Fabulous Journeys

Bula! I did my first post here on Fabulous Journeys about Fiji to showcase the main island of Viti Levu, which a lot of travellers seem to bypass and neglect when they visit this South Pacific island paradise. This post will cover the other islands of Fiji which offers great beaches and snorkelling and diving opportunities.

My First Video

Before I continue talking about the other islands of Fiji, I’d like to show you my first attempt at creating a video to attest about my previous post on Viti Levu. I was in the pool at The Seashells @ Momi Bay resort when my friend Pete took this video of me chilling out and giving you some words on my recent trip. I hope you enjoy it:

The Mamanuca Islands

Fiji's Beachcomber Island

Fiji is an archipelago of some 300+ islands, and on the Western side of Viti Levu, just off the coast from Nadi you will find the Mamanuca Islands. There are around 20 islands on this chain, and is an easy day trip from Nadi (cruise to the islands starts at Port Denarau). The islands have nice white sand beaches. Some of the most popular ones are Beachcomber, Bounty Island, Treasure Island, South Sea Island, and Mana Island. Beachcomber is known as a party island, and a lot of younger travellers tend to visit this island to party and enjoy the beach. A good number of day trippers go to the island just to swim in the nice white sand beach and chill out for the day. The same goes for South Sea, Bounty and Treasure Islands. Majority of these islands have accommodations, and they can be booked as part of a cruise package with Awesome Adventures (primarily for the backpacker ones and the mid-range resorts), or with other cruise companies like Captain Cook Cruises or Blue Lagoon Cruises. I cruised by these islands on my way to the Yasawa group of islands, and I must say that I was tempted to just get off the boat and chill on the nice white sand beaches!

Yasawa Islands

Further north to the Mamanuca Islands is the Yasawa group of islands. When I was reading up on my Lonely Planet guidebook before the trip, I was attracted more to these group of islands, as they have mentioned that there is better snorkelling and diving in this area, plus the beaches are better and not as packed as those in the Mamanucas. I instantly went ahead and booked my cruise to stop at a resort on one of these islands, where I stayed for 3 days and 2 nights. The Yasawa Islands is comprised of around 20 islands, and has been one of the least developed areas in terms of tourism and infrastructure. The bigger islands are Waya Island and Kuata Island. There are a number of resorts on these 2 islands.

Manta Ray Island Resort

Main beach on Manta Ray Island Resort, Fiji

I stayed at the Manta Ray Island Resort, which was on Nanuya Balavu island, one of the smaller islands just next to Waya and Kuata Islands. It took roughly 3 hours to get to the island on the catamaran from Port Denarau, but the trip was well worth it, as you see all the other nice islands and resorts along the way. Manta Ray Island resort is more of a backpacker to midrange resort. It doesn’t have all the 5-star amenities that you’d find in hotels, but the rustic and authentic local feel to the place makes it very inviting to stay and chill out. I stayed in one of the tree bures (or huts) facing the beach. The stretch of beach in front of Manta Ray resort is white sand, and you can snorkel just off the shores. There are manta rays that usually linger around the island (hence the name of the resort), primarily on the narrow channel between the resort and the next island. The resort offers a tour to swim with the manta rays, though I found that it was more of chasing the manta rays than swimming with them, as they tend to be shy creatures and don’t go close to humans. The resort also caters for some other activities like a village tour, where a guide will take you to another island to visit a traditional Fijian village, snorkelling tour, and diving. You can also hire a kayak to paddle to the next island across the channel.

Gorgeous sunset on Sunset Beach, Manta Ray Island Resort

On the other side of the resort is a small village where the workers of the resort live, and there is also another beach they call Sunset Beach. As the name suggests, it’s the perfect place to watch sunset. I simply sat on the beach and watched some of the locals and guests play rugby on the beach, and the sun slowly going down.. It’s probably one of the best sunsets I’ve seen thus far! At night, the staff at Manta Ray Island Resort offers some activities to keep their guests entertained, and the locals also join in! All in all, I’ve enjoyed my stay on this island, and I would highly recommend this to those wanting to experience the Yasawas.

All these were part of my first Fiji experience. I’m still wanting to explore more of the other islands, and it would be interesting to also hear from other travellers what their experiences are. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post for Fabulous Journeys.

Til the next Fabulous Journeys!