Fiji Time Out

Day 01: Welcome to Fiji!

Bula! Welcome to Fiji. Today you can get straight into ‘Fiji time’ as there is no fixed arrival time into Nadi International Airport. You will be greeted in the arrivals hall by a Don’t Wait Adventures representative who will take you to your hotel near the airport and also hook you up with a local phone sim-card and a re-useable water bottle to keep our single-use plastic use down. To make the most of the day though, we recommend arriving in the afternoon so you can enjoy the resort and get to know your fellow Fiji adventure tour group members and Don’t Wait Adventures guide over a welcome dinner.

Meals included: dinner

Day 02: Fijian Adventure

Now your adventure really begins with an early start to explore the main island of Viti Levu. This island is home to the country’s major airport Nadi and its capital Suva, but we will be getting well away from that as we journey inland for a truly unique cultural experience – a highland village homestay.

Arriving about lunchtime you will be welcomed with a traditional Fijian kava ceremony. Kava is a popular homemade drink consumed by Fijian people during celebrations and ceremonies. Made from the root of an indigenous pepper plant, some describe it as a having a sedative effect and others even a euphoric one – (all coming down to just how much you drink really). Most visitors will experience such ceremonies when travelling Fiji but very few get to witness it conducted by locals in their own village. A very special experience and an incredibly unique drink!

After lunch you’ll get to participate in a range of activities including mountain-hiking, a tour of the local plantation, helping replace thatch on traditional bure huts, learning to basket-weave or how to prepare a traditional lovo dinner.

Often reserved for special occasions in Fiji, a lovo is a method of cooking food underground by first digging a pit and lining it with hot coals and then covering it with various materials to keep the heat in. Tonight, not only will you get to see the preparation, you will enjoy a lovo feast with the village locals while also watching traditional meke dancing.

Meals included: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 03: Mamanuca Islands, Fiji

After your overnight in highland Fiji, have breakfast and a swim in the river (time-permitting) before heading back down to the coast where your private boat transfer awaits you for your first island hop to the Mamanucas!

Your Fiji island hopping adventure awaits

Catapulted into fame by Tom Hanks and his sidekick volleyball in the film Castaway, the Mamanucas are an incredible archipelago of coral reefs and marine life, all a coconut’s throw away from the mainland of Fiji but with the illusion of a remote tropical paradise.

Meals included: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Days 04 – 05: At – Yasawa Islands

Our journey into the Yasawa Islands begins today as we head further out of civilization and further into remote WOW! paradise. We’ll hop on a public ferry around and make our way to one of the most striking islands in the Yasawas, Kuata Island.

Arriving mid-morning on day four, we’ll call this beautiful island home for two nights. During this time you will take part in a sunset cruise, a guided reef snorkel and a sunset hike to an amazing viewpoint to remind you of just how vast and serene this country is.

Optional Activities at extra cost:

Snorkelling with white and black trip reef sharks, certified dive with bull sharks, Learn to Dive Course, medicine walk, basket-weaving and coconut jewellery-making classes

Meals included on both days: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 06-07: Meet the Manta Rays

Our Fiji island hopping tour continues on day six. A mid-morning transfer to the public ferry on day six sees us journey further into the Yasawas and to the gorgeous Drawaqa Island.  This resort home of ours is perched on the end of the sandy island, giving us both sunrise and sunset vistas as well as a plethora of snorkelling and lazing spots to listen to the waves lapping against the sand.

During our stay here you will have a special activity included to help keep this natural paradise clean, beautiful and healthy for generations to come.

Starting with a talk from a marine biologist on the current impact climate change is having on the Fijian underwater environment and what we can do about it, you will participate in what is called a COTS survey.

COTS or Crown of Thorns Sea Star is a type of starfish that can be destructive to coral reef if left to breed out of control. A fully-grown adult COTS (about 40cm wide) can eat and destroy 10 square metres of coral each year and continues its destruction by producing as many as 50 million eggs in a single breeding season.

Lead by the marine biologist, you will head out with your snorkels and assist in identifying and counting the amount of COTS in one area to be removed.

All proceeds for this activity contributed by you through your tour price, which goes straight back into further conservation projects on the reefs of Fiji.

AND… just when you think that the tour inclusions are already amazing, during Manta Ray season (May to October) you will have a guided snorkel to swim with these majestic giants of the sea. Manta Rays are a protected species that are listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN)’s Red List and Fiji is one of the leading countries in the protection effort of these species. When the Mantas aren’t around, you will still get a beautiful guided snorkel with the opportunity to see hundreds of species of fish, sea turtles, other rays, and reef sharks.

Meals included on both days: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 08: Last day in heaven

You’ll have the morning to relax before transferring back to the point where it all began – our arrival hotel near Nadi.  Upon arrival back in Nadi for our last night in Fiji, you’ll have a farewell dinner with our guide and group.