Romantic 10 nights Fiji - Oct 2017
 

Hi - I'm looking for some help planning a honeymoon for Oct 2017. I'm somewhat in a pickle as we originally planned to go to the Amalfi Coast or Greece, but my fiance' has now decided he wants to go to either FP or Fiji. The reason I feel as though I'm in a bit of a pickle, is that I already engaged a travel agent for the Amalfi/Greece planning and now that we've switched gears, I feel abit obligated to use her, since she's already spent time with us. Unfortunately, she does NOT know much at all about FP or Fiji. SO - I'm doing most, if not all, of the research on FP and Fiji and trying to determine where we should go.

I've been to both - Bora Bora MANY years ago and Fiji (Qamea) a few years ago. I loved both. My fiance' has not been to either. My hunch is that he would prefer Fiji so I'm focusing on that. He's left most of the decision up to me but he has stated that he might like to split our 10 nights up between to 2 resorts for variety - he's afraid that 10 nights at one resort may get old to him. I stayed at Qamea for 10 nights, and loved every minute of it, but agree that by about night 8, it might have been nice to have a change of scenery. Our budget is $10k USD, including air, but we can go abit higher, if it makes sense.

Our preferences: adult only, small-boutiquey style resort, barefoot elegance, variety of things to do (hiking, water sports, beach, village visit, etc...), prefer no tv's but would like to be able to get internet at least occasionally as we may need to stay in touch at least a little bit

So far, I believe we will plan on Matangi for the 2nd part of our trip staying either 5 or 7 nights (they have a special pay 4 stay 5 or pay 5 stay 7 nights). We are undecided about where to spend the first part of our trip (3 to 5 nights) and part of the reason is that I'm not clear on how difficult it will be to get from another resort to Matangi - I know some will be easier than others and this is where I'm looking for some advice. The resorts that I've considered will be lower end, in order to stay in budget. I'll list what I think I know as pros/cons from research, reading different posts on fodors/tripadvisor, etc...please correct me if I'm wrong or if I've missed anything important

1. Viwa or Navutu Stars:

Pro's: Adult only, Yasawa Islands have best beaches, this area will provide a good contrast to Matangi (ie: giving us 2 different "flavors" of Fiji), affordable, intimate/boutiquey (which is what we want)
Con's: harder and further to get to thus more expensive and time consuming

2. Tokoriki or Lomani:

Pro's: Because it's in Mamanuca Islands it has the potential for better weather, adult only, closer and easier to get to from Nadi airport and to Matangi, Lomani - 16 bures is a good size for us

Con's: beach is mediocre, Tokoriki - at 34 bures it's a bit bigger, price is abit more

3. Lalati:

Pro's: kids over 12 only, smaller/intimate property, Beqa Island might be easier closer to get to? (not sure about that), priced about like Tokoriki

Cons: I believe the beach at Lalati is not very good but i'm not sure about that. There's not much I can find about Lalati but from the website it looks nice.

4. Malolo: the travel agent suggested this one but we aren't interested in this one - it just doesn't look like what we are after. Somebody can correct me if I'm mistaken in ruling this one out.

Can those of you that know Fiji well, offer some advise/suggestions? My Q's are:

1. Which island would be best to pair with Matangi and....
2. Given that, which resort is nicest and best matches what we are looking for, in our budget?
3. If there's better options I've missed, please feel free to suggest them

ps - in FP we were considering Le Tahaa and Hilton Moorea or Vahine Island Resort. Not sure if that matters, but thought i'd throw that out there just as a point of reference.

Thank you,

Shelley

One other thing to note: the reason I'm thinking Matangi for the 2nd part of the trip, is that I think it will be nicer than the other resorts I've listed. That being said, I'd like to end the honeymoon with the best part of the trip. I don't want to start with the best and then downgrade as it will likely be a disappointment.

Hi All (again) - I would also like to throw out the idea of substituting Royal Duvau for Matangi. Thoughts/comments on that?

Hi All - I've not gotten a single response....I've noticed this forum doesn't seem to get much activity but I know many of you know Fiji very well so I"m hoping you can provide some direction/advice.

Thanks,

Shelley

I have no experience in this, but I am here to learn, because I am having my wedding this year too


Joe
http://lissabon.xyz/en

I've not been to Fiji so I cannot help. My friend went to Likuliku which she said was amazing.
I think you are overplanning and creating very high expectations of the holiday which then lead to some disappointment anyway.
Splitting your time between resort just makes your choice hard to make. You'll still be on Fiji so the scenery will not change!
Just pick somewhere, go there, drink wine on the beach and enjoy yourselves.

Hi Joe - I've gotten no responses on this forum. Try Tripadvisors forum. I found them to be very helpful. They are a more active forum and seem happy to help.

In the meantime, I've done extensive research myself too so drop me a private message on Tripadvisor's Fiji forum if you have any questions, I'll share what I know.

Shelley

Tasmangirl - FYI the islands in Fiji do vary and the scenery does change ( i.e.: Yasawa islands versus Taveuni)

Swanner
Google "Crusoes Retreat' on
Viti Levu If you are at all interested in beauty and isolation. It is about a 2 hour cab ride fro Nadi. I spent 5 days there and I believe it is the most beautiful place on earth I have ever seen.
Shrink

Shrink: Day late and a dollar short :)

Swanner posted this more than a year ago and hasn't been back on the forums since.