Insight Guides Explore Fiji (Travel Guide eBook)

By Insight Guides

Pocket-sized travel guides featuring the very best routes and itineraries.

Discover the best of Fiji with this indispensably practical Insight Explore Guide. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see attractions like Viseisei Village, the sand dunes in Sigatoka, Mamanuca Islands, Levuka and the Hibiscus Highway, to discovering hidden gems, including Navala, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will save you time, help you plan and enhance your visit to Fiji.

Practical, pocket-sized and packed with inspirational insider information, this is the ideal on-the-move companion to your trip to Fiji.

- Over 10 walks and tours: detailed itineraries feature all the best places to visit, including where to eat along the way
- Local highlights: discover what makes the area special, its top attractions and unique sights, and be inspired by stunning imagery
- Insider recommendations: where to stay and what to do, from active pursuits to themed trips
- Hand-picked places: find your way to great hotels, restaurants and nightlife using the comprehensive listings
- Practical maps: get around with ease and follow the walks and tours using the detailed maps 
- Informative tips: plan your visit with an A to Z of advice on everything from transport to tipping
- Inventive design makes for an engaging, easy-reading experience
- Covers: Mamanuca Islands, Garden of the Sleeping Giant and Viseisei Village, Natadola Beach Picnic and Coral Coast Railway, Nadi to Suva, Suva, Nausori Highlands, Levuka, Navua River Trip, Yasawa Islands and Fiji's North.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Jun 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781789199024

Insight Guides

Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

Book preview

How To Use This E-Book

This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With ­top-­quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the world’s most exciting destinations.

Best Routes

The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destination’s many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also ex­cursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments – options are shown in the ‘Food and Drink’ box at the end of each tour.

Introduction

The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.

Directory

Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised A–Z of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafés and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, plus a handy language guide and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.

Getting around the e-book

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

© 2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Recommended Routes For...

Beach bums

Fijian culture

Island hoppers

Explorers

Scuba divers

Surfers

Tropical train spotters

Urbanistas

Explore Fiji

Geography and layout

History

Climate

Population

Local customs

Religion

Politics and economics

Language

Food and Drink

Traditional cuisine

Lovos

Eating out

Drinks

Shopping

Souvenirs

Handicrafts

Clothing

Shopping areas

Suva

Nadi and Denarau

Sigatoka

Levuka

Vanua Levu

Entertainment

Traditional dance

Bars and nightlife

Suva

Nadi and Denarau

Vanua Levu

Cinema

Sport

Activities

Scuba diving and snorkelling

Fishing

Paddling

Surfing and SUP

Hiking

Biking

Golf

Festivals

Calendar of special events

January

February/March

March/April

July/August

August

September

10 October

October/November

History: Key Dates

Before the Europeans

European arrivals

Birth of a nation

The late 20th century

The modern era

Mamanuca Islands

Independent island-hopping

Day tripping

Garden of the Sleeping Giant & Viseisei Village

Garden of the Sleeping Giant

Viseisei Village

Lautoka

Natadola Beach Picnic and Coral Coast Railway

Momi Guns

Natadola Beach

Coral Coast Railway

Cuvu Culture Club

Sigatoka Sand Dunes

Nadi to Suva

Sigatoka and surrounds

Coral Coast

Pacific Harbour

Suva and suburbs

Suva

Garden route

Seafront stroll

The CBD

Going to market

Nausori Highlands

Route 1 – Navala and Ba

Navala

Ba and back

Route 2 – Sigatoka Valley and Lawai

Lawai

Levuka: Fiji’s Old Capital

Beach Street

Back streets and bushwalking

Mission Hill and Levuka Village

Navua River Trip

Navua

River running

Nukusere

Namuamua

Yasawa Islands

Blue Lagoon

Island-hopping

Nacula Island

Naviti Island

Drawaqwa Island

Exploring Fiji’s North

Savusavu

Hibiscus Highway

Taveuni

Accommodation

Nadi area

Coral Coast

Pacific Harbour/Beqa Island

Suva

Mamanuca Islands

Outer islands

Levuka

Yasawa Islands

Vanua Levu

Taveuni

Restaurants

Nadi

Pacific Harbour

Suva

Sigatoka and surrounds

Levuka

Lautoka

Savusavu

Taveuni

Nightlife

Nadi

Suva

Savusavu

Islands

A-Z

A

Age restrictions

B

Budgeting

Business hours

C

Children

Clothing

Consulates and embassies

Crime and safety

Customs

D

Disabled travellers

E

Electricity

Emergencies

Etiquette

F

Festivals and holidays

H

Health

Healthcare and insurance

Inoculations

Pharmacies

I

Internet

L

LGBTQ+ travellers

Left luggage

M

Media

Radio

Television

Money

Cash machines

Credit cards

Taxes

Tipping

P

Police

Post

R

Religion

S

Smoking

T

Telephones

Mobile (cell) phones

Time zones

Toilets

Tourist information

Tours and guides

Transport

Arrival

Getting around

V

Visas and passports

W

Websites

Women

Weights and measures

Language

Useful phrases

Fiji glossary

Books and Film

Books

Film

Recommended Routes For...

