September 25, 2024

Happy Fiji time

Chiara Di AUSTRALIA & PACIFIC, TRAVEL Cloud 9, Fiji, Girls Trip, Malamala Beach Club, Mamamuca Islands, Wander 2 Comments

A recent girls trip island hopping Fiji’s Mamamuca Islands came at just the right time to beat the winter blues.

It wasn’t long before we were greeted with warm ‘Bulas’ and weather, and felt the presence of Fiji time. An easy cash-only taxi journey from the airport saw us checked-in at Hilton Fiji Beach Resort and Spa, for our overnight in Denarau, and at the pool bar in time for happy hour sunset drinks.

We went to Port Denarau for dinner at Cardo’s Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar which had a nice vibe with festoon lighting and plenty of choice. This was our first of many experiences with kokoda – a Fijian delicacy of cured walu fish (Spanish Mackerel) in a coconut, vinegar, lime and coriander sauce. I tried the seafood hot pot which was like a seafood pie with mashed potato and cheese on top – a bit heavy for me. Cardo’s was about as lively as the port got but I was all for an early night after my red eye flight.

The next morning, we took the complimentary transfer to port for our South Sea Cruises ferry departure to the Mamamuca Islands. Once you get your head around the ferry timetables, it’s quite easy to plan an island hop journey to both the Yasawa and Mamamuca islands, with the Mamamuca Islands being more conveniently located to port if you don’t want to overnight in Denarau on arrival and departure.

We took four ferries throughout our wander and we couldn’t fault the operations; they were like clockwork – always on time, had good relationships with the resorts and helped us and our luggage on and off safely. I had, however, never experienced having to hop off and on a ferry to and from a resort tender boat in the middle of the sea (even more of an experience when it was rough seas) – makes sense though, with the majority of islands being sand islands and the varying tides throughout the day.

On the two-hour journey to adult’s only Tropica Island Resort, we enjoyed a Fiji Bitter to toast to the start of our island hop. Our resort was called over the speaker and we met our tender in the middle of the sea. On arrival at the resort, we were warmly greeted by the staff playing, singing and waving flags to their welcome song. I loved how they say ‘welcome home’ like you are part of the family and recalled our names throughout. They also farewelled us when we left with a more sombre song.

Even though Malolo Island was quite a large island with several resorts, Tropica still felt exclusive through the surrounding landscapes and the bay it was located. The resorts are all quite small and intimate with Tropica only having 24 rooms – a mix of beachfront bures and set-back sanctuary rooms. Across from Tropica is a small private island supposedly owned by Google. On our second night, a super yacht arrived!

Island life was all about slowing down, disconnecting, hand-picking fresh coconuts (the staff running bare foot up and sliding down) and being on Fiji time. It was intriguing to see the comings and goings by resort tender each day – some guests even arriving by helicopter. The daily schedule of activities was delivered on a sheet or written on a communal board. And, there was only WiFi in the public areas (at Tropica and Beachcomber) which was so nice to fully disconnect.

We spent our days lounging by the pool and on hammocks, stand up paddle boarding, snorkelling around the many reefs, at the sunset happy hours, playing board and card games, and I even finished reading 250-pages of a book which is unheard of from me. Non-motorised equipment was complimentary with day trips including Malamala Beach Club and Cloud 9 additional and varying from FJD150-180, though the cost is to cover the return boat transfers.

At Tropica, we joined a snorkelling trip to two reefs guided by the staff. We were taken out to nearby garden and sand reefs to explore the colourful coral and marine life – there were much smaller fish to what we are used to in Australia.

Staying on the Mamamuca Islands also enables you to experience a number of day trips without being on the mainland, including Cloud 9, Seventh Heaven and Malamala Beach Club. We went to Cloud 9 – a floating bar in the middle of the sea – on the resort tender from Tropica. Unlucky for us, it was a rough afternoon at sea and we arrived drenched into what felt like a whirlpool.

We were given a few instructions and then found a spot to compose ourselves before it was time for cocktails and pizza – woodfired pizzas are the only food option aboard. The cocktails were the priciest of our whole trip but they sure were strong. We chilled, swam, danced and met some of the other day trippers doing all of the same things. The international DJ line up was no where to be seen but we made the most of the playlist of the day, and the experience is really about the people you are with. Thankfully we cruised back with less wind and calmer seas.

Staying on a larger island also meant the opportunity to visit a local village. Another paid experience offered by our resort for FJD90, we took a 15-minute boat ride to Solevu Village to experience local life and learnt about the family protocols. We saw the primary school, medical centre, chief’s home (head of the family), church, community hall and the local markets where a couple of jewellery pieces came home with me – freshwater pearls were only FJD10!

