372. Travel diary. Fiji.

Waya 

This place was paradise and a lot more upscale than the last resort. Staying at octopus bay resort we were greeted with cocktails and walking through the restaurant where the floor was made up of soft soft sand. With more of a couples retreat and family vibe we were definitely out of place. Setting us back $99 for the meal plan and $35 for the dorm, it's affordable if your on holiday not so much if backpacking. We spent our day sunbathing and chilling by the sea in a hammock admiring the stunning view. Life wasn't bad to say the least. In he evening they gave a show of the traditional Fijian dances and got everyone involved at the end doing some sort of crazy conga.

Beachcomber

Known as the party Island, it was also a very small one. You could walk round the whole island in 10 minutes. With a definite young vibe, our dorms were 32 bed. However it was super clean and lockers were provided. They also gave you a towel and changed it everyday as well as your bed sheets. This was one of my favourite islands due to the fact snorkelling  was free. They gave you the gear and took you out on the boat for no extra price, which was amazing. I got to see nemo, rainbow fish and flander. So cool. They also provided free wifi, which none of the other islands did too! Come evening they definitely like to get the party going with some more Fijian dancing, this time with machetes and fire. Followed by all of us taking party in the limbo. Proud to say I did pretty well haha. With drinks being fairly reasonably priced I would still advise to bring your own (hide it as they confiscate it) as it seems to be a bit watered down. Don't be tempted by the frozen cocktails if you want to get drunk because there's only 15 shots of vodka put in the whole tank...

Dancing went on to the early hours and I finally dragged myself into bed waking up with a nasty hangover. We decided to stay an extra night as it was only $99 a night for everything. We even got fresh eggs and baked beans at breakfast!

Mana

On our last stop around the islands we went to stay at the ritu Kini resort. This was probably one of the most basic grottiest places I stayed at so far. The one reason we stayed here is because it didn't have a meal plan! However there are still no shops to buy food...luckily we packed some noodles with us as on our super tight budget we couldn't really afford to it. The dorms were super basic, and the showers needed a clean. We saw a cockroach one night, pretty grim. However the beaches were insane, and we rented out snorkelling gear and walked to the other side of the island to check it all out. It was so beautiful. Empty and desolate, we had the beach all to ourselves. So stunning. We had three days of pure relaxation and bliss. The resort even have us dinner for free one night. Really was in paradise.

Top tips for fiji

- when booking the islands read all the small print 99% have meal plans.

- take water and snacks with you from mainland as one bottle of water will cost $7 whereas you can get 8 bottles for that price.

- bring your own snorkelling gear if you can. Will save you money.

- don't bother with mainland, there's really not much there.

- when on the islands refill the bottle with the massive rainwater tanks, you'll see them dotted around. This is what the locals will drink but not tell you about unless asked.

- take a mosquito net, this was my best friend.