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

Oceania Travel
Written By tilyournextadventure

When most people think of Fiji, they picture a stunning, untouched tropical paradise where your days are spent lounging in the sun, playing volleyball on the beach and swimming to your heart’s content with beautiful coals and sea life. And they’re not wrong, if you’re in the right place!

Fiji’s Yasawa Islands are filled with stunning natural beauty.

On top of all of this, Fijians are a warm and friendly bunch - from being greeted at the airport in Nadi with Bula Vinaka (translates to ‘a warm hello’) and a live singer & guitarist, to the warm hospitality of all the staff we came across, you are sure to have a wonderful time wherever you go.

We were quick to adjust to Fiji time - taking it slow and easy, waking up with the sun and happily spending our time snorkelling and diving in the ocean each day - and this pace really did leave us nice and relaxed after our one week here before flying back to Sydney. If you’re looking for a destination where you can don beachwear and a bikini, this one’s for you!

One week itinerary highlights

  • Resort living on a backpacker budget on some of the most secluded beaches and islands

  • Some of the best snorkelling and diving with tropical fish, turtles and sharks

  • A chance to interact with locals in remote communities

  • Majestic sunsets and delicious local cuisine

Is Fiji the right destination for me? Where to spend your time

Most Australians think of Fiji as a romantic getaway destination or family-friendly resort area, however we met plenty of other young duos and solo travellers which has made it one of my favourite travel experiences as someone in their 20s!

When researching for this trip, we had initially planned to spend most of our time on the main island until a friend mentioned that her favourite experience was taking a day trip via ferry to the smaller islands - and we thought why not spend the whole time there instead? We had planned to spend 2 nights in Nadi at the end of our trip - but we changed this to 1 night during the trip after hearing about the Shark Dive at Barefoot Kuata Island Resort (more on this later).

I would recommend keeping your Nadi stay as short as possible if visiting during wet season (Nov-Apr) as the beach was disappointing compared to our time in the Yasawa Islands, and because of the rain it was difficult to do any land-based activities.

After going down a rabbit hole, here’s what we learnt:

  • There are two sets of islands north of Nadi - the Mamanuca Islands and Yasawa Islands. The Yasawa Islands were more recently opened to tourism, and both are serviced by South Sea Cruises ferries departing from Port Denarau.

  • South Sea Cruises includes coach transfers from hotels and resorts in the area - including Nadi, Wailoaloa Beach, Port Denarau and Nadi airport.

  • To transfer from most of the Mamanuca Island resorts to the Yasawa Island resorts, you will need to return to Port Denarau to transfer to another ferry.

  • There is only one ferry (Yasawa Flyer) to the Yasawa Islands that departs at 8:45am each day and goes all the way to the top and back by 5:45pm - if you are flying into Nadi during the day/evening then you’ll need to stay a night before heading to Port Denarau the next morning.

Fiji ferry on ocean to Yasawa Islands

Views from the Yasawa Flyer as we sailed across to our destinations.

Getting there - flights, ground transport, ATMs and mobile plans

Getting to Fiji is relatively easy with plenty of flights from Australia and New Zealand each day into Nadi on Viti Levu, the main island. We flew with Fiji Airways from Sydney, which took about 4hrs each way and cost AU$249 + 36,000 Qantas points or about AU$569. Other airlines that service Sydney to Nadi include Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia.

Once you’re at Nadi airport, you can buy a traveller’s sim card at either Digicel or Vodafone - Vodafone has slightly better coverage in the Yasawa Islands, but is slightly more expensive. These start at FJ$20 for 75gb for 7 days (Digicel) and if you’re only there for a short stay, you can get one of the free tourist sim cards as well. Another great option is buying an esim, which means you can have coverage as soon as you land. I often use eSIMDB to do comparison research (not sponsored!)

You can also withdraw money from the ATMs at arrivals hall - these will charge a fee for foreign cards of about FJ$10-15. There are also ATMs in the town areas, however you will need cash for your taxi so I would recommend withdrawing some cash or exchanging at the foreign exchange desk. Resorts and large shops/restaurants will take card, but smaller vendors will be cash only. Don’t be fooled by the ANZ and Westpac logos - they will still charge you a fee!

From here you can take a taxi (Uber doesn’t operate in Fiji) to your first accommodation - make sure to ask for the meter or agree to the fee upfront. For us, it was FJ$20 to our accommodation in Nadi.

The last part is to book your resort transfer with South Sea Cruises in order to get to the island resorts!

Itinerary for 7 days in island paradise

These itineraries cover the Yasawa Islands, however you can also head to the Mamanuca Islands from Port Denarau. If you’re planning your trip, I also cover how much you’ll roughly need per day in Fiji.

Option 1 (self-booked)

Day 1 - Fly into Fiji

Fly into Nadi and stay at one of the resorts in Nadi or Wailoaloa that provide transfers to Port Denarau - see Where to stay in Fiji for recommendations. Explore, have dinner and enjoy a drink as you watch the sunset.

Day 2 - Travel to Yasawa Islands

Head to Port Denarau in the morning via coach transfer to hop onto your 8:45am half-day ferry to your island resort destination - the view from the top deck is stunning during sunny weather! Your resort will then ferry you to the island shore where you’ll step onto the pristine beach with the waves lapping at your feet, greeted by a chorus of bulas! and the island welcome song.

