Pin to Pinterest PIN Castaway Island Resort in the Mamanuca Islands. The Great Astrolabe Reef, the world's fourth-largest barrier reef . Picture: Getty Images Sigatoka jet-boat safari. The acclaimed Bebe Day spa Sanctuary at Outrigger on the Lagoon. Fiji play Tonga in rugby. Photo: Getty Images Hole-in-one ... DenarauGolf and Racquet Club.The glamorous swimming pool and bar at Tadrai Island Resort. Snorkelling on aprivate luxury yacht. Picture: Getty Images Browsing at Cloudbreak, Tavarua.Photo: Getty Images White-water rafting in the Upper Navua River. Picture: Getty Imagesof Castaway Island Resort in the Mamanuca Islands. of The Fantastic Astrolabe Reef, the world's fourth-largest barrier reef. Picture: Getty Images of Sigatoka jet-boat safari. of The acclaimed Bebe these are the top 20 factors to go to Fiji. 1 Diving See Also The Great Astrolabe Reef is the world's fourth-largest barrier reef and curls around the sparsely inhabited southern island of Kadavu. Snorkellers can cruise the reef's coral gardens and scuba divers can swim with eagle and manta rays, turtles and wrasse and ogle the reef's drop-offs. Stay at the basic thatch bures of Matava dive resort(). Astrolabe's rival for the title of finest diving, the Great Sea Reef, is known in your area as Cakaulevu. Off the northern island of Vanua Levu, the reef was little explored before 2004 and is home to green turtles and spinner dolphins. The closest resort is Nukubati. Pin to Pinterest Cultural program ... Fijian fire-walking. Image: Alamy 2 Sigatoka river and cavern safaris It's a jet-boat safari, yet it's likewise a great cultural adventure. Take a 15-kilometre journey up the rich, green Sigatoka Valley to check out one of 15 Fijian towns to learn of local customizeds and legends on the Sigatoka River safari. There's a kava ceremony at the village chief's bure, followed by lunch and traditional singing and dancing. Expenses from $140.80 grownups, $69 children. The newest trip from the same gang is the Off-Road Cave safari, which goes to Fiji's largest cave system, Naihehe Cave, once the home of a cannibal people. Expenses from$ 131 for adults,$ 60 for kids. Both tours leave from Sigatoka, 70 kilometres south of Nadi on the Coral Coast, and pick up from Nadi or Coral Coast resorts, twice daily, Monday to Saturday. You will now get updates from Visitor Newsletter Tourist Newsletter Get the most recent news and updates emailed straight to your inbox. By submitting your email you are accepting Fairfax Media's< a href="http://www.fairfax.com.au/conditions.html"> terms and conditions and personal privacy policy. 3 Mei-meis (Fijian nannies) Fijians are renowned for their love of kids and every hotel caters for them (conserve a handful of exclusive, adults-only retreats) without busting your budget. Top kid-friendly hotels consist of Outrigger on the Lagoon, which has 30 mei-meis (baby-sitters), fantastic for families with children, while Holidays with Kids publication's newest study discovered the top three family-friendly resorts are Shangri-La's Fijian Resort & & Medspa, Yanuca Island, the Naviti Resort, Coral Coast and Plantation Island.;;. 4 Fire-walking Who understood that there are two kinds of fire-walking in Fiji, not the commonly known one? There's the native Fijian custom of strolling over hot stones and the Hindu filtration routine of walking on ashes and charcoal. Fijian fire-walking can be seen during cultural shows at numerous resorts across the nation or at the Arts Town in Suva, and Suva's Mariamma Temple holds a South Indian routine, Trenial, featuring fire-walking, in July or August each year. 5 South sea pearls At the top of your Fiji memento list need to be South Sea pearls, which come in a rainbow of colours from soft creams to pearlescent greys. You'll find earrings and pendants at the big keepsake stores such as Tappoo ( tappoo.com.fj) or Jacks( )but also from the lady sellers at the majority of resorts. There's likewise a day-to-day craft market in the centre of Nadi and Suva's craft market runs every day except Sundays. If you remain in Savusavu, be sure to check out the black pearl farm J. Hunter Pearls for farm trips and shopping. 6 Tribal belonging Possibly you never ever felt you belonged: maybe you belong in a Fijian tribe in a cross-cultural social experiment. Spend a week or more on Vorovoro island with individuals of this remote community, aiding with sustainable community tourism jobs that aim to bring favorable modification. 7 Tropical day spas The acclaimed Bebe Medical spa Sanctuary at the Outrigger on the Lagoon is developed high on a hill and examines the primary island's Coral Coast. The medspa treatments use Pevonia and Pure Fiji health spa items and Bebe's warm seashell massage deserves the journey south ($126/hour). The founder of Pure Fiji, Daniel Anania, lists among his preferred medical spas Medspa Denarau at Denarau Marina, Consistency Health Spa at the Radisson Blu Hotel and the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Medical spa as well as Bebe Spa.;;. 8 Pure Fiji Fiji's own medical spa brand, Pure Fiji, puts into a container all the factors we love to check out Fiji - papaya, coconut milk, pineapple and kaffir lime - the fragrances of a tropical paradise. Bestsellers are the coconut hydrating cream and coconut sugar rub: the orange blossom-scented rub is a winner. Discover the products at the Pure Fiji spa in Suva or at the airport on the method house. If you occur to be in Suva on a Saturday, you can purchase the products marked down at their factory outlet. 9 Rugby Rugby is Fiji's third faith and the residents are consumed. Almost every village has a team. Groups from the outer islands contend in the Island Zone Championship in Suva every August, while the beloved Farebrother-Sullivan obstacle pits provincial groups against each other from September 1 to October 13. Fijians go bananas supporting their own province. 