May/June 2009- Blue Lagoon. Kava. Snorkeling. Happy Happy People.
Picking a honeymoon destination can be a bit overwhelming, it's pretty much the one shot you have to go wherever the heck you want & blow the budget. With so many places & so little time Brad & I just couldn't decide. Brad & I knew we wanted something exotic, something chill & something beautiful. For a while we were thinking Bora Bora, but when our travel agent told us it was Boring Boring, Fiji shot to #1.
And off we went on our "Moon Trip." Not long after you land, you'll start to feel the island time,
Bula Bula, that's what the Fijians say, morning & night & also what you'll find yourself saying only hours after you've arrived. Everyone that goes to Fiji must first fly to the city of Nadi on the big island Vitu Levu, then from there hop a small plane to whatever island you've chosen. You could vacation on the main island, but we don't really recommend it. The city of Nadi (pronounced Nandi) is pretty dead & kinda rundown, nice place for a day, but not for a week. But if you must, a great hotel for a stopover, is Tanoa International. We had a layover for a night & this hotel is really close to the airport, it's clean, they have a decent restaurant & they have a shuttle for the airport. If you want to go out to dinner, we also recommend RJ's Chinese, its bustling & quite yummy.
Qamea
Our first destination in Fiji was the island of Qamea. We literally had to take a small plane, a van & then a boat to get there. But boy was it worth it. Qamea is the 6th largest island in Fiji which doesn't say much because there are no roads, no stores, nothing other than a small gorgeously exclusive resort. This resort has more employees than guests, I think max capacity for resort is like 28 or 32? The nicest staff in the world, the freshest fruit & seafood, & a world renowned spa literally in jungle tree houses, we were in heaven. The snorkeling was awesome, going to a local church service was a spiritual experience we'll never forget & the people very well may be the nicest people on Earth. But beware, this is very much a honeymoon resort, everyone was a couple, & there were no kids in sight.
Ok, I realize I just said no kids & here's a photo of kids & they were sitting in church with us. They were locals from a neighboring town & not staying at the resort. They were all so polite & beautiful.
Kava anyone? Ok, so you have to clap 3 times & then 1 time to say thank you, it tastes like muddy water, but you MUST try it no matter what, otherwise it would be like going to Italy & not trying the pizza! Plus, it makes you feel kinda funny :)
Here we are at the INTERNATIONAL DATELINE, yep that's it. No real line or gift shop or anything fancy, it was pouring rain & we traveled to the back of a rugby field behind a HS to find it, it was thrilling, haha. Also, note my very sexy honeymoon outfit of a rain poncho & ugly crocs, hideous!
Here's a photo from our Boula Falls hike, luckily the weather was MUCH nicer & every photo we took looked like it came straight out of a travel guide.
Nadi
The next resort...... was well, truth be told, a giant leap leap down in luxury. Not quite looking like the pictures on the Internet, we found ourselves wondering do we stay or do we go? No more Bula Bula, instead they played middle-Eastern music & didn't even offer to take our bags to our room. Tired from the long drive, we decided to tough it out for a night (in the mosquito nets) & make a decision in the morning. Not only we were the only people at the resort, but the woman running the place (co-owner with her husband) was the one in charge of everything, check-in, waitress, housekeeper, you name it. It kinda felt like the twilight zone...there wasn't a restaurant, just a communal table where everyone had dinner together. So imagine, me, Brad, a crazy mother-in-law (wearing an eye patch), the owner, her stoner surfer brother & her 4 yr. daughter, having a big family dinner together (on our HONEYMOON!)...Let's just say thinking back upon it all, I'm happy I can laugh about it now...Bottom line, if the boyz want to go to Fiji for a surfing bachelor party, it's perfect. If your wife wants to go on a romantic honeymoon, not so much!
Overall, Fiji was amazing, if we go back I think we'd head to the Yasawa islands, we heard great things about them & supposedly the weathers a bit more reliable. But if you want a romantic honeymoon, Qamea can't be beat!
