Printable View
We are looking for somewhere to go on holiday as a family later this year. One option is Fiji. DH and I went to Vanuau several years ago and whilst it was nice to sit around and relax, I got bored. I like to do stuff on holidays. I like to see things, learn things about the country. I fear that Fiji will be 'boring' too. So tell me, what did you do there?
Shall I ask my husband for you? He took his ex-girlfriend (before he met me). It's a sore point.
I have never been but a girlfriend told me the Fijians love children and they go every other year and have a fabulous time. Just walking on the beach, playing in the water, eating out, markets. They recommend it.
Don't ask! I don't wanna cause an argument! Thanks for the info about your friends :)
i didn't like Fiji. i usually get shot down when i say that cos most people love it. We didn't stay at a resort, just a hotel on the main island. The beach nearby was dirty sand and not that appealing. Better beaches in Victoria. We also like to get out and about when we visit a new country. In Fiji, the 'culture' that we got to see was just seediness and scammy. We have travelled through Asia quite a bit (Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore), and experienced the usual people begging or trying to sell their wares. This doesn't worry us, we love having a chat to randoms wherever we are. But in Fiji, although we tried a few times, we never had good experiences trying to get amongst the locals. We were able to hire a motorbike one day and that was fun seeing some physical sights, but the people held little appeal.
I can see the appeal if you were on a resort and into doing resort things, but that s it. Where else is on your list?
I haven't been but a few friends have - some with kids, some without.
Those without kids seemed to spend most of their time by the pool/eating/drinking. Those with kids seemed to do the same but put their kids into the kids club.
Not my cup of tea.
HOWEVER, Bali sounds more appealing. I've only been once pre-kids and I liked it a lot because you can do the bogan Aussie thing/vegemite toast for breakfast/speak English the whole time/sit by the pool/shopping and/or you can get out of the main centres to much smaller, less touristy places.
We went last year with a big family group. We stayed at Denaru- close to Nadi. We did a day trip boat ride to a gorgeous sand island with snorkeling and glass bottom boat ride. We also did a day trip and river ride (jet boat) to a village where we had a traditional kava ceremony and lunch, village tour etc, we loved this! We also did the usual shopping, hanging by the pool etc. The (big) boys played golf and visited the driving range, kayaked and para sailed, went deep sea fishing. I visited the day spa :) My boys were too little for kids club.
Loved Fiji but we stayed at a lovely resort on the Coral Coast and just chilled. We went to a village (by kayaks!) one day which was great and we also went to the markets in Sigatoka. Other than that we took it easy. Not much help, I know, but boy it was nice!
My advice with kids, find a good resort with a great kids club and a family friendly swimming pool. If you don't mind moving around, maybe split your holiday so you try out one of the islands and then the mainland too. Avoid Nadi, it's just a hub to arrive and depart. The family friendly resorts offer awesome tours and activities for all ages.
We stayed on an island off Nadi, we jet skied, got spa treatments visited a mud pool/hot spring which was amazing. The kids loved it we had to get a nanny for the younger two for the kids club but it was only a couple of dollars an hour. All our food was included and there was more than we could eat. We stayed right on the beach which had 'normal' sand shipped in so as soon as we woke up the kids could play. For us it was an ideal place to be with three young kids. I would avoid being in Nadi too as its not that nice by western standards to stay in but there are amazing in Fiji.
HotI - To be honest I'm not really sure where to go. Pre-kids we've been to lots of places, Thailand, Cambodia, Bali, Vietnam, Vanuatu. We took DD1 to New Zealand last year... I'm really open to any suggestions. Our criteria are not too far (we will be tackling USA next year - not looking forward to the flight) and with stuff to do for us and the kids (DD1 mainly).
I've seen a few people mention their kids were too young for kids club - what's the minimum age?
4 is the minimum age for them to go without an adult.
Thanks. Not that I'd plan to send them there all the time, but if we wanted them to go, do we need to hire someone to go there with them or get a separate baby sitter (eg if we wanted to go snorkelling or something).:
Where did you stay? Your place sounds great!
We stayed on an island so we went island hopping, sand bar snorkling and dh went deep sea fishing.
We loved it because we wanted just to relax and thats what we did.
We went on a trip to the main island and quite frankly got scared! Was quite third world, dirt road and people werent that friendly so we were glad to have chosen an island malolo
We stayed at Sonaisali, we hired the sitter ourselves but through the resort and she took them to the kids club or to the playground /swimming when we wanted to go snorkeling and on the jet ski. We are hoping to go back soon.
Everyone who stays on the mainland/coral coast wont get a good beach. You have to go out to an island. I have some pictures on FB of my trip to Fiji in one of the best beach areas. It was amazing, where the Blue Lagoon was filmed. I even went back for seconds but stayed in a different place. The main island is nowhere near as good. No matter where you travel in the world, you wont find such caring, genuine people as the Fijians. They LOVE kids. There is plenty you can do, check what the hotel offers. I love Fiji better than Vanuatu.
We stayed at Sonaisali too. It was a nice resort not far from the airport but as Kelly said, unless you go to an island you are not going to get a good beach, you have to get off the mainland for the good sand, diving etc. My DP was so bored in Fiji that he took a boat out at the resort and I swear he tried to sail his way to New Zealand just for a change of scenery! When we went we did not have kids and I would probably not go back again although all the kids at the resort were having a lovely time and the Fijians ADORE kids. My advice would be to pay extra and stay on an island off the mainland.