Beach bums

Fiji is synonymous with sun-bleached white beaches, brushed by gently lapping waters. If this is your scene, head to the Blue Lagoon in the Yasawa Islands (route 9) and Natadola Beach (route 3).

Turtle Island

Fijian culture

Visiting a real Fijian village is an utterly unforgettable experience. The most authentic encounters can be enjoyed in the highland village of Navala (route 3) and in Namuamua on the Navua River (route 8).

Shutterstock

Island hoppers

There’s no better cure for itchy feet than travelling around an archipelago of tropical islands, so get a multi-trip ferry ticket and begin bouncing around the Mamanuca (route 1) and Yasawa islands (route 9).

Captain Cook Cruises

Explorers

Independent travellers will relish getting away from the tourists and into the ‘real’ Fiji during 4x4 adventures in the Highlands (route 6) and during a visit to the less-visited islands of the country’s north (route 10).

Alamy

Scuba divers

Amazingly, Fiji is even more gorgeous below the water than it is above it. Dive into a kaleidoscope of coloured coral and fabulous fish in Fiji’s north (route 10) or from the islands in the Yasawa group (route 9).

Beqa Lagoon Resort

Surfers

Wave riders will delight in the breaks served up by Malolo Barrier Reef in the Mamanuca Islands (route 1), and revel in the wonderful waves around Sigatoka (route 4) and Natadola Beach (route 3).

iStock

Tropical train spotters

You don’t have to be a nerd to get a kick out of riding on the Coral Coast Railway (route 3) or to appreciate the sweet sight of the old sugar train wending through the palms in Lautoka (route 2).

Getty Images

Urbanistas

Nobody visits Fiji looking for a gritty city, but Suva (route 5), the biggest metropolis in the South Pacific, delivers a taste of tropical town life. Contrast with the sleepy colonial feel of the country’s old capital, Levuka (route 7).

Alamy

Explore Fiji

From the reefs that surround its many tropical islands, to the friendly villages and verdant heights of its highlands, there’s so much more to explore in Fiji than just the first gorgeous beach you reach – although that’s not a bad place to start.

For most people, mere mention of the word Fiji conjures up mental images of sun-soaked beaches, luxurious lagoon-based resorts, coral reefs scantily covered by a gentle gin-clear ocean, and tropical islands populated by welcoming and laidback locals, ever-ready with a smile and a cup of yaqona. And, true enough, you can find all of the above, but there’s more to Fiji than kava and clichés.

Visitors often land in Nadi and immediately go seeking sun, sand, sea, snorkelling and surf in the archipelagos of Mananuca and Yasawa. For many, the Fiji experience is defined by the country’s island culture, where time is an abstract concept, primarily measured by daylight hours and not marks on a clock, and everything that matters in life happens on the beach.

Yet Fiji is so much more than simply the sum of its islands. As somnambulant as it may sometimes seem, this is a modern country with a thriving economy and several vibrant multicultural urban centres, which offer the best restaurants in the region. The cultural mix that underpins 21st century Fiji is the subject of much internal debate, but for visitors, the country’s ethnic diversity gives it a depth not seen elsewhere in Oceania, making it an even more sensational destination to explore.

Welcome to Fiji!

Chris McLennan/Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Resort

Geography and layout

Unless you’re lucky enough to arrive on a yacht, your Fijian foray will almost certainly begin in Nadi, the country’s main transport hub and home to the international airport. Nadi is on the west coast of Viti Levu, which at 4,000sq miles (10,360sq km), is by far the largest of the 332 islands that collectively comprise this gloriously scattered South Pacific nation, spread across more than 517,998sq km (200,000sq miles) of the South Pacific Ocean, between the latitudes 13° and 25° south and longitude 176° west and 177° east.

Nadi is the gateway to the hyper-popular islands of the Mamanuca Group (for more information, click here) and the slightly more remote Yasawa chain (for more information, click here). Every day, visitors, giddy with tropical excitement, are picked up by buses from hotels all around Nadi, to be taken to Denarau Island (connected to Viti Levu by a road bridge), where they board various vessels and head off into the big blue of Bligh Water, to stay in beachside bures and play at being castaways for a week or two.

On the other side of Viti Levu is Suva, Fiji’s capital and the largest city in Oceania – home to a large campus of the University of the South Pacific, myriad good restaurants and bars, and even a Central Business District. Linking Nadi and Suva, the