Suva & latouka

Hi ,

We are cruising to fiji on our next cruise and visiting the subject ports.

It has been several years since we visited those ports and from memory they did not have much tour from the wharf.The ports looked a bit dodgy and I was wondering if anyone may have done their own thing in these ports...ans it it safe to do so.

The tours from the ship seema a bit limited and overpriced.

Many thanks

Col:)

Hi ,

 

We are cruising to fiji on our next cruise and visiting the subject ports.

 

It has been several years since we visited those ports and from memory they did not have much tour from the wharf.The ports looked a bit dodgy and I was wondering if anyone may have done their own thing in these ports...ans it it safe to do so.

 

The tours from the ship seema a bit limited and overpriced.

 

Many thanks

 

Col:)

There are always several tours offered on the dock at Suva. Alternatively you could get a taxi. Usual price after negotiation is about AUD$20 per hour, although with the drop in the AUD, maybe it would be a bit more. You would just need to know where you want to go. If there are only two of you (not a family) a tour might be the best way to go. I can recommend the Arts Village show. It is 45 minutes drive each way from the wharf so you see some of the countryside.

I can't help you with Lautoka because we haven't docked there for several years. The ships we have cruised on have gone into Port Denarau.

In Lautoka (Jan 13) there was a stand with the tourism authority or something running various tours. We picked up a minivan (7 of us) and spent the day at the Sheraton Resort on Denarau Island. I had mixed answers from the resort about being allowed to visit so we just rocked up and plonked ourselves. had no problems and was easily able to set up a tab at the bar for lunch and drinks.

Hi ,

 

We are cruising to fiji on our next cruise and visiting the subject ports.

 

It has been several years since we visited those ports and from memory they did not have much tour from the wharf.The ports looked a bit dodgy and I was wondering if anyone may have done their own thing in these ports...ans it it safe to do so.

 

The tours from the ship seema a bit limited and overpriced.

 

 

Many thanks

 

Col:)

We enjoyed pottering around Suva on our own. There is a fresh produce market right next to the dock. Opposite that are shops, including a supermarket, then further along there was a department store with a food court on the top level with a Gloria Jeans coffee shop.

We just wandered through the town down to the Government Buildings and the beautiful old Grand Pacific Hotel where we treated ourselves to a very nice lunch.

We never felt unsafe walking around Suva and people were very friendly.

There isn't much risk to your safety, but don't have a wallet obviously in a pocket that can be picked. You probably have as much (or probably less) chance of something being stolen than you would in some European cities. I haven't heard of people being mugged in Fiji.

We were in Lautoka last March/April and the set up by the local tourism people on the dock was very well done. You could pick them out from the ship they were dressed quite distinctively (bright blue shirts with white flowers I think from memory). Once you got off the ship there were representatives waiting, you walked towards one and they walked you, past all the smaller operators, to their tent.

Once there they had an excellent line up of local tour operators, which I image would be reputable as the Tourist Authority would not be touting them, with tours for you to choose. We chose the tour of the local orchid garden which we thoroughly enjoyed. They sat us on some chairs to the side to wait our bus and once it was ready someone came over and escorted us to the bus.

We were really quite impressed on how smoothly it all went. Also at all times they were very friendly and cheery. At the end of the day as they were all clearing up and the ship was leaving they stood on the dock and waved us all goodbye.