Yes, I am that type of person. I have signed up for who knows how many travel deal emails. I get tons of junk weekly, but when those pop in to my inbox they deserve a once over. And that’s how I got to Bequ Island, Fiji. Thank you Travel Zoo, for this one, the many others, and the many yet to come. I wonder how much money you have made off me?
We (myself, my 70 year old parents, and my boyfriend) headed to Fiji aboard Fiji Airways. While the people were friendly and the food was good, they did not have a Delta Economy Comfort, British Airways World Traveller Plus, or and American Premium Economy. Call me spoiled but I enjoy my extra 6 inches of knee space and 3 inches of additional recline on long transoceanic flights. And maybe they did have this option and I just missed it. Anyway, I was in the cattle section. Moo!
We landed in Nadi, Fiji where we had a driver waiting for us, to take us on the 3 hours van trip to the southern part of the main island where we would catch the boat (yes, boat, not ferry, not yacht) to transfer across to our resort on Bequ Island. I clarify the size of the boat because 1) it was pouring, 2) the ocean waves were quite large, and 3) it was a fair distance to travel under such circumstances. Thank you dramamine.
This is what the island looked like a few days later, NOT the day we arrived!
We “landed” on Bequ Island at the Lalati Resort and Spa, which was part of the package we had booked. The resort communication had been superb up to that point – the resort manager and the dive shop/activities director were awesome in preparing us for our arrival.
It was still raining upon arrival and we were all ready to basically dive off the boat to get to land, we still received an incredibly warm greeting from the local staff – many genuine smiles, a reception cocktail, and foot wash complete with massage.
We were ready to get our vacation started, and for the rain to end. We stayed 7 days and by day 3 we had sunshine and more sunshine. It was beautiful. There was a reef out a short distance from our shore and water activities were included – paddleboarding, sea kayaking, and crab racing. Ok, that wasn’t part of the water activities but it did take place and my crab Cangrejo and I did not win.
Sea snake off our beach after a kayak trip out to the other side of the island
We had a number of lazy days, pool and spa si de, massages 3 times (they were very cheap), went on a sunset cruise that was amazing, snorkeled, played cards, and of course spent time at the bar mingling with the other guests (it is a very small resort so you get to know everyone).
I also went scuba diving a few times, including doing a shark dive where a famed tiger shark frequently visited. Apparently my reputation precedes me and “Lady Joyce” (as she is known to the locals) decided to not show up. However, we saw thousands (I mean thousands) of fish, around 15 sharks (reef, black tipped, not sure what else), and this really cool eel who came out to say hello to me. It was my first experience with an underwater camera that was not a go pro (think big) so by the time I figured it out we were about 45 minutes in to the dive and getting ready to shortly go up.
The resort was mostly run by locals who live in a village right around the corner and walk to work. The people and their culture are very welcoming, friendly and happy. They wanted to share things about themselves and their culture which I appreciated. They would do anything they could to make sure our stay was enjoyable, which was the same for the non-local management.
I enjoyed my trip and Bequ Island. Its hard to say what the “best” part was – the tropical location and beauty, the water adventures, shark diving, or simply the rest and relaxation. While the rest and relaxation come in a close second, all in all the best “thing” about this trip was the people. Its funny how that happens time and time again, all over the world. Thank you Fijians for your graciousness and kindness!