Why Fiji
The archipelago has more than three hundred islands, about a hundred of them inhabited, and it serves as much as a stopover between the Americas and Oceania as a destination in itself. The Yasawa and Mamanuca islands offer the postcard lagoons; Viti Levu, the main island, has a mountainous interior and traditional villages.
Diving here is first rate: the Astrolabe reef, the Somosomo Strait and its soft corals, and clear water all year.
Getting around
Domestic flights and seaplanes link the main islands. The catamaran that runs up the Yasawas with a multi-day pass is the most flexible way to string islands together.
On Viti Levu, local buses follow the coast for almost nothing, and shared minibuses complete the network. The interior roads are poor and require a four-wheel drive.
Money
Cards work in the resorts and the supermarkets; the villages, the markets and the buses run on cash. Withdraw before leaving for the small islands, where there is no ATM.
An environmental tax and a service charge are added to bills on the tourist circuit. Tipping is not a local custom.
Before you go
Visiting a village presupposes an invitation and a gift — traditionally kava root, bought at the market — presented to the chief at the sevusevu ceremony. You enter with shoulders covered, without a hat or sunglasses, and you do not touch your host's head.
The cyclone season from November to April is real and closely followed: warnings are broadcast on the radio, and insurance that covers weather cancellation makes full sense.
The currents in the lagoon passes are strong; you swim where local people indicate, and nowhere else.