Happy hour sunset drinks at Tropica were accompanied by different bar snacks and themes each night. At our first happy hour we were greeted with karaoke and sure made our presence known – the resort staff enjoyed the energy our girls trip brought. It was here we also met our favourite staff member, Ana, who was always one step ahead with another round, photo taking queen and delightful in every way. The Tropicalada cocktail was the standout!

The dining at Tropica was my favourite amongst all stays with the menu changing daily. We dined on lots of seafood – more kokodas, seared walu fish, seared tuna tacos and a tempura prawn burger – plus Fijian-style chicken curry. The breakfast was an à la carte hot menu and continental buffet – the scrambled egg roti with coriander and chutney was my pick!

The evening schedule included live acoustic musicians, choir singing and a kava tasting which is meant to create a feeling of relaxation – it looked like muddy water and it tasted like dirt served in a coconut cup. The ritual is: You clap your hands, say “Bula”, drink it all in one go, clap your hands three times and say “Vinaka”.

We farewelled my bestie and her mum at Tropica and Em and I continued onto our next resort with South Sea Cruises. It was a one-hour journey to Beachcomber Island Resort, though the journey times can depend on which route you are on. Then it was two days of sand between the toes at this sand island.

The island was much quieter than expected with dorm and bure style accommodation. This meant a lot of solo, predominantly female travellers, who we spent time with along the way. We stayed in a beachfront bure and could hear the sounds of the waves crashing into the surrounding rocks all night – both therapeutic and sleep disruptive. This resort was inclusive of everything except beverages with meals served buffet style – it was giving school camp vibes. During dinner service, the staff would sing their welcome song and during breakfast their farewell song.

After dinner, the bar started the night with some sort of competition. Night one was karaoke where a teenager completely stole the show. Em and I sang a bit of Whitney which was laughable. The second night was a dancing competition and I was expecting a dance off but disappointingly it was a game of musical statues.

We went on a day trip to Malamala Beach Club which was a 25-minute boat ride from Beachcomber. We arrived to the long Instagram-worthy jetty surrounded by beautiful coral waters. We found some sun beds in the adult’s only section and it was a much chiller day to Cloud 9 and other beach club experiences I’ve had. Then it was cocktail time – the coconut cocktail was the highlight.

We went snorkelling straight off the beach and spotted purple star fish, a spotty slog fish and purple brain coral. We shared a seafood basket and salad for lunch – I’d been craving some veg – and explored more of the island before our transfer back.

It feels like you have so much time on Fiji time, I even had time for a date, with Beachcomber offering day trips from the mainland to give visitors a taste of island life. We took the snorkelling trip to nearby coral reefs (complimentary for in-house guests) and it was a great spot to snorkel – the coral was healthy and colourful and there were many large schools of small fish.

It was then onto our final island – a 15-minute journey to Serenity Island Resort. It took more time to tender out to the ferry on both sides but the ferries are a more cost-effective and comfortable option to the private resort transfers which are basic tender boats. Serenity was again a nicer resort with pathways instead of sand-ways and jungle like gardens. It was a small resort of 33 bures, 27 of which were beachfront with their own private hammock and beach access.

As our last stop and with only really one full day, we spent our time at Serenity quite chill. We did a morning walk around the perimetre of the island which took 20-minutes, followed by some pool and hammock time to finish my holiday read. We had saved our holiday massage for this stay and had pre-booked and paid it through the resort’s reservation WhatsApp team – they reach out to upsell you as soon as you book. It was disappointing to arrive at our appointment to find it was not booked in with the Spa team – it’s an outsourced business – and we are still waiting for a refund after numerous outreaches.

Happy hour sunset drinks at Serenity were hosted at Bella Vista Sunset Bar hut on the west side of the island, as the resort pool bar and restaurant don’t face the sunset. We enjoyed our final sunset and warmed up by the bonfire after. By our second night at the restaurant, it was clear it was running low on ingredients with supplies due to come from the mainland the next day – island things. We enjoyed more walu fish and tried rourou spinach, which was like a runny dip, with roti. There was live entertainment on both nights courtesy of the staff.

Before too long, we were taking a ferry back to Port Denarau for our return flight to Australia. It was a very happy Fiji time for me and travelling late August, we were blessed with gorgeous warm sunny days the whole time. I’d love to return to wander the Yasawa Islands, but until then, I will hold onto those ‘Bula’ memories.

Next up is a busy month of work and leisure wanders around Australia to see in the end of the year.

Until then…

LWL xxx