Low-tourism Fiji … you had me at the first Bula!

Oh Fiji. You had me at the first Bula! It was a love topic I did not see coming, one of those sucker dial moments in life that takes your vapor yonder but at the same time instantly calms you.

I’m going to be honest here, Fiji was not on my destination radar. I thought it was the stuff of young families’ or loved up honeymooners’ dreams. The former considering there are so many resorts geared up to requite both the kids and the parents a break; the latter considering there are so many resorts that exclude kids altogether.

But then the pandemic happened. So many of us booked travel thinking it would be a six-week thing. HAH. Who’s laughing now? As the world opened, like many, we scrambled to use flight credits surpassing they disappeared.

We smugly thought those Japan flight credits were going to see us swishing lanugo the slopes of Cardrona and the Remarkables in Queenstown, New Zealand this July, except our flights booked last October became null and void when Virgin pressed pause on NZ flights.

Finding this out – not from our travel wage-earner GAH – but one of my followers in March was not platonic when trying to fly in school holidays but PIVOT we did. And in Fiji we did land.

The universe indeed works in mysterious ways. My husband and I unprotected the dreaded virus in the month surpassing flying and I had wrenched my wrist six months’ earlier. Maybe missing out on a skiing/snowboarding holiday was a win? The post-COVID fatigue is real. So, landing somewhere that is incredibly chilled with a higher than likely endangerment to decompress was just what we didn’t know we needed. And without 2.5 years of holding my vapor while running a small business, I didn’t realise just how much I needed to, well, breathe.

And outbreathe I did. I breathed in the salty, sea breeze, the scent of coconuts and bougainvillea and the spice of tandoori at dinner. I listened to the waves lapping onto the shore, the birds gently waking me up at stupid o’clock (because why can’t you sleep in when you aren’t on a schedule?!).

I took in every colour from the ultramarine water, to neon fish, cobalt undecorous sea stars, pink hibiscus flowers, deep untried volcanic mountains, golden beaches, magical late afternoon rainbows and rich, vivid sunsets of pink, orange and yellow.

But increasingly than what I breathed, heard and saw, it was the people which left the lasting imprint on my holiday state of mind (as everyone had told me they would). Bula ways hello and increasingly – I wish you a good life. Fijians say it with heart. It’s infectious and worked like an hourly mantra during our 11 nights in this part of the world. Bula is often rolled off the tongue with vinaka (vinaka – or naka for short ways thank-you). Together, bula vinaka underlines the intention of wishing a person a good life and good health.

I didn’t wits one incidence of impatience, far from it. Every encounter came with a smile – from the inrush surcharge officer through to the wonderful women who looked without us in our Airbnb in the north of the island.

Locals might joke well-nigh “Fiji time” – that schedules are a loose construct – but maybe it’s what many of us need to embrace from time to time. It’s not unchangingly practical and possible to suspend with the timetable and timetable alerts but maybe when we can, we should at least try?

Our low-tourism Fiji July 2022 itinerary

We weren’t a typical group looking for a Fiji holiday – not falling into the same young family and couples demographic. We were travelling with our scrutinizingly 17YO son and 25YO daughter (also cashing in flight credits surpassing they disappeared).

That’s three rooms and in the repeater market that is a resort quickly eats into the travel budget. We had previously booked (via Airbnb) a three-bedroom townhouse in Queenstown for the ski trip, so using that upkeep (which we were refunded), I set well-nigh finding an walk-up mix that would match that same upkeep – or at least come close.

At the time of booking and writing, it was moreover compulsory for visitors to Fiji to be double vaccinated and have a pre-booked COVID test for within 72 hours in a COVID Care resort. Most resorts are certified to do this. And that’s why we split the trip up between three nights at resort and seven nights at an Airbnb. Three of us returned to the same resort for the final night as our travel credits couldn’t get us on a Sunday flight home.

I went lanugo the rabbit slum of Google, social media and Airbnb to find options that fit our budget, were in low-tourism Fiji areas but incredible locations. I love this part of travel planning – but it moreover has me on tenterhooks surpassing arriving at the destinations. What if my research was way off the mark?

Not to wrack-up my own trumpet, but hey, I will … both locations delivered what they said and more.

We travelled in Fiji “winter”. Humidity and the UV alphabetize is lower than summer and it’s outside of whirlwind season. Maximums were late to upper 20s; minimums well-nigh 20 degrees – pretty much how I’d order the weather all year round if I could.

Yatule Resort, Natadola Beach

In all my searches, Natadola Waterfront kept coming up as the weightier waterfront on the main island, Vitu Levi. There are two resorts on this waterfront – the Intercontinental Fiji and Yatule Resort. Both have a beachfront location overlooking this white sand bay. One is big; one low-key. I can’t report first hand on the Intercontinental as it’s sealed to outside guests in June and July. It looks wondrous online but for value for money and a increasingly low-key experience, Yatule has my heart. We were worldly-wise to stay in beachfront bures with views of Natadola Waterfront from our bed and private deck for a fraction of the forfeit for the same location and views at the Intercontinental.

There is one restaurant and bar at Yatule. You get to know the same staff and it has an extremely chilled finger to its operation. Rooms are clean, island-style modern and most days and nights there is some form of entertainment/activity on offer. How I ended up dancing like a fish on a fishing line at the fire flit show is something that will probably be trotted out at family gatherings for years to come!

Outdoing any of the organised activities was mother nature’s sunset show. As someone who lives where the sun sets over the hinterland, it’s never not mesmerising to see it set over the water and at Yatule we were treated to some of the most spectacular evening colour shows.

