Fiji - Nadi & Mana Island

Nadi Airport, Fiji 5.2.2015

We landed Fiji without knowing so much about it. We heard from many travellers to get out of the main island in order to discover the white sand beaches. Fiji has a few islands, more than 300! It is not a backpacker destination.

Once arrived we got stucked right away in the immigration office with few other people. The immigration officer told us that he can't let us in the country without knowing an address we will be staying. We hadn't booked any place in advance since all places listed online seemed so expensive. The immigration officer was like a travel agent and he booked us a place to stay for the first night, a room for 80 FJ$ / 40€ a night.

Once at the hotel we booked a trip to Mana Island, known by being the cheapest island in the vicinity of Nadi. We paid for the cheapest room 180 FJ$ / 90€ per night all inclusive. We thought of being sent to the backpacker place we told the reception but ended up in a different one. In addition to the actual accomodation we had to pay the boat to there and it cost 150 FJ$ / 75€ per person, including return. We thought we were scammed but later we spoke with others on the island and everybody seemed to have paid the same. We stayed on  the island five days.

Mana Island

Mana Island was quite big and had four resorts and a small local village. We were next to the village but there weren't any places as shops or restaurants outside of the resort.

The island's nature was absolutely amazing. White sand and empty beaches everywhere, the sea had hundreads of colors and was warm and something we had never seen before. A coral reef contorned all the island so snorkeling was our main program. We saw hudreads of fishes, calamari, rays, starfishes, sea snakes (of course), octopus and the most exciting was snorkelling with five reef sharks. People here say that by snorkeling you see the same things as usually when diving. Some people even saw sea turtles. Our favourite snorkeling spot was Survivor's beach where ten years ago they shooted the program. We also saw from a distance Castaway island where the movie was filmed and where lot of trips are organised. We were told it's just an island as others around it.

Every paradise has its crack. Since the first minute on the island we were told to keep all our value items with us all time because lot of things get stolen. It felt so weird because we were on a really small island. On the first night one German guy lost his GoPro camera and someone other his flipflops. The staff changed time to time and strangers were coming and going in and out our guesthouse. We weren't sure who was working there and who didn't. The staff we did know were most of the time three guys who entertained tourists. We were not used to it so it felt being part of some Scout camp in elementary school. The guys were friendly and did with us fun stuff as climbing coconuts for drink and took us to snorkle.

We were told to try to get into a local kava session if we could. Honestly, it was more diffucult trying not to take part in it than to get involved. Kava is a powder made of pepper root and mixed with water. It's said to give you a relaxed feeling and good night sleep. We drank 10-15 cups and only got need to a bathroom. The ritual is nice if it wouldn't be so touristic. For example our hostel had every evening kava time. But it's nice socialising:)

Our actual room and "all inclusive" service was also not what we expected for the price paid. We had a room in a shared house with seven others and that also locals used. Two toilet, one shower that sometimes did not work. Electricity only from 6pm to 6am. The food was the most shocking. We ate during the five days one real meal. Other time we had bread, plain white rice or white pasta/noodles. No fish except a toast with a little can tuna in it. One egg on one day. The only fresh piece of food was a little piece of watermelon per day. No salad. My favorite dish was a plate divided in two: one half white porridge rice and one half white pasta with margarine. Come on, we were on an island and saw many vegetables and fruits growing everywhere! The coconuts we got were really useful. Thankfully we got our own snorkeling sets because otherwise one must have rented them for 10 FJ$ / 5€ per day. We also wanted to go fishing but as Monica asked about it the answer was that women don't fish.. of course the staff tried every day to sell some trips to other islands but we didn't want to pay even more. And good that we didn't since we saw all the amazing things on this island.

Nadi

Once we left the island we decided to save and go to a hostel in a dorm in Nadi Bay. Johannes got ill so we didn't have chance of doing much. The cheapest dorm room was FJ$12 / 6€ which was good to balance our budget. During the rest of our time we got a good chance of getting to know the tourism culture and the local one. Our room cleaner was the nicest person we met in this country. She made Johannes lime juice so he would feel better and searched for us every day just to wish a nice day.

We knew the popularity of Fiji as a paradise island. We probably encountered the greatest shock during our trip here between our expectations and reality.

As said to get to the paradise islands one must leave the main land. The transfer service is monopolised or at least there is no competition for prices. It is understandable that transfer and maintenance is not cheap but here the results of huge investments are not seen.

Nadi is one of the major towns in Fiji main land and a gateway to many island around. We visited the city few times and got a weird feeling from it. The salesman are aggressive and try to get you to their shops. For tourists there are almost only souvenir shops or supermarkets. Even a proper restaurant is hard to find.

Fiji is also known for its relaxed and easygoing people and lifestyle. Fiji time seems to be a national joke to explain that things run late. The main purpose seems to be to relax and enjoy life at this moment. Locals do greet you "Bula" in the streets but they are usually salesmen or employees. We sound cynical but the feeling we got after two weeks was not nice. Also speaking with "relaxed and always happy" locals that work minimum 12h shifts any time at the day with a 3FJ$ / 1.50€ per hour is not something relaxed. Shops and houses around the center area are surrounded by barbed wire fences like in any developing countries.

The thing that interests the most is that Fiji has almost 1 million habitants and receives every year more than half a million tourists. With these prices we wonder where all the money is going. Of course all the resorts seem to be owned by foreigners and politically Fiji is not very stable.

It has been two weeks of high contrasts. The contrast between the beautiful nature and the local poverty. The contrast between high prices and the infrastructure. Such a beautiful place but with its cons.