Fiji - Bula Bula

submitted by - Sandie, Manager Bursch Travel Fargo

BULA BULA!!!! You say this all the time – it’s Fijian for “Hello” “Hi” “Welcome” and just so fun to say!!!

--the flight from LA is 10 hours nonstop – after crossing the international date line – I only experienced a few minutes of 10/10 this year – arriving in to Nadi at 5am 10/11. No complaints about Air Pacific – voted the friendliest airline in the South Pacific for several years!

Upon arrival we took our transfer to the hotel, the Westin Denarau Island, where we had about 2 hours to get unpacked, showered and ready for our first site inspection of the Radisson Resort.

--Denarau Island is a man made island 20 minutes from the Nadi airport. It is a beautiful resort area and also has a world-class golf course and tennis complex. There are 8 resorts on the island, all beachfront with access to Nadi Bay.

--Radisson Resort – very nice, clean, great rooms, fantastic pool area!!! Great for couples or families!! I was surprised at how much I loved this resort!!!!

--Sofitel Fiji Resort – luxury property

--Sheraton Fiji/Sheraton Denarau Villas/The Westin Denarau – stay at 1 play at all 3!

--Westin – Ideal for couples looking for a romantic get away with an award winning resort and spa.

--Sheraton Fiji – Ideal for well traveled families looking for a great value in a 5 star resort.

--Sheraton Denarau Villas – Ideal for families or friends looking for villa accommodations within a golf complex.

***If you want to go to Fiji – but are afraid of boat rides so you think you can’t go to this beautiful area – stay at one of the above resorts – you never have to take a boat to go anywhere!!!

We departed the pier on South Sea Cruises to head to the island. South Sea is fantastic, they offer 3 categories of tickets – coach – just a seat outside, VIP – a ticket with seats inside an AC area and includes nuts, chips, coffee, water and soft drinks or the Ultra VIP which includes all of the VIP amenities but beer and wine as well.

Most of Fiji room types on the islands are referred to as Bure’s (pronounced Booray’s) they seemed to be villas to me – so I asked what the difference was and Bure’s are just a bit smaller than villas – but they are fantastic!!!! (and much larger than a hotel room).

As you arrive at each of the islands – you are greeted by Fijians singing a welcome song to you – some with flower lei’s or Fijian necklaces. As you depart each island or resort stay – you are sung a farewell song.

--First stop – Malolo Island Fiji Resort – fantastic for either couples, friends or families!

--2nd stop on Malolo Island – LikuLiku resort – this seemed to be a very quiet resort – they have over the water bungalows which were amazing as well as garden bure’s which were also very nice. When the tide goes out – the over the water bungalows are not affected AS MUCH as if you were in a garden bungalow. The front of the resort is literally sand every 6 hours. Didn’t seem to be a lot of activity – definitely a romantic get away for people that don’t want a lot of interaction with others. There are day trips and excursion offered.

--3rd stop on Mana Island – Mana Island Resort & Spa – for the first timers to Fiji – this may be OK – I would rate this a 2.5 on a scale of 1-5. The bure’s had ONLY outside showers – not so much fun when it’s raining!! Yes – Fiji did not see rain in 5 MONTHS – not one drop – we come – and they get 3 FULL days of rain and another ½ day before the sun came out!!! I just kept telling the locals that the US does what we can for everyone ELSE in the world – they need rain – we brought it! ughh! In reality though – I really don’t know if I would stay at this resort. When we were having dinner, no rain at this time, so we were out on the patio – there was a stray dog that kept going under our table. We spent the night at this resort. My roommate and I did not get bure’s – we were told we were in the deluxe ocean front rooms – so we were excited…..until we got to them – they NEEEEED to be remodeled – mold all over our bathroom – but we had an inside shower.

We boarded South Sea Cruises for our transfer to Castaway Island Resort on Castaway Island. WOW!!!!! This is a FANTASTIC island with something for EVERYONE!!! For sure my favorite part of the entire trip. Fijians have a way with kids and they are so amazing. If the resort isn’t adults only – it WILL have a day center for the kids or even the option to hire a nanny for the day or entire stay on the island – and the kids fall in love with them!! After dinner – they usually have some sort of different show – and for part of the show – they have the kids be part of it – singing and dancing, showing their parents all of the Fiji culture they learned in the day – it’s truly amazing!!! We were all wishing we could have not stayed at the Mana Island resort and spent 2 nights at Castaway!!!

Today we board a Sea Fiji boat – the seas were rough this day my friends – WOW!!! South Sea Cruises operates larger ships – a larger yacht type of boat – Sea Fiji – is a smaller boat that held – ohhhh – the 12 of us!!! Our luggage went on a different boat! We headed in ROUGH waters to Tokoriki Island resort – another amazing and beautiful resort/island, from their we headed to Matamanoa Island for the resort inspection. I just can’t say enough about these resorts being so amazing – that really is the bottom line!!! Lastly on this day – we headed to the Coral Coast of Fiji via South Sea Cruises and arrived in the early evening at the Outrigger on the Lagoon Fiji resort – where we stayed for the remainder of our trip. This is located on the main island of Fiji – about 2 hours North of Nadi.

After breakfast we departed for the Warwick Fiji Resort – a beautiful resort – luxury accommodations at their finest!!! From here we proceeded to their sister property the Fiji Hideaway Resort and Spa. For some reason, the GM and I spent a great deal of time together when we were touring the resort with is resort manager – he had just started as GM 2 weeks before we came and was an Australia native. He is renovating this resort (it needs it badly) and was so wonderful in listening to what I had to say about things that could make it more attractive. The bure’s are already undergoing renovations – we were able to see some that were completed – BEAUTIFUL!!! Inside and out – complete renovation. The pool area is awful – but that was the next project and it’s going to be beautiful. Finally – the resort really didn’t have curb appeal or a Fijian welcoming entrance to the lobby – that will be the final stages of the resort – but will be getting a “facelift” by December to brighten things up – once the accommodations and pool area are complete for the guests – they are going to make the entrance a grand entrance which will be beautiful!!!

After breakfast we had the site inspection of the hotel we were staying at for 3 nights – Outrigger on the Lagoon. It is a beautiful resort with a lot to offer

We had today at our leisure to do what we wanted. There were a couple of us that were going to do a Zip-lining excursion – but it was a 6 hour excursion and would get us back to the resort with a very tight time limit for our departure back to Nadi. Fijian’s are VERY religious – most tours and excursions are closed on Sunday’s – so we made the best out of the beach for the last day of our trip.

We cruised by Modriki Island MANY times – but did not have time to stop there – this is the island where the move Cast Away with Tom Hanks was filmed (the movie made it appear it was in the middle of nowhere – ummm – there is a 5 star resort less than ½ a miles away!!) hahaha!!!

I truly felt like it was one of those destinations that is a once in a lifetime trip and SOOOO VERY worth every expense. There are several different ways to experience Fiji – another option for those that may be afraid of boats or sailing – there are options for helicopter transfers and sea plane transfers.

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