The biggest drawcard for us was the beach. Tide and swell dependent, there are small reef breaks for surfing and a safe, wifely bay for swimming. The shore dump can be sizeable – but nowhere near as strong as Mooloolaba (Sunshine Coast, Queensland) in a big swell. At every opportunity, I was in the crystal well-spoken water, lolling well-nigh like I had landed in a dream. I’m a water temp wuss at the weightier of times but this was a similar temp to south-east Queensland beaches in our summer. Happy days.

If travelling with small children, I finger there are largest options misogynist in Fiji with defended kids’ clubs and activities. There were some kids staying while we were there but no-one under well-nigh seven years.

Yatule is well-nigh one-hour’s momentum from Nadi International Airport. Transfers to the hotel are available.

More details HERE

Sabre catamaran, South Sea Sailing Fiji

With Yatule stuff closer to Nadi than our next destination, we knew if we were going to do any of the organised tours, this would be our jumping off point – not when we moved to the north. Instagram yielded the relatively new Sabre snorkelling and sailing day trip. We pre-booked online considering it was a rented school holiday period and only had one day misogynist to us.

The request was a smaller wend – so fewer people. I think there were well-nigh 50 on workbench the day we booked. It’s not a day trip suited to kids under 10, so was mostly couples and families with older kids and teenagers.

Included in the price were pick ups from our resort to the throw-away point at Denarau, morning tea, lunch, drinks with lunch and snorkelling, swimming on a sandbar. Bonuses: an impromptu rugby match on the sandbar (my husband still as the bruises) and dancing the Fiji Macarena as we sailed when to shore (my family still has the videos of me).

Before the dancing, I jumped off the side, slid lanugo the slide, snorkelled through schools and schools of fish and stared in awe at every shade of undecorous from the cloudless horizon to the deep water and shallow reefs.

More details HERE

Priti’s Paradise Airbnb (formerly Starfish Blue, Volivoli Point, Rakiraki, Western Division

I wouldn’t say we’re intrepid travellers but I do like finding and exploring places a little off the tamed tourist track. Finding this Airbnb with a room configuration to suit all four of us (three bedrooms with ensuites) and stunning views wideness to Nananu-i-Ra Island landed us in a low-tourism part of Viti Levu and I finger so privileged we got to wits this part of Fiji.

Private transfers are misogynist from the airport to this region but without a car at a private property you’d be limited with how you could explore the area. And to wangle this property a 4WD is definitely needed.

So, we hired a car – well, we thought we had – three months in whop through one of the majors at the airport. Big mistake. Huge mistake. Arriving to pick up our booked car we were told none were available. WTF. Like so many places in the world post-COVID, there is a shortage of rental cars – the difference here in Fiji, is that it will let you typesetting a car online regardless of whether one might be available. Local car rental visitor Satellite saved the day and I can’t recommend them enough. Within an hour of discovering we didn’t have a car, we did and were on our way, 2.5 hours north through small villages, past cane fields, volcanic mountains and stunning coastline vistas.

Our Airbnb was staffed by locals who come in each day to clean. We had the option to pay to have Sarita and Priscilla melt for us each night and it was not only a treat (oh my, the food) but moreover a trappy way to get to know these women and hear their stories. Meals for the four of us worked out at well-nigh $7.50 per person per night. We stocked up on breakfast, lunch and snack options at the New World supermarket near Nadi Airport and throughout the week topped up with fresh fruit and other essentials in the nearest town, Rakiraki.

We moreover got to know the family of the gardener – Natin. It takes a lot of side hustles to make a living in this part of Fiji and Natin moreover operates tours. We went island hopping and snorkelling one day to Nananu-i-Ra (or Ra as the locals undeniability it) and fishing another. Natin, sister Suman and wife Manjula moreover prepared and cooked for us a traditional Fijian Lovo – we feasted for two days! The total for these three day experiences was $1000 Fiji – the equivalent to what we’d paid for one day on the Sabre – and all money went directly to a local family.

If we weren’t out on the boat, days started slowly. We exercised (the others using a self-constructed island gym while I did yoga on the deck). Then we either went into Rakiraki (the nearest main town) to explore or visited a nearby resort – Volivoli Resort was a highlight on our final day.

For us, the week at Priti’s Paradise in the north of Viti Levu- a low-tourism part of Fiji – was just what we needed.

It was a week of decompression, of us all having our own space to do as little or as much as we wanted. What the property lacked in terms of strong internet and modern decor, it delivered on island magic and spectacular views. When the tide is upper and the current in the passage isn’t too strong, it’s moreover possible to snorkel straight off the waterfront at this property.

We moreover had to make peace with the prevailing north-westerly winds, that well, prevail at the time of year we visited. It was the opposite to the wifely of the south we had experienced. We were told that November-January offers the stillest of conditions – the downside at that time stuff higher humidity and temperatures.

Link to our Airbnb HERE

Check out Volivoli Resort HERE

For secluded luxury on your own island, trammels out Dolphin Island HERE

For upkeep walk-up on Nananu-I-Ra, trammels out Macdonald’s Waterfront Cottages HERE and Safari Lodge HERE.

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Bula Vinaka Fiji!

There are so many variegated ways to wits Fiji – and so many variegated accomodation options for your particular needs. We kept saying (on the daily) how surprised we were to love it so much. We’ve travelled to Bali and Thailand and wondered if it wouldn’t stack up. It increasingly than did. Bonus: you can drink and skim your teeth with the tap water!

Fiji got under our skin and into our hearts and it’s not a specimen of if we’ll be back, it’s a specimen of planning when.

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Click HERE for increasingly photos and videos of our trip, saved to my Fiji Stories Highlight on Instagram

Click HERE for a squint at the outfits I packed and wore. For my tips on what to pack for any destination, click HERE.

Click HERE for a squint at the swimsuits I packed and wore.

Tell me, if you’re a Fiji regular where do you love to stay and why?

This low-tourism Fiji holiday was booked independently and paid for by me.

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