PHOTO: White sand beaches and palm trees are the official welcome mat to Fiji. (Photo courtesy ofThinkstock)
With a smile and a "Bula!", which means hello, Fiji's people welcome travelers to their beautiful white sandy beaches.
Once travelers are settled in, it might seem that the most common activity to do on the island is sit back and relax, but there really is so much going on it's hard to know where to start.
Ideally, the best place to start is with your vacation package. For example, Tahiti Legends offers many vacation packages that include a variety of activities and excursions. You can also choose many to visit and explore on your own.
With that in mind, here are eight must-sees to get you going:
Zip Through: Fiji is known for its exotic beauty and the best way to see it is by taking a zip line tour high above the island. Zip Fiji offers 2-1/2 hour breathtaking tours with ocean views and raintrees, followed by limestone cave walk-through explorations.
Fly High: If you still can't get enough of Fiji's splendor, take a helicopter tour to the island of Monuriki, the same island featured in the Tom Hanks' movie Castaway.
Enjoy the Sleeping Giant: Raymond Burr, star of the hit TV shows Perry Mason and Ironside, created The Garden of the Sleeping Giant in 1977, which is a beautiful orchid range of more than 2,000 different kinds of orchids. It was originally designed to house the actor's private collection, but ultimately became a big tourist attraction. The gardens showcase more than two thousand different kinds of orchids, covering 20 hectares. For an entry fee of just $10, you can wander through the lush and fertile plantation to your heart's content and the holiday shack which is next door.
READ MORE: Five Over-the Top Ways to Make Your Tahitian Dream Come True
Park Yourself: Kula Eco Park, on Fiji's largest island Viti Levu, is a small wildlife facility founded in 1997 on 28-acres in 3 valleys. Take a nature walk on one of the 12 acres that are open to visitors and see Fiji's bird, reptile and marine life. A walk-through enclosure lets the traveler see parrots, doves, water birds and reptiles.
Get in the water: You can't go to the Fiji islands without getting into that gorgeous blue water and there are many islands where you can enjoy a dip. Vanua Levu and the town of Savusavu, a more secluded area on Fiji, is renowned for diving and other water activities. The Nakagawa Waterfalls and the Tavoro Waterfalls are also great places to dive off rocks, swim or just relax. The Beqa Lagoon is also home to more than 100 dives sites and home to blue ribbon eels, ghost pipefish, seahorses, pelagics and more. Don't just float in the water, dive under with Jean-Michel Cousteau's dive team. You'll see coral heads close up and cruise Shark Alley.
Hunt crab: Fiji is the home of Lairo, a species of land crab that you can hunt and enjoy for a meal later. Want to know how to cook it up? Fiji is also home to many cooking classes, and culinary tours you can take to learn about the food of Fiji.
Heat it up! Beqa Island is home to the Sawau tribe, who originated the traditional art of fire-walking. You can also see some of Fiji's best fire and knife dancers on Robinson Crusoe Island, a small island off of Fiji's Viti Levu Island where there is also fishing and free snorkeling.
Go back in time: Learn a little history about the island you are visiting at The Fiji Museum, which holds treasures dating back 3,700 years and representing both Fiji's indigenous inhabitants and other communities that have settled in the island group over the past 100 years.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