Picking a honeymoon destination can be a bit overwhelming, it's pretty much the one shot you have to go wherever the heck you want & blow the budget. With so many places & so little time Brad & I just couldn't decide. Brad & I knew we wanted something exotic, something chill & something beautiful. For a while we were thinking Bora Bora, but when our travel agent told us it was Boring Boring, Fiji shot to #1.
And off we went on our "Moon Trip." Not long after you land, you'll start to feel the island time,
Bula Bula, that's what the Fijians say, morning & night & also what you'll find yourself saying only hours after you've arrived. Everyone that goes to Fiji must first fly to the city of Nadi on the big island Vitu Levu, then from there hop a small plane to whatever island you've chosen. You could vacation on the main island, but we don't really recommend it. The city of Nadi (pronounced Nandi) is pretty dead & kinda rundown, nice place for a day, but not for a week. But if you must, a great hotel for a stopover, is Tanoa International. We had a layover for a night & this hotel is really close to the airport, it's clean, they have a decent restaurant & they have a shuttle for the airport. If you want to go out to dinner, we also recommend RJ's Chinese, its bustling & quite yummy.
QameaOur first destination in Fiji was the island of Qamea. We literally had to take a small plane, a van & then a boat to get there. But boy was it worth it. Qamea is the 6th largest island in Fiji which doesn't say much because there are no roads, no stores, nothing other than a small gorgeously exclusive resort. This resort has more employees than guests, I think max capacity for resort is like 28 or 32? The nicest staff in the world, the freshest fruit & seafood, & a world renowned spa literally in jungle tree houses, we were in heaven. The snorkeling was awesome, going to a local church service was a spiritual experience we'll never forget & the people very well may be the nicest people on Earth. But beware, this is very much a honeymoon resort, everyone was a couple, & there were no kids in sight.
Ok, I realize I just said no kids & here's a photo of kids & they were sitting in church with us. They were locals from a neighboring town & not staying at the resort. They were all so polite & beautiful.
Kava anyone? Ok, so you have to clap 3 times & then 1 time to say thank you, it tastes like muddy water, but you MUST try it no matter what, otherwise it would be like going to Italy & not trying the pizza! Plus, it makes you feel kinda funny :)
Here we are at the INTERNATIONAL DATELINE, yep that's it. No real line or gift shop or anything fancy, it was pouring rain & we traveled to the back of a rugby field behind a HS to find it, it was thrilling, haha. Also, note my very sexy honeymoon outfit of a rain poncho & ugly crocs, hideous!
Here's a photo from our Boula Falls hike, luckily the weather was MUCH nicer & every photo we took looked like it came straight out of a travel guide.
Nadi
After spending a few days truly in the lap of luxury, we headed back to the main island for Brad to get his surfing fix. After arriving at the main airport we had our next resort pick us up in a van & drive us about 2 hours north, toward the shore near....
The next resort...... was well, truth be told, a giant leap leap down in luxury. Not quite looking like the pictures on the Internet, we found ourselves wondering do we stay or do we go? No more Bula Bula, instead they played middle-Eastern music & didn't even offer to take our bags to our room. Tired from the long drive, we decided to tough it out for a night (in the mosquito nets) & make a decision in the morning. Not only we were the only people at the resort, but the woman running the place (co-owner with her husband) was the one in charge of everything, check-in, waitress, housekeeper, you name it. It kinda felt like the twilight zone...there wasn't a restaurant, just a communal table where everyone had dinner together. So imagine, me, Brad, a crazy mother-in-law (wearing an eye patch), the owner, her stoner surfer brother & her 4 yr. daughter, having a big family dinner together (on our HONEYMOON!)...Let's just say thinking back upon it all, I'm happy I can laugh about it now...Bottom line, if the boyz want to go to Fiji for a surfing bachelor party, it's perfect. If your wife wants to go on a romantic honeymoon, not so much!
Overall, Fiji was amazing, if we go back I think we'd head to the Yasawa islands, we heard great things about them & supposedly the weathers a bit more reliable. But if you want a romantic honeymoon, Qamea can't be beat!
