Survival Guide on the Road
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©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd PAGE ON THE YOUR COMPLETE DESTINATION GUIDE 42 In-depth reviews, detailed listings ROAD and insider tips Vanua Levu & Taveuni p150 The Mamanuca & Yasawa Groups p112 Ovalau & the Lomaiviti Group Nadi, Suva & Viti Levu p137 p44 Kadavu, Lau & Moala Groups p181 PAGE SURVIVAL VITAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION TO 223 GUIDE HELP YOU HAVE A SMOOTH TRIP Directory A–Z .................. 224 Transport ......................... 232 Directory Language ......................... 240 student-travel agencies A–Z discounts on internatio airfares to full-time stu who have an Internatio Post offices 8am to 4pm Student Identity Card ( Accommodation Monday to Friday and 8am Application forms are a Index ................................ 256 to 11.30am Saturday Five-star hotels, B&Bs, able at these travel age Restaurants lunch 11am to hostels, motels, resorts, tree- Student discounts are 2pm, dinner 6pm to 9pm houses, bungalows on the sionally given for entr or 10pm beach, campgrounds and vil- restaurants and acco lage homestays – there’s no Shops 9am to 5pm Monday dation in Fiji. You ca Map Legend ..................... 263 to Friday and 9am to 1pm the student health shortage of accommodation ptions in Fiji. See the ‘Which Saturday the University of nd?’ chapter, p 25 , for PaciÀ c (USP) in ng tips and a run-down hese options. Customs Regulations E l e c t r Visitors can leave Fiji without THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY Dean Starnes, Celeste Brash, Virginia Jealous “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” TONY WHEELER, COFOUNDER – LONELY PLANET Get the right guides for your trip PAGE PLAN YOUR PLANNING TOOL KIT 2 Photos, itineraries, lists and suggestions YOUR TRIP to help you put together your perfect trip Welcome to Fiji ................ 2 Map ................................... 4 Welcome to 15 Top Experiences ......... 6 Fiji Need to Know .................. 14 If You Like... ...................... 16 Month by Month .............. 19 Itineraries ......................... 21 Throwing Down the dom The Blue Lagoon. It is therefore little wonder that, despite a coup in 2006, Fiji’s (Beach) Towel beaches remain Á ushed with sunburnt Fiji has been in the tourism business for tourists. Need to decades, drawing vacationers like pilgrims to a holy land with its promise of white- Wetter is Better COUNTRYCCOUNTTRYY &&M MULTICOUNTRYMULTICCOUNNTTRYY PHRASEBOOKPHHRASEBOOK sand beaches, cloudless skies and the op- Fiji’s underwater scenery is spectacular Which Island? .................. 25 portunity to fall into a sun-induced coma and some of the À nest, and most accessi- under a palm tree. ble dives in the PaciÀ c can be found here. Know The perennial favourites are the Mama- Its reputation as the ‘soft coral capital of nuca and Yasawa islands, Languagewhich arc north the world’ is well justiÀ ed and its countless TheTh originali i l like a stingray’s tail from the body of Fiji’s • Currency » Fijian, English andreefs, drop-oՖ s, walls and channels will main island, Viti Levu. These are Fiji’s have even experienced divers and snor- » Fijimovie dollars stars, ($) dangled in frontHindustani of the world kellers ‘ohhhing’ and ‘ahhing’ into their Diving ................................ 33 as idyllic South Sea Edens, their reefs and mouthpieces. cobalt-blue waters providing cinematic eye Comprehensive Fiji is also a great surÀ ng destination • candy for À lms such as Tom Hanks’ Cast and now that its surf breaks are open to Away and Brooke Shields’ vehicle to star- Adventurous When to Go? Your Daily • Travel with Children ........ 37 Budget Tropical climate, rain year-round Budget less than $175 Regions at a Glance ........ 40 » Dorm including meals: $60-120 Savusavu # # » GO May–Oct Taveuni Local transport and GO May–Oct markets are good value on the main islands 24 » A half-day snorkelling Nadi excursion: $20-40 The Yasawa Explorer # GO Year-round The Northern Loop Midrange # Suva GO May–Oct $175- PLAN YOUR TRIP SOUTH PACIFIC 350 OCEAN •# Cobra Rock » Double room in a Labasa •# # Kadavu Looking for other travel resources? midrange hotel: $150- É GO May–Oct É VANUA LEVU Tunuloa Waisali Rainforest Peninsula 300 Reserve•# É Somosomo #• •# » Rainbow Local restaurants: ITINERARIES Savusavu #• Reef TAVEUNI Matacawalevu •# Nacula •# $15-25 for a main #••# Lavena É Nanuya Lailai & Blue Lagoon Waitavala Coastal » Allow $50 or more Naviti#• YASAWA #– Water Slide Walk É GROUP for activities Waya •# # – High Season Shoulder Low Season #•Wayasewa High end over f# (Jun–Sep) (May & Oct) (Nov–Apr) Beachcomber Island » P e a k s e a s o n » The shoulder » Fiji’s ‘wet season’ •# Treasure $350 #• Island VITI LEVU coincides with the season includes the is from November •# Port Denarau Suva » Resorts usually (30km) ‚ Diving ‚ ‚ school holidays in ‘Fijian winter’ or ‘dry to April, with the include all meals and Australia and New season’, from May