10 Blue lagoon Kids of the '80s, keep in mind when Brooke Shields rose out of the crystalline waters in the 1980 shipwreck film Blue Lagoon? It was shot on Turtle Island, in the Yasawas, a string of islands north of the Mamanucas in western Fiji. Commonly concerned as having the finest beaches in Fiji, they're linked by inter-island flights, quick catamaran and multi-day, sluggish Blue Lagoon cruises. Yasawa and Turtle islands are home to 2 of Fiji's leading resorts, with a high beach-per-guest ratio.;;. 11 Tropical golf courses There's nothing more delightful than dropping a hole-in-one on a magnificently landscaped, tropical green. Fiji provides a couple of green gems, consisting of the house of the Fiji Open, the Natadola golf course, designed by famed Fijian golf enthusiast Vijay Singh, Denarau Golf and Racquet Club, and Pacific Harbour's hard Pearl Champ course, developed by Robert Trent Jones jnr, which has actually held 8th ranking worldwide in the past.;;. 12 Kokoda Fiji has 2 primary foods - native Fijian and Fijian Indian. Fijian Indian is heavy on the rice, spice and chilli, and indigenous Fijian features plenty of seafood and is simple on the spice. Kokoda is the Fijian take on cerviche, a magnificent meal of local fish marinaded in lemon juice and coconut milk. Time your visit to include lovo night in the hotels, where food is cooked in an underground oven. Otherwise, try Indigo, at Port Denarau, which serves Indian blend along with native Fijian, or Sky Top, on the rooftop of Ohana restaurant (Queens Rd, Martintar). If you're self-catering, come down to the morning produce markets, held in all the primary towns, including Nadi, Suvasuva and Suva, or just stop along the roadside to buy freshly captured prawns, mud crabs or fish. Pineapple, papaya and mangoes are plentiful when in season. 13 The Mamanucas Castaway, Treasure, Beachcomber and Bounty islands: the Mamanuca Islands are total showponies (actually: the Tom Hanks motion picture Cast Away was filmed on Modriki). This handful of islands is cherished of day trippers with great reason: the diving, snorkelling and surfing are world class and busy Beachcomber has the credibility of Fiji's leading party island. Lying west of Nadi, the islands are quickly reached by boat from Denarau Marina; South Sea Cruises does most of the field trip. 14 Kula Eco Park Get up close and individual with Fiji's unusual and endangered animals in this environmental haven near Sigatoka, on the Coral Coast. It's a great stop for kids, with fruit bats, iguanas, a range of rainbow-coloured parrots consisting of the flashy Kadavu red-breasted musk parrot, and the fluffy orange dove. It's likewise a pram-friendly set-up. 15 Glamour digs Make no error: while Fiji likes its credibility as a family vacation, its 333 islands hide deeply glamorous resorts sought out by the worldwide jet set. Mel Gibson owns an island in the Lau group, and TELEVISION bachelorettes hang out at Anthony Robbins's high-end Namale Island. Dolphin Island was the personal island of the owner of New Zealand's leading lodge, Huka Lodge, however has actually been opened to guests - it can be home to simply four couples or one lucky family - and the new, adults-only Tadrai Island Resort, which is simply a chopper trip from Nadi in the Mamanucas, has just 5 rental properties with their own plunge swimming pools and butler service.;;. 16 Sigatoka Dunes When the sun is shining, why stay inside? The prehistoric websites excavated at Sigatoka Sand Dunes provide a look into Fijian history without having to travel through a museum, and you get to stretch your legs, too. Historical digs are still turning up stone tools and the location is one of the biggest burial websites in the Pacific. You might even spot Fiji's nationwide rugby team, which trains down here. 17 Genuine ecotourism Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort, on the northern island of Vanua Levu, is home to Johnny Singh, Fiji's first marine biologist. Cousteau, an explorer and oceanographer, set his small resort away from the bustle of the primary island and it has won several awards for its ecotourism projects. The family-friendly luxury resort has actually set the benchmark for other Fijian turn to follow, including natural gardens, rainwater harvesting and edible landscaping without compromising on convenience. 18 Island-hopping In Fiji, "day tripping" does not suggest hours in a cars and truck, it indicates lying on the deck of a luxury yacht, smelling the ocean breeze, seafood banquets and snorkelling stops. Charter a private yacht and select your course or sign up with a cruise to, state, Tivua Island on the tall ship Ra Marama and spend the day snorkelling, glass-bottom boating, kayaking or chilling on the beach in Fiji style.;. 19 World-class browsing Many internet users head for the Mamanuca islands to hit the waves - the irreversible six-metre wave Cloudbreak, off the coast of Tavarua, is a Fijian legend, and ruling world champion Kelly Slater describes close-by Dining establishments as "among the most ideal waves that I have ever surfed". Taravua will host the Volcom Fiji Pro, featuring the top pro surfers, from June 3 to 15. Off the south coast of the main island, you'll discover little Beqa Island is home to the tough left-handed reef break Frigates, and Sigatoka Beach's Sand Dunes stand out on the Coral Coast. 20 White-water rafting Fiji's lagoons are fantastic for sea kayaking and the waterways through its mangroves let you check out these mystical ecosystems. The local guides of Rivers Fiji take groups river-rafting through the forests and previous highland towns on the primary island and sea kayaking out to Benq Island, renowned for its fire-walkers and browsing. Source http://www.traveller.com.au/twenty-reasons-to-visit-fiji-1yuoz
