Unwinding in Fiji: On Bula time

One of the best things to do in Fiji is - nothing at all! Just relaxing on the hammock on the beach in Sheraton Fiji was one of the most fulfilling things. I was in the constant danger of spending my precious vacation just doing nothing.

If you are staying in Viti Levu, a day trip to one of the islands is highly recommended. The beach at Denarau was not spectacular in any way (swimming or snorkeling), and we loved our day out to the Malamala Island. If you want to go to Castaway Island, it is recommended that you book well in advance - even before you get to Fiji. The trip to Castaway was booked all 6 days we were there, mainly due to the school holidays.

Souvenir shopping at Jack's Handicrafts in Nadi (or Sigatoka) is not to be missed. The Sheratons (and I suspect other resorts in Viti Levu) all have a branch of Jack's, but going in to see the sheer mass of items at the store is an experience in itself.

The drive around the island was very pretty - mountains, sugarcane fields and glimpses of the sea. We drove from Nadi to Sigatoka (visiting the Sand Dunes and the bird sanctuary) and back in a car we rented from Rosie's in Nadi.

Quick Tips:

Even if you have a lot of things planned to do in your itinerary, you will fall into the 'Bula' way and take things easy and lazy. So leave some time for 'doing nothing'. And if you are spending all your time doing nothing, drag yourself up for some exploration - Fiji is a very beautiful place and you don't want to miss seeing at least a part of it.

Best Way To Get Around:

Going by the American dollar, cabs are not expensive. The drive from airport to the Sheraton on Denarau costs about F and Sheraton to Nadi costs about F. There is also a rickety bus that I suspected would come apart any minute, which costs 50 cents (F) to get from Sheraton to Nadi. This bus meanders through villages nearby and was quite an interesting drive. There are also buses from Nadi to Sigatoka and more.

Renting a car is more expensive than taking a cab. Most of the rental companies (even big ones) did not have a car on site, and it takes anywhere from 10 min - 2 hrs to get one. So if you want to set off early in the morning self-exploring, you might want to book your car the previous day. Most of the companies (Avis at Sheraton desk) tried to sell us on a bigger car (at a higher rate), citing 'non-availability' of the smaller car we'd asked for. We finally rented one to our satisfaction at Rosie's in Nadi (Thrifty car rental) and the car was brought to us within 10 min.

The Sheraton Fiji, along with other Sheraton properties on Denarau Island, is 20 to 25 minutes from the Nadi airport and about 15 minutes from Nadi town. It’s a wonderful place for someone who wants to relax away the stress. Though the check-in time is 3pm, they had a room ready for us at 7am since the flight from Melbourne arrived very early at Nadi (we called up earlier with the request, though they had not guaranteed that). Don't pre-book the earlier night if your flight arrives early in the morning. Similarly, instead of a late checkout, we decided to leave our luggage in the storage and just hang out on the beach, but we were given a room from 11am (checkout time) to 4pm that had everything the regular rooms did, except a bed, at no extra cost.

We had booked a partial ocean-view room (the lowest rate that they offer) and had a big room with a king bed and quite a large bathroom. Relaxing with a book or just swinging on a hammock was our favourite pastime. In fact, the place was so relaxing that you tend to spend all your time on the hammock. One of the highlights of our vacation was getting a beach massage.

There is a kid’s club, which gave us the impression that kids were very well looked after there. Though we don't have any children as yet, we felt this would be a good place to return for a romantic holiday if we didn't want to leave the kids behind.

Sheraton doesn't have a lot of activities like other resorts seem to have (the ones at Coral Coast had free snorkelling), but what they had was very enjoyable due to the extremely helpful staff. We went out sailing for the first time after instructions from the staff there. For those wanting some nightlife, the band playing at the Planter’s Lounge was really good. They had everyone swinging and dancing as the night progressed. The boutique shops were very reasonably priced. The proximity to Nadi (and hence souvenir shopping at Jacks) is an added advantage.

The only downside of the place is the beach itself. The beach is very murky, and I would not recommend swimming. If you are a snorkelling fanatic, I'd recommend staying in one of the Coral Coast or island resorts. We took a day trip to one of the islands to snorkel.