heaviest rains and plenty of activities in One to Two Weeks Ten Days Zealand, including the to October, which highest humidity their tariffs Some of Fiji’s most spectacu December–January brings low rainfall, from December to The Yasawa Explorer The Northern Loop » Best for Beginner just below the surface and di vacation period low humidity milder mid April Bure range from Divers truly amazing. The water is wa Thanks to a high-speed catamaran, Beginning in Suva, spend a morn- which daily weaves its way from ing at the excellent Fiji Museum Fiji is a perfect for new divers, as the teeming with life. You’ll see Port Denarau through the Yasawa and then an afternoon stocking up warm water in the shallow lagoons is hued À sh, canyonlike terrain Group and back again, this chain is on souvenirs at the craft market. a forgiving training environment. Just inducing walls festooned with readily explored. Buy yourself a one- or two- After exhausting Suva’s nightlife, hop on a week pass for the Yasawa Flyer that then Á ight to Vanua Levu and land yourself in about anyone in good health including and hard corals resembling allows you to hop on or oՖ the boat at any Labasa, a sugar town where you can smell children aged eight years and over can garden in full bloom. island you like. the molasses in the air. Visit the Wasavula The boat À rst heads through a few of the Ceremonial Site and take a side trip to the learn to dive. Mamanucas before reaching the Yasawa mystifying Cobra Rock inside the Naag » Breath Taker (Nananua-i-Ra, Viti Levu) chain, so these islands are a good place to Mandir Temple. Great pelagic action on an incoming tide Diving Condit (p 109 ). Although Fiji is diveable ye » Gotham City (Mamanuca Group) Reef best season is from April to Oc species aplenty (p 114 ). ber to March tends to see the » Yellow Wall (Kadavu) An atmospheric site which can obscure visibility o resembling a fairy-tale castle (p 183 ). lands with river run-oՖ . » Lekima’s Ledge (Yasawa Group) A coral- Keep in mind that many div studded underwater cliff (p 124 ). to currents, which vary from b ble to powerful. Visibility varie low of 10m at certain sites up t Best for Experienced ers. Water temperatures range Divers August to 29°C in January. You ything more than a thin neopr » Great White Wall (Taveuni) Possibly the wetsuit to remain comfortable best soft-coral dive in Fiji (p 167 ). LONELYPLANET.COM APPS EBOOKS MAGAZINE GET MORE FROM YOUR TRIP PAGE For travel information, Location-based Guidebooks For travel stories, UNDERSTAND Learn about the big picture, so you advice, tips & digital guides for the street for your reader inspiration & ideas 193 chapters lonelyplanet.com/mobile lonelyplanet.com/ebooks lonelyplanet.com/magazine FIJI can make sense of what you see Fiji Today .......................... 194 population per sq km Lonely Planet in numbers History .............................. 196 FIJI AUSTRALIA USA The Environment ............. 205 ≈ 3 people 70 12 100,000,000 190+ Fijian Culture .................... 209 languages spoken seconds pass Lonely Planet guidebooks countries covered by our writers between posts sold, and still counting by a Lonely Planet Celebrate Fiji .................... 213 Fijian Culture Fiji Today It’s true – loincloths, grass skirts, cannibalism, old beliefs and traditional on our Thorn Tree guide sports have given way to sulu and western clothing, Christianity and rug- by. But Fijian culture is alive and well. Traditional core values of respect, Coup-coup Land communal living, sex-deÀ ned roles and hereditary titles still underpin Since the 2006 military coup, Commodore Frank Bainimarama h Indo-Fijian Culture .......... 217 indigenous Fijian culture, and traditional arts such as woodcarving and travel forum weaving are as vibrant as ever. Gardening and À shing continue to put strengthened his powerbase and attempted to legitimise his osition food on Fijian tables (or should that be pandanus mats). Fiji’s rightful prime minister in a series of complex olitical manoe This chapter explores the indigenous Fijian culture and the 57% of vrings. In 2009 when the Court of Appeal declared Bainimarama’s the population it represents. The following chapter, Indo-Fijian Culture Village Life ........................ 221 (p 217 ), looks at the rich tapestry of customs the Indian indentured la- bourers brought to these islands. Indigenous Fijians In most places you go in Fiji you’ll be met with a cheery ‘bula’ (cheers! hello! welcome!; literally ‘life’) and a toothy grin. Fijians welcome kai- valagii (foreigners; literally ‘people from far away’) warmly, openly and at times positively enthusiastically. Consequently, Fijians have earned At the moment themselves a reputation as some of the friendliest people on earth; it’s a only a person of STAY IN TOUCH reputation that is well deserved. indigenous Fijian decent has the Face-to-face confrontation is rare and frowned upon in Fiji. Village life lawful right to is subject to complex rules of etiquette and land (vanua) is owned collec be called ‘Fijian’.