You can choose to spend all 5 nights at one resort, or split your time between two. Personally I would recommend spending 4 nights at Mantaray Island Resort and 1 night at Barefoot Kuata Island Resort for the shark encounter experience - however there are so many to choose from! You can also choose one of the resorts in the Mamanuca Islands, but make sure you check ferry connections as it’s time consuming to head back to Port Denarau and out again.

Spend the rest of the day settling into island life, enjoying lunch and dinner at the resort’s restaurant(s). All of these resorts have a reasonably priced, mandatory meal plan since they're remote and the resort is the only restaurant operator on the island - which will cost somewhere around FJD$139/night for breakfast, lunch and a 3 course dinner.

Day 3 to 6 - Yasawa Islands

Remember to relax and enjoy in all that island life has to offer - everything runs on Fiji time, so take it easy 😉 Each resort will have a daily schedule of activities that changes on rotation - some highlights include volleyball, snorkelling, scuba diving, kayaking, local village visit and kava (local Fijian drink) night. You can also lounge on the beach and read a book - there’s truly something for everyone.

As a newly certified open water scuba diver, I was very excited to get 6 reef dives in (including 1 night dive) at Mantaray and then the shark dive at Barefoot Kuata! You can also choose to complete your diving courses at many of these resorts, but they typically recommend a stay of at least 5 nights to complete all of your dives.

If you’re not a diver, you can also hire snorkelling gear and head out to see all the beautiful wildlife and fauna from the ocean’s surface - I loved being able to step off the beach and swim above the corals, truly a beautiful experience.

Day 7 - Travel back to Port Denarau/Nadi/Wailoaloa Beach

After 5 nights in the beautiful Yasawa Islands, take the ferry in the afternoon back to Port Denarau and coach transfer to your accommodation in Nadi or Wailoaloa.

Day 8 - Fly out of Fiji

Fly from Nadi airport to your next destination.

If you have more time, you can extend the number of days in the islands and visit more resorts (see below), or explore other town areas on the mainland. We found that the activities offered on the mainland were similar to the ones we had experienced on the island, especially since we went during rainy season.

Option 2 (Awesome Adventures)

While I’m not usually a fan of tour based holidays (too rushed, not enough freedom, lots of exclusions), Awesome Adventures has does a great job at putting together packages and experiences that left us envying of all the backpackers with really cute, powder blue dry bags who passed through every couple of days and seemed to know other people from their last resort. They have inclusive packages ranging from 4 nights to 11 nights, allowing you to explore anywhere from 3 to 5 islands with transfers, accommodation and ‘must-do’ activities included.

This is also a great option for those who want the variety of all that the Yasawa Islands have to offer, but don’t want to do any of the planning and booking yourself. All you have to do is choose the resorts you want to go to!

Suggestions (based on word of mouth) are: Barefoot Kuata, Oarsman’s Bay Lodge, Mantaray Island Resort.

One of our lunches at Mantaray Island Resort - for lunch they have a good sized a la carte menu with close to 20 items. The fish tacos were my favoruite and the burgers were very filling.

Where we stayed - accommodation options and locations

As a couple, we chose to stay in hotel rooms and bures (traditional Fijian hut/cabin) - however all of the resorts also offered dorms for solo travellers and budget conscious groups, and to be honest some of the dorms looked really nice, and it was so easy to strike up a conversation with someone in the common areas!

We stayed at:

Resorts that I would love to return to/visit include:

  • Mantaray Island Resort in May to Oct (Manta Ray season) - the staff and experience here was next-level. They got to know us, and put so much care and thought into ensuring we had a great time. It never felt crowded and I made so many friends. I got teary when I had to leave.

  • Oarsman’s Bay Lodge - the dorms here look LUXE and it’s further up the Yasawa Islands for a change of scenery.

Weather and activities - will I still have a good time during wet season?

Kayaks out on the beach at Mantaray Island Resort on one of the few sunny days we had during wet season - these were in use not long after this photo!

The short answer is yes! While it does rain a lot during wet season, there is the occasional few days of toasty sunshine - and regardless of the weather the underwater world is still a beautiful, vibrant place! I went in feeling disappointed as the forecast said it would rain everyday, but we ended up having 2 very sunny days and the other days were still warm, meaning it was a comfortable temperature in the water. I even got sunburnt (whoops!)

If you are someone who gets seasick, it’s recommended that you take seasickness tablets before boarding the ferry on a rough sea day.

There were plenty of activities to keep us entertained at Mantaray Island resort - these included volleyball, cooking classes, coconut demos, jewellery making, Fijian language class, games/movie nights, kava night, traditional bbq night and the list goes on. It was so easy to step out onto the house reef next to shore to go kayaking, standup paddleboarding or snorkelling any time we wanted to (we even saw reef sharks) and it was easy to wander down to the dive shop to book a dive for the next day at 9am, 11am or 3pm. Despite the rain, I had a fantastic time and can safely say Fiji will be one of the destinations I’m eager to return to.

If you found this guide helpful, you can read more including: How much to budget for a week in Fiji and Where to stay in Fiji? Budget friendly places to stay in Nadi and the Yasawa Islands

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