The other Sheraton properties on Denarau seemed very nice too. Don't miss the opportunity of playing a game in the beautiful golf course where Vijay Singh started his career. The Bula bus takes you around other Sheraton properties. It was good being able to charge back to your room rather than carrying a purse everywhere. Enrolling in the Starwood Preferred Guest program (free) is definitely an advantage because you can transfer the points earned to airline miles, even if you are never going to stay at a Sheraton ever again.

Though the Sheraton Fiji was self-sufficient in every way, it did not have snorkeling. Through the friendly activities coordinator, we booked a day trip to the uninhabited Malamala Island. I had wanted to go on a tour to Castaway Island (tour booked out) or the Yasawa. But my partner (and many others like him), were influenced by the 'all-inclusive' and the short 1 hour trip to get to the island. The 'all inclusive' included all food, drinks, activities, equipment.

Don't be put off by the rather small boat that takes you from Denarau to the island. It is only a 1 hour trip and is not uncomfortable. The crew sing Fijian songs till you get to the island.

The island itself is like you'd find on a picture postcard. The sea is of brilliant colours in shades of blue. As first time snorkelers, we were very jumpy. Other than the two of us, everyone went snorkeling off by themselves. The instructor was very friendly and patient and guided us along the marvelous corals.

To say it is a different world down there is a cliche, but the likes of it could never be equaled in any aquarium. Apart from the corals, we saw fishes of all colours, starfishes, sea cucumbers and many other creatures.

The lunch itself was quite adequate and they had all sorts of non-vegetarian food. Even for us vegetarians, there were lots of fruits, salads, and other options.

There was also fishing and beach volleyball for those interested. After snorkeling, we were content to just sleep under the shade on the white beach. There were other people who did nothing but eat and drink all their time there!

Good experience in all - as with all other places in Fiji, just don't forget your hat, sunglasses and sunscreen; you will certainly need them.

Sigatoka Sand Dunes, about 2km from Sigatoka, is Fiji's first National Park and is spread across 650 hectares. Archaeological excavations have revealed skeletons that form part of a more burial complex of ancient Fijian civilisation. They are also rich in ancient pottery artifacts that continue to surface as erosion continues. These artifacts give important clues to the origin of the early inhabitants of Fiji.

Apart from this historic background, the sand dunes were a disappointment to us. The information is a tiny little place with photos and the person there was not able to provide any more information. The ecosystem in the dunes is truly amazing - seeing the range of plants growing, it was very easy to forget that it was all on sand. But the sand dunes itself were very minimal. We could not see the vast expanses of windswept dunes that resembled a scene from Arabian nights (as one of information brochures described it). While I understand that the wind continuously changes the dunes, I was unprepared to be greeted with the sight of bottles and crates on the beach.

There was one very, very steep sand dune to climb before getting to the point on the beach. This is a difficult climb, not only because of the steepness, but also because it is sand and every step sinks into the ground and it is difficult to get a foothold. I feel that visitors should be warned of this climb. I'm sure it will be a shock for less fit visitors when they see the climb.

It is nevertheless, in a childish way, very exciting to leave your footprints on the sands. I would recommend this to someone staying in the coral coast and the distance to the dunes is less than the drive we had from Nadi. We had only one day from 12pm to 4pm to explore all of Sigatoka area and did not appreciate the dunes to its full extent.

Kula Eco Park is opposite the Outrigger Reef Resort in the Coral Coast of Viti Levu. It has many different species of birds and iguanas. Children would love going to this place. At the beginning of the park, you can even get a baby, red-breasted musk parrot and iguana to sit on you and take pictures!

The park itself has a lot of native tropical trees and is very calm. The wooded trail was a good peaceful walk for us. It seemed like any other eco park until the peacock made the day for us. Peacocks and peahens were wandering around in the park, when one peacock took it in his head to impress a peahen and unfurled his magnificient tail. I don't know if he impressed the lady, but we were spellbound. He further proceeded to do a little jiggle and show all sides of this tail even after the peahen had moved off. If I didn't know that peacocks are naturally shy birds, I'd think that this one was putting up a display for us!