Falling in love with Fiji: Barefoot Island.

Just three hours on the Yasawa Flyer, and you'll find yourself stepping onto the beautiful Barefoot Island to the soundtrack of the traditional Fijian 'welcome song'. Barefoot Island is everything you imagine Fiji to be: deserted white sandy beaches, clear turquoise seas, coral abundant with fish ever colour of the rainbow and sunshine. Lots and lots of sunshine.

Barefoot Island has two beaches about 100 metres apart: sunrise and sunset. This means you can follow the sun throughout the day, watching it rise over the horizon on one side of the island, and drink sundowners in the beach bar as you see it dip down the other side of paradise.

Accommodation
We stayed in a 4 bed 'bure' right on the beach. Clean, comfortable and private, it was pretty perfect. Cracks in the shutters gave us views over sunrise beach, and the cooling evening winds kept the mossys away. Toilets and showers were just across the path but were well lit in the evenings and hot water was available 24/7.

Food
Fresh fruit, pancakes and coffee are on the menu every morning in the simple continental breakfast  buffet. At lunch you'll sit down to a pasta based meal, that's pretty bloody tasty but a little carb-heavy for mid-day; request gluten free if you struggle like us. The evenings were the culinary highlight, with a three course, al-a-carte meal served every night in the beachside restaurant.

Soup to start, then mains including chicken curry and beef stir-fry. For afters there is always cake, and who doesn't love cake. Happy hours take place every day from 6pm, and you can get afternoon tea (which is literally just tea and coffee) at 4pm in the restaurant every day.

Activities
The staff on Barefoot Island were literally the friendlies people I've ever met; always bending over backwards to help and so keen to make sure everyone is having the best time. Barefoot is small though, so activities are limited, but the island runs a programme every day so there is always something to do.

The snorkelling was top notch. Hire your equipment from the shop for $5 per half-day and swim from one beach, round the headland, to the other side. It's beautiful.
A brief 20 minute hike into the island's jungle and you'll find yourself at a pretty impressive viewpoint, overlooking manta ray island opposite.
Every day the dive team offer 'pool splash' opportunities for those that are keen to try out diving but unable to afford the full course.

We got kitted up in all the gear and paddled around in the shallows of the beach for a half an hour; it was great fun. Harder than I thought it would be, and clearly not something that someone with a lung condition should be doing. But, I'm glad we tried it.
Volleyball matches are played every day at 5.30pm, and you can join the sunset tubing if you fancy a drink on the water.

We loved Barefoot; it was where our love affair with Fiji started. The people, the place, the food, it was top-notch and I can't recommend it enough.

Where to go and what to take to Fiji.

Booking our 8 night trip to Fiji was so much more difficult than we ever imagined it would be. After attempting to organise the trip ourselves, we reached out to one travel agent who seemed to be helping us but wasn't, really, in the end. We finally met an agent we trusted who had been in Fiji the previous month, and after a couple of hours in Happy Travels, Queenstown, were able to plan our trip to paradise. 

Where to go?

Fiji is a tiny country, spread out across hundreds of Islands in the windy Pacific. There's two main airports: Nadi and Suva. Most backpackers and holiday makers fly to Nadi and head to the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands out of Port Denarau. Each island has a different vibe, offers different accommodation and food and is a different distance from the mainland: Beachcomber is known to be a party island, Manta-ray is awesome for snorkelling, you can shark snorkel off Wayalailai or visit south sea for the day just a half hour out of Nadi.

How to travel?

These Islands are serviced by two catamarans: the Yasawa Flyer with Awesome  Adventures or South Sea Cruises. The only way to get access to the Islands is by buying a Bula Pass through either. 

Options:

Bula Pass.

A bula pass allows you unlimited boat travel between the Islands, starting from 3 days. The longer you're staying, the more you pay. Accommodation can then be booked separately directly with the resort. 

Pros: you have complete control over your accommodation with no ties and can up and down grade, extend and shorten stays as you see fit

Cons: accommodation books fast so you might end up sleeping on a beach with an empty stomach. Also, single nights in resorts can end up costing a lot so research this option extensibly before you  buy.

Bula combo pass.

A bula combo pass works the same as the bula pass, however it also includes your accommodation and food on the Islands.

Pros: everything is paid for (most of the time), and you don't need to worry about booking beds as-hoc. 

Cons: the pass is pretty pricey, so it's a large outgoing. Also, some of the Islands have an additional premium to be paid on departure ($75 on Bounty!) so watch out for that.

Full Monty packages.

These are pre-planned trips varying in length that can be booked through awesome adventures. Everything is included: your accommodation, your food and a load of activities on each island.

Pros: the only thing you need to pay for is booze. 

Cons: there's no freedom; you have to stick to the itinerary, which can mean you miss stops you wanted to make or have to leave somewhere sooner than you'd like. Also, the activities are cheap on the Islands; we were unsure whether you really needed the full Monty package. 

What to take?

- Water is mostly drinkable on the Islands, but can taste really odd and we did hear stories about upset stomachs. You can buy it on the Islands but it's expensive; about $5 a bottle. We might have looked completely ridiculous lugging 6 litres of water each onto the boats and across the Islands, but we didn't go thirsty the whole trip and didn't spend a fortune on water: 6 litres cost a just $6 each on the mainland. 

- Booze. Drinks are the only thing you'll really spend money on while you're on the Islands, apart from activities, so stock up for cheap in land if you're planning to be as intoxicated as we were for the trip. Happy hours are available on each island, but it's worth it.

- Bug spray. You'll be bitten alive on beachcomber, but other Islands vary. Take it, just in case.

- Mask and snorkel. Some Islands offer this for free, but others charge so if you're a keen snorkeller it's worth buying your own. 

- A camera, with a spare battery. You'll want to photograph Fiji to within an inch of it's life. 

Now, relax as hard as you like. 

L, L & A. X