Fiji on a budget | How much you’ll need a day, how much I spent

Oceania Travel
Written By tilyournextadventure

As an Australian, I always thought of Fiji being a reasonably priced destination - people described it as a cheaper Hawaii, but more expensive than Bali. I expected it to be cheaper than a domestic holiday in Australia, but this really depends on what you doing and where you stay. If you’re staying at a resort or at one of the remote islands off the coast of the main island (Viti Levu), then you also have to factor in slightly higher prices due to the remote nature of the islands and meal plans.

How much will you need per day?

The answer is (unfortunately) - it depends! Instead I’ll share how much I spent, where I stayed and the activities I did - and you can use that to figure out how much you’ll need for your own week-long trip to Fiji.

Excluding flights, accomodation and scuba diving (because it’s an expensive activity!), I spent AU$155/day or FJ$230/day (average) for things like food, activities and transport - see the breakdown below for more details.

One week in Fiji budget breakdown - how much I spent (in AUD)

  • Flights: AU$249 + 36,000 Qantas points or about AU$569

  • Accommodation: AU$866 per person or AU$1732 for 2 people total

  • Ground transport: AU$375 including AU$320 on ferries between the Yasawa Islands

  • Food: AU$708 including AU$574 on meal plans

  • Activities: AU$72

  • Scuba diving: $AU688 🤭

  • Local mobile plan: AU$24

  • ATM withdrawal fee: AU$10

  • Shopping: AU$50

Total: AU$3420 or FJ$5077 for one person, 8 nights.

Some assumptions:

I travelled with my partner so we were able to split accomodation costs, and we flew from Australia using Qantas Points from their Frequent Flyer Program. We recently got our Open Water Diving Licence as Fiji was known as a diving destination so we also made the most of that through a dive package. I’m also not a huge shopper so I didn’t spend much on items and souvenirs. We also went during wet season so prices were a bit lower than dry season (high season).

Other factors:

Flights

We flew Sydney to Nadi return with Fiji Airways - other options from Australia include flying with Qantas, Virgin or Jetstar. You can also fly direct from New Zealand, parts of Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo) and North America (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancover, Honolulu).

Accommodation

Imagine waking up to this - a beautiful sunrise over the ocean

We spent 8 nights in Fiji averaging AU$216/night for a 2 person room, however there are definitely plenty of options on the cheaper end including dorms for the solo travellers (AU$50-AU$100/night), and also plenty of options in the 4 to 5 star hotel/resort range as well.

Price breakdown:

Ground transport

I’ll cover the rest of the categories in FJD because typically you would pay cash or FJD on card. Getting around Nadi is most convenient by taxi (no Uber here) and there are two types - official taxis with a meter and drivers who operate as taxis in partnership with specific hotels and resorts. Coming from the airport, it cost us FJ$20 to get to our accomodation in Nadi, and similar to get back to the airport. We found that Smugglers’ Cove also offered an airport shuttle service costing FJ$15 per person.

For going to different sights in Nadi, you can ask your resort to get you a taxi to one location or a driver for the day. It cost us FJ$15 to get from Wailoaloa Beach to Nadi town to explore and he offered to take us to other tourist areas nearby as well. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to confirm how much it will cost you before you start the trip - and make sure you have cash.

To get to the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands, ferries run from Port Denarau. We spent FJ$475 on ferries from Port Denarau to Mantaray Island Resort to Barefoot Kuata Island Resort and back - this will vary depending on where you are travelling to, see South Sea Cruises ferries for more.

Food

Expect to spend about AU$100/day or FJ$150/day on food, especially if you plan to go to resorts where they have a mandatory meal plan which averages FJ$139/night. We found these were pretty good value given buffet breakfast, a la carte lunch and 3 course or buffet dinner.

Activities and Diving

We found that the island resorts included a lot of free activities like kayaking, paddleboarding, volleyball, cooking classes, coconut demos, jewellery making, Fijian language class, games/movie nights, kava night, traditional bbq night and the list goes on. On one of the resorts we stayed at there was a small fee FJ$25 to hire snorkel, mask and fins for the whole stay, and there are also additional paid activities like a local village visit (FJ$60) and guided tours for things like snorkelling and island trekking.

The bulk of our activities costs went to scuba diving - being certified divers, we chose to do a 5 dive package (FJ$629) and also got a night dive for free! For those interested in learning to dive or trying it out for the first time, they also offered introductory dives (FJ$220) or your open water course for FJ$950.

We also had the opportunity to do a shark dive which was so special and awe-inspiring - this was one of the highlights and we got to hang out and observe (from a safe distance) bull sharks, lemon sharks, grey nurse sharks, black tip and white tip sharks. This cost FJ$319 for certified divers, with the money going back into research and to the local villages in the area. For those worried about how ethical and safe this experience is, the activity operators spent years doing research on shark behaviour and whether something like this would disrupt their regular patterns, and we had a team of 10 staff (marine biologists, guards, photographer/videographer etc) who made sure we were safe the whole time. It also helped that we were between a reef wall and man made rock wall the whole time we were observing.

Fiji diving with sharks

Honestly felt like we were in a giant aquarium - incredibly grateful that we were able to experience the ‘Awakening Shark Dive’ at Barefoot Kuata Island Resort. We also saw lots of coral reefs and tropical sea life.

Mobile plans, ATM fees and card surchanges

Mobile & data plans start at FJ$20 for 75gb for 7 days (Digicel) however since I was staying for 8 days, I opted for the Traveler 35 plan which included 175gb of data for 15 days for FJ$35. ATM fees were consistent around FJ$15 per withdrawal - we only did this once and used card to pay where we could. In the more remote areas the card surcharge was also much higher than usual - anywhere between 1% to 5% so factor this in as well.

While the answer to how much you’ll spend varies based on your preferences, you can expect to spend about FJ$4000 if you’re not doing activities like diving and staying in budget to mid-range accomodation. Either way, you’ll have an amazing time!

If you found this helpful, I also put together a guide for a One week itinerary in Fiji so you can plan your own trip!

tilyournextadventure
Previous

How to get around the Amalfi Coast | Sorrento, Positano, Salerno, Rome, Naples and more
Next

One week itinerary in Fiji | Guide to your tropical paradise, island hopping adventure