Off to Fiji in a couple of days. Anybody sailed there?

[Smacksman]

Stopping off at LA (The Queen Mary) for a couple of days then on to New Zealand stopping off in Fiji for a few days sailing.

Anybody been there? Any 'must see' places?

I won't be returning in this lifetime so I might as well ask before I go.

[Pierce Nichols]

I've been there, but I was a kid, and it was a long time ago -- right around the time they had the coups in the 80s, so my memory of it isn't that good. If you're into snorkeling and diving and you've got the time, sail south to Minerva Reef. It's a pair of small sunken atolls a few hundred miles south of Fiji (don't remember precisely how far). Amazing snorkeling and diving -- as of twenty years ago, the only human presence was a small automated light maintained by the Fijian navy. Completely unspoiled as almost any place I've ever been.

[Willin']

We spent 5 weeks in the Fiji Islands during the coup in 2000. Not cruising, just traveling.

In my opinion one of the better cruising grounds is the Yasawa group. Lots of nice little islands, only a few resorts. Not much in the line of yacht services there once you get away from Viti Levu though.The natives are very friendly and proud of their islands. A great area to experience traditional Fijian culture. Not many indo-fijians there, so the vibe is quite mellow.

There's a nice little yacht club on Vanua Levu at Savu Savu that is frequented by expats and cruisers. They have a few guest moorings in a well protected estuary and a small, comfy bar.

We met a couple that spent a whole season cruising the Lau group and never even scratched the surface. You could claim your own island in there and no one would ever find you.

Have fun!

[Michael s/v Sannyasin]

Some people I know were out cruising their Westsail 32 for a few years in the South Pacific and they have some good journals about Fiji here:

http://www.micoverde.com/S3-tahiti-polynesia-fiji-blog_3.htm

I was there with my sister several years ago, and my advice would be to hang out anywhere except for the main island of Viti Levu.

The Yasawa group includes the islands where they filmed The Blue Lagoon, so, you can get an idea of their tropical beauty. Still to the West of Viti Levu, but South of the Yasawa group are the Mamanuca islands... typically small islands, with maybe one resort on each island. Visitors to the resorts are required to stay on the resort unless invited into the village and most of the island belongs to the tribe that lives there. I stayed on an island called Castaway Island there, and it was great.

South of Viti Levu is an island called Beqa which is surrounded by the Astrolabe Reef, supposedly fantastic diving, but probably dangerous cruising.

East of Viti Levu is the Lomaiviti Group of islands, which include one called Wakaya Island, where many celebrities have spent their honeymoons.

North East is Taveuni, which I think is the home of the Eco-resort of Jean-Michele Cousteau... needless to say the diving is supposed to be great.

My experience with the Fijians, particularly those living on islands other than Viti Levu, were that they were some of the most genuinely friendly, nicest people I've ever met. In places like Suva, the capital of Viti Levu, not so much!

Have fun and take a lot of photos!

[Stiletto]

This time of year is cyclone season, many cruising yachts are laid up.

Michael, I camped on Wakaya Island in 1969, in those days there was only one permanent residence there.

[py]

Well, back in the 70's when I was jst a lad we spent about 6 months there sailing from Tonga, through the Lau group to Viti Levu. You can use Google earth to get some surprisingly good views of some of the islands-you can pick out the villages with green lawns, the protected lagoons, looks great still. I don't know if many charter operators allow you to stray very far, but if you can get out to the Lau group, there's some great stuff there. Mostly coral attols, but a couple of volcanic islands. Great place. Lovely people. Be respectful , learn a bit about their culture. Avoid the tourist traps.

[paladin]

I spent the hurricane season there in the 70's....as in some of the photo's that I have posted....as said above...stay outta Suva and the tourist traps, but if travelling the out islands be with someone, if sailing, sometimes the water is skinny where you don't expect it...people were fantastic....if travelling the out isands, the local kids like bright T shirts...

[Cedric Rhyn]

Reports from tourists in the area suggest that the political instability is making things a bit techy. They say, " stick in the known tourist areas, dont annoy the police or the very agressive military".

Very few problems for tourists or visitors reported in our New Zealand Media, but for yachties the place has become very bad news as their goverment has just reduced the maximum stay time for visiting yachts to less than that required to hide from the cyclone season.

Cedric.

Stopping off at LA (The Queen Mary) for a couple of days then on to New Zealand stopping off in Fiji for a few days sailing.

Anybody been there? Any 'must see' places?

I won't be returning in this lifetime so I might as well ask before I go.

[Cedric Rhyn]

Further to my last posting, I didn't mention that Fiji is being run by an "interim government" ( the military ) and things are not happy there.
I suspect that in most places life jost goes on as usual, but there have quite recently been travel warnings posted by Australia and New Zealand.

But to brighten things, here is a link to a really great sailing in Fiji story.

http://www.woodenboat.net.nz/Boats/BoatFiji/DinghyYasawa.html


Cedric


Stopping off at LA (The Queen Mary) for a couple of days then on to New Zealand stopping off in Fiji for a few days sailing.

Anybody been there? Any 'must see' places?

I won't be returning in this lifetime so I might as well ask before I go.

[Willin']

A good guidebook like Lonely Planet or Let's Go is a great investment.

[Smacksman]

Thank you so much everyone for the info. I lived in Africa for 14 years so keeping my nose clean and getting on with the locals is second nature to me. Anyway, I'm a really, really nice person. haha

It's a skippered touristy sort of cruise so I will go where I'm taken I expect but those islands sound great.

I've checked the weather; 88F max 86F min, part cloud and showers, NE 8 to 22knots, 5ft tidal range - sounds like the ITCZ all over again! No cyclones on the horizon, touch wood.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

see PM

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

A colleague of mine who was a junior officer on the Mary had to visit LA to inspect one of our ships; he was very much looking forward to seeing her again but walked off in disgust.

Thought I should warn you not to set hopes too high for that bit

Andrew

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Oh and see PM once again!:)