Oolala Cruise to Savala island. Same procedure as two days before, we got picked up in the morning and after the check-in at the Port Denarau, the trip started.
This time it was not such a cool boat. It was more a transport boat with proper seats squeezed together on two decks. The crowd was more mixed up with families and older couples. Anyway, we are able to make friends on every occasion and so this time as well. After talking to a Kiwi couple and an Aussie family about travelling, we arrived at the Savala island.
Savala island – Drone shot
This time the island was a bit bigger and had proper shady spots provided to all the guests. After settling in the first snorkeling session started. The set-up was the same as on our previous cruise but just with more people. The snorkeling was a bit disappointing but after the delicious lunch we didn’t care anymore. We realized anyway that we are more than spoilt in case of beaches, islands, snorkeling and diving. Especially after an older couple approached us and said that this was their best snorkeling experience. We just looked at each other, agreed with the couple but knew that we have seen better spots for snorkeling.
This time we focused more on letting the panoramic views sink in instead of going for all the activities. After another drone session and a walk around the island it was time to go on board again and driving back to Nadi. After another island tour, tired from a full day of sun, we went straight back to the hotel had a light dinner and went to bed. It was our last full day in Fiji and we were happy that we did another island day tour. Both tours were absolutely worth it with a slight advantage for the Whales Tales Cruise. Anyway, there is also an amazing drone movie about Savala island to be found here.
Schooner island – Drone selfie
Next stop Samoa
The next day we had our flight out of Fiji to Samoa. The week in Fiji was over and new adventures were awaiting us in Samoa. Our flight was around lunch time and therefore we had time to sleep out and go towards Samoa well rested.
More about Samoa in our next blog.
Cheers,
Ueli
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