Fiji’s Coral Coast is ideal for first-timers and regulars alike

Feel your shoulders drop as you’re serenaded with guitar melodies, enjoy dinner by lantern light, snorkel and dive coral-filled waters and watch your worries float away from a hammock strung between palm trees.

Before you know it, the Fijian’s infectious approach to life will rub off on you and you’ll have slowed down a notch or two. Your holiday starts at the airport where visitors are welcomed with a ukulele band as they pass through immigration. You simply cannot help but smile.

For many of us, Covid-19 has kept us away from Fiji’s palm-fringed shores – others are yet to make the journey. The world’s friendliest nation eagerly waits to welcome back travellers. So, kick off the shoes and slip into Fiji time.

Fiji offers more than 330 islands, many uninhabited, including the main island of Viti Levu. All Fiji holidays begin on the main island (Big Viti), the jumping-off point for the outer islands.

Ease your way back into international travel by taking an easy road trip south to the Coral Coast, a two-hour drive from Nadi.

The Coral Coast wraps around the southwestern corner of Viti Levu’s coastline and offers one of the largest fringing coral reefs in the world. It has 80 kilometres of beaches, bays, rocky outcrops, mangrove forests, lush vegetation and traditional Fijian villages. It’s the chance to see the real Fiji away from the well-worn tourist trail to Denarau and the Mamanuca Islands.

Leave your worries behind as you check in to this award-winning resort – the welcome bellow of “Bula, bula, bula from the gateman ringing in your ears. Fronting an inviting beach, the Outrigger lies a short distance from the colourful market town of Sigatoka and the mighty Sigatoka River where locals still dive for prawns and mussels and kids ride bili bili rafts downstream.

Fiji’s first five-star resort set the benchmark when it first opened in 2000. Designed like a traditional Fijian village, its 207 rooms and 47 garden and beachfront bures are set in 16 hectares of lush, manicured gardens which roll down to the sandy shores of a reef-fringed lagoon.

Meandering paths lined by swaying palm trees lead guests to contemporary, air-conditioned rooms and thatched bures with vaulted masi bark-lined ceilings and luxurious double hammocks. A “Talai” (butler) service is offered for guests staying in bures and deluxe ocean view rooms while the resort runs an excellent community outreach program (more on that later).

For families, there’s a complimentary kids’ and supervised teens program while its brilliant trademark Meimei nanny service is available for babies from six months old. You’ll be hard-pressed to keep your kids away.

There are also six restaurants and bars, a fitness centre, retail outlets, a vast lagoon swimming pool and an adults-only pool, tennis court, watersports centre and much, much more.

Weary travellers will want to get acquainted with the incredible Bebe Spa Sanctuary while specific adults-only zones including the hilltop Kalo Kalo Bar keep everyone happy.

Bures sit among the resort’s verdant tropical gardens with traditional thatched roofing, glass louvres and small verandahs with bench seats and hammock swings. King-sized beds are dressed in white linen and sprinkled daily with red hibiscus or frangipani while butlers deliver canapes and sparkling wine each afternoon. The resort’s superior resort-view rooms are a generous 47 square metres, however, the pick are the beachfront bures with their dress-circle position fronting the lagoon.

When it comes to dining there’s not a lot on offer outside the resort but thankfully plenty of choice on site. Enjoy breakfast at Vale Ni Kana – a vast open-air bure – or at the adults-only Vahavu Bistro featuring a 20-metre lap pool, 35-metre lagoon pool, expansive sundeck and a swim-up bar. There’s also Baravi by the main pool and the signature and award-winning Ivi Restaurant (named after a towering 100-year-old ivi tree) where old-school gueridon-style dishes are served at the table. A guest favourite is the Sundowner Bar and Grill where true to its name, diners have front-row seats to nature’s spectacular nightly show. Be prepared to down cutlery mid-meal to race outside for that perfect sunset shot.

Outrigger offers one of the most authentic and quintessential Fiji resort experiences without having to travel to the outer islands. And just beyond the resort is the chance to see a whole other side of Fiji.

Sitting atop a 100-metre ridge is a fortified village at the Tavuni Hill Fort. It features remnants of ancient house foundations, a sacrificial stone and even human remains. Across from the Outrigger the Kula Wild Adventure Park breeds two types of Fijian iguanas, colourful native birds and turtles. It offers a fun splash park and the chance to interact with animals.

Also nearby are the incredible Sigatoka Sand Dunes. These rugged and impressive sand dunes – Fiji’s first dedicated national park – are one of the country’s natural wonders and rich in archaeological history. Located west of Sigatoka, the dune system’s 650 hectares offer a fun day’s exploration.

Another must on the Coral Coast is an off-road cave safari with Sigatoka River Safaris. Participants on this adventurous tour wade through knee-deep water by hurricane lantern through Naihehe Cave, Fiji’s largest cave system. Deep inside the 170-metre cave remains a gruesome reminder of Fiji’s cannibal past – a cannibal oven, a ritual platform and a sacred priest chamber.

After getting out and seeing how the locals live and play, return for sundowners and another memorable tropical sunset. Ah Fiji, you had me at “Bula”.

Swap the sun lounge and margarita for a wheelbarrow, paint, sandpaper or time in the classroom as part of Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort’s community project at Conua District School. Rolling up your sleeves has an enormous impact on the rural school located behind Sigatoka and will stay with you long after you’re back at the desk.

School visits are organised according to guests’ interests and donations of stationery, books or sporting equipment are welcome. Your reward? Songs of gratitude sung by the students and smiling, happy faces. The outreach program includes transportation, lunch and a visit to the Tavuni Hill Fort.

Fly: Qantas’s Around the Word Sale is offering fares from Sydney to Nadi for $569 return. Sale ends August 5, 2022.

When: Fiji has a mild tropical climate. From May-October the weather is often best, with little rain. From November to April it can be hot and humid with tropical downpours.

Documents: Fiji now offers quarantine-free travel to fully vaccinated travellers. You’ll need to show evidence of your vaccination (for all travellers aged 16 years and older) and travel insurance documentation. Pre-book an in-country rapid antigen test at entrytestfiji.gov.fj.

Stay: A 5-night packaged stay at the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort available from $1,089 per person. Click here to book.

Tour: Book at fijiwild.com; sigatokariver.com; nationaltrust.org.fj

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