We took a trip to Fiji recently. I can highly recommend Fiji to anyone who wants something really, really nice. We stayed at the island resort called Castaway. The entire island is the resort, so it’s one in the same. There are over 300 islands that make up the Fiji islands, so take your pick. Castaway is the perfect family resort. It is very kid friendly and there is enough for the kids to do to keep them busy and occupied. It is a safe and very friendly environment. I give it 5 stars for sure. Now, if you are single, or want more of a party atmosphere, I wouldn’t recommend Castaway. It’s a little quiet for that. But, there are other islands that cater towards that. They have “no kids allowed” islands. While we didn’t get to visit those islands, I’m sure they have a whole different vibe.
While I took over 700 images, and my daughter, Sarah, took a few hundred, I didn’t want to bore you with a whole bunch of family pics, so I just wanted to show you a few of my favorites from our trip to maybe whet your appetite. If you want to see more, go there yourself, it’s amazing!
Here are Andrew and Jemma when we first arrived in Mana, Fiji. We took a direct flight from Los Angeles to Mana. Mana is the main island in Fiji. It’s only a 10 hour flight. Most parents gasp at the thought of having their kids on a flight for 10 hours, but our kids are super great with traveling. Once we landed, we had to wait a while for our boat to take us out to our island. Look at how happy they are, even after 10 hours on an airplane.
I think on our 1st or 2nd night, I don’t remember exactly, we went to a party the resort had. We drank kava, which is the traditional drink of Fiji (don’t ask me what it is) and had a good time. This is Jemma.
This is Sarah, getting into the island spirit.
We went on a 3 island tour, where we saw one of the famous surf spots called Cloud Break. The surfing was bad on that week, too windy, but you could kind of see how it could be good if it wasn’t so windy, and the swell was bigger. But, on that trip, we saw dolphins. This was the most amazing dolphin sighting I had ever seen. They were just swarming around the boat. My wife called it magical. It seemed like even the Fijian guys were stoked, as I’m sure it’s hit or miss as to iff this will happen.
This is just a picture postcard of one of the islands we visited.
This photo was right outside of the bure we were staying in. I was just having fun with my fish-eye lens.
Another shot right outside of our bure…
We went to visit a Fijian village called Shell Village. We bought some necklaces and braclets from the locals. There were some of the local kids playing tug of war.
I know I skipped alot, because I don’t like boring people with family photos. But, I just wanted to provide a taste of Fiji. I highly recommend taking the time to visit someday. I’m pretty sure we’ll be going back.
All images are protected by Federal Copyright laws, 2008.
