Fiji is a great place to visit while you are in Australia but like most places, some areas are better than others.

Contrary to common perception, Fiji is not a tiny little place that you can drive around in half a day. The main island, Viti Levu is over 200km across and driving from place to place can often take considerable time. Although the main ring road around the island is sealed, many roads to remote areas are not. Some resorts on the south side of Viti Levu are extremely isolated and the majority are NOT located on a beach. “The best beach in Fiji” may not be an indication that you will be on an amazing beach – simply that it may be the best one on the main island (as we found to our annoyance)

Having said that however, the outlying islands are AMAZING! There two main island groups, The Mamanuca and The Yasawa groups. The Mamanucas are approximately 1hr from the capital city, Nadi (pronounced “Nandy”), by high speed ferry while the Yasawa’s are circa 4 hours away.

Recommendation:
The Muscat Cove Resort on the Malolo Lai Lai Island in the Mamanuca Island group is amazing. A very picturesque resort with everything you could want. All watersports are catered for and the staff are as friendly as you can get. Best of all however, there is an little Island bar on the end of the spit where you can escape from resort life, enjoy a cold bottle of wine and even fire up the bbq for dinner (bbq food packs are available form the resort supermarket!)

Good tips and interesting points:

•Internet connections are few and far between
•Only mobile phones on the Vodafone network will work in Fiji at present.
•Make sure you get the Lonely Planet Fiji or South Pacific.
•Fiji is not that cheap
•Weather can be quite changeable on the South Coast of Vitu Levu
•In July & August it can get quite chilly in the evenings
•Fantastic Diving
-Make sure you use a reputable diving company that is PADI registered (usually slightly more expensive)
-Beqa Lagoon is a must
-Muscat Cove has an unlimited dive package for around AU$600. If you are a keen diver and are going for about 10 days it is possible to comfortably get around 16 dives.
•Anywhere on the west coast or any western islands have fairly consistent trade winds and therefore are great for Kite Surfing or Wind Surfing.
•Shop around as there are a wide range of resorts to suit all budgets
•You need to purchase a phone card to use public phones. These can be bought at supermarkets, petrol stations or news agents
•Everyday pharmaceuticals are quite hard to come by in some areas
•Fiji is quite a poor country in places and the locals will do their best to sell necklaces and various ornaments. This can be charming or annoying depending on your perspective.
•Fiji people are very, very friendly and will often walk up to you to shake your hand
•Fiji Time: Fiji is not the place to go if you want things to happen with any sense of urgency. The entire place runs on “Fiji Time” which much slower than what you may be used to. Consequently, organising things in Fiji can take a lot of time so try and get everything sorted before you get there.
•English is spoken everywhere but the locals will always greet you in the local language. “Bula” (boo-la) means hello, “Vinaka” (vee-naka) means thanks you
•Tipping is not common practice – many hotels/resorts have a “Christmas Box” which is distributed among staff at Christmas Time.
•The “Bula Island Hopping” pass is a fantastic way to see the islands. Valid over a three week period, it is the most cost effective way to see the best of what Fiji has to offer.
•If you go in the Sugar Cane harvesting season (April to November) it may be worth phoning the hotel to ask if you are close to any harvesting transport routes. Heavy trucks and mini trains work 24hrs a day and often run right next to resorts. While it won’t ruin your holiday, it certainly will disrupt your sleep.
•Fijians are actually quite conservative people and things like topless sunbathing/skimpy bikinis are not tolerated.<br><br>Post edited by: kam, at: 2006/07/19 08:56

Fiji is a wonderful place to spend some time, but make sure you get away from Viti Levu (the main island). The place to see the real Fijian way of life is to get out to the smaller islands like the Yasawas or out to the Eastern islands which are really remote. If you want a resort type holiday there are plenty out there, but equally you can stay with Fijian families and absorb a bit more of the culture.

There is lots to see on Viti Levu too, but the cities tend to be overrun with immigrants who have taken over and destroyed the fantastic atmosphere you get in the more remote areas.