Waya Island, Fiji

I started my trip in Fiji by heading straight to the famed Yasawa Islands, picking Waya Island to stay at. I hopped on the catamaran there and spent two nights at a place called Octopus Resort. Even finding the best deals I could, Fiji was a bit of a splurge, but absolutely worth it. Waya is in the middle of nowhere and the resort had a beach of its own, complete with palm trees hanging out towards the ocean. The internet cost $24 an hour. It seemed a bit steep. The Fijians are beyond friendly and have everyone returning their shouts of "Bula!" (which means hello) and I can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it every time. They had beach volleyball, snorkeling, hikes to Fijian villages, lots of reading, and plenty of fun people to pass the time with at the resort. And I couldn't believe the stars! On one really clear night, we could see every single star in the sky so clearly with the Milky Way clear and everything. I've been in the city so long I had forgotten what a real night sky looks like. Here are a few pictures I took on Waya Island:

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Details:

Spokane to Nadi: Three stops. First Spokane to Salt Lake City, then Salt Lake City to Los Angeles on Delta Air. Then, Air Pacific is the only carrier that flies Los Angeles to Nadi. I had to leave the domestic terminal and walk along the sidewalk down to the international terminal. LAX is roughly U-shaped at at the curve of the U is the international terminal. You have to find your desk, check in, and then take your bag to the entrance of the terminal to have it X-rayed and delivered to the airplane. Upon arrival at Nadi, you go through the expected customs, get your passport stamps, then you are out with the masses of tourist agencies trying to seduce you with their offers. Since I knew I wanted to go to the Yasawa and Mamuca island groups, I booked an open ticket (hop on and off as many times as you like for a select amount of days) "Bula Pass" with Awesome Adventures Fiji, the only boat service in the islands not connected with a specific resort. I booked it online, costing me $181. Their timetables are here. The pass makes it fairly easy to island hop and the resorts are very good about getting their guests to the boats on time. Anyways, Awesome Adventures will provide a shuttle from the airport if you let them know in advance. You just have to walk out of the airport, out along the road that leads into the airport (a left turn as you walk out) and cross the highway to the bus stop outside of Raffles Gateway Hotel. It is about a 2-3 min walk. From there they herd you to Port Denaru and onto your correct boat. A little bit later, the boats leave for the respective islands. I took the yellow Yasawa Flier on that first day out to Waya Island. The resorts mostly don't have docks so they pick you up in little boats a little bit offshore. Octopus Resort on Waya Island has all types of accommodation, ranging from dorms to beach condos. The prices are typical of Fiji and a good deal, all options also have a mandatory $29 extra charge per day for food, making the price of the dorm $49 a night. The price doesn't include hardly any activities (only barring the walks to the nearby village), so expect to spend more if you want to do cool things, although truthfully, I found that the snorkeling just offshore was great and the views from the village walk awesome just themselves, though they have dive trips, other snorkel sights, sunset cruises, etc (my review of Octopus Resort). The Yasawa Flier will take you back in the afternoon.