For queer and allied travelers thinking about Fiji
Find the Fiji resort that actually fits your trip
Every Fiji resort I’ve talked to says it’s beautiful and that everyone’s welcome. What’s harder to find out is which one suits the two of you, or the two of you plus the grandkids, and how you’ll be treated once you’re there. I’ve asked those questions, and I’ll tell you which resort I’d start with for your trip.
I’m a Fiji Bronze Specialist, trained through Tourism Fiji’s program for travel advisors.
The roadshow
What I asked every resort in the room
When Tourism Fiji brought its roadshow to Seattle in October, I spent the day going table to table with resorts, Fiji Airways, a ground operator and Tourism Fiji itself. I took one question to every table: how are queer couples actually treated there? Then I went home and did Tourism Fiji’s specialist training.
I haven’t been to Fiji yet, and after that day I really want to go! What I can give you is what I asked and what they told me, and I know who to go back to when your trip needs a straight answer.
Before you book
Is Fiji right for you?
Inside the resorts, the answer I got was the same everywhere: queer guests are welcome. Outside them, Fiji is more conservative, and village visits come with a modest dress code for every visitor, so that’s the time to keep affection low-key. Fiji also doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage, so it works for a honeymoon or an anniversary but not for the wedding itself.
I wrote up what the resorts and Tourism Fiji told me in Two beds or one? What Fiji’s resorts told me about queer couples.
Resorts
Where I’d start, depending on who’s coming
These are the resorts I’d look at first for each kind of trip. Prices change with the season and whatever offers are running, so I’ll price your dates when we talk.
Just the two of you
I’d start at Likuliku Lagoon Resort, in the Mamanuca Islands west of the main island. It’s adults only (17 and up), it has bures built over the water, and three meals a day are included. It’s also owned by a Fijian family. If you’d rather be somewhere smaller and further out, Matangi Private Island, in the north near Taveuni, takes guests 16 and up and has bures up in the trees. All meals are included there too, and drinks are extra.
With the kids
I’d start at Malolo Island Resort, Likuliku’s sister resort on the same island. Its kids club is free for ages 4 to 12, and its family bures sleep up to seven. If you want more included, VOMO has its own private island, a free kids club for ages 3 to 12, and up to four hours a day with a Baby Butler at no charge for families with a child under four. Meals and non-alcoholic drinks are included.
Grandparents and grandkids together
Shangri-La Yanuca Island is a family resort with a kids club, and it has an adults-only Reef Wing (16 and up) with canapés and cocktails every day. The grandparents get an adults-only wing and the kids get the club, and everyone’s at the same resort.
If you dive
Volivoli Beach Resort is a family-owned dive resort at the northern tip of the main island, near Rakiraki, with its own dive center, Ra Divers, on site. The team told me the boats leave early and are back by mid-afternoon, so if only one of you dives, the other has the resort mostly to themselves. Kids can certify as open water divers from 12. When I asked how queer couples are treated, they told me they’ve hosted rainbow dive groups and that some of their own staff are gay.
Ultra luxe
Wakaya Island Resort & Spa is a private island with ten bures and two villas, and it welcomes all ages. All meals and snacks are included, and so is the 35-minute private flight from Nadi. Drinks are extra.
How it works
What planning Fiji with me looks like
It starts with a complimentary fifteen-minute call, with nothing to prepare, so we can find out whether I’m the right person for what you have in mind. If we go ahead, I send you a set of questions and then we have a longer conversation, about forty-five minutes. The planning investment is agreed before I start any work, so it never comes as a surprise.
For Fiji that means the flights, the resort and the transfer out to the island, which might be a boat, a helicopter or a small plane depending on where you’re staying. There’s no nonstop from Seattle. Fiji Airways flies nonstop from Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Once your trip is booked, you’ll hear from me by email before you leave, when you get home, and once more after that to follow up.
Is a travel agent free?
Not completely, and I’d rather be upfront about it. The hotels, resorts and cruise lines pay a commission on what I book, and that covers the booking itself. My planning investment pays for the work of putting the trip together, and it runs from $250 to $750 depending on how many of you are traveling, how many places you’re going and how custom the trip is. It’s separate from the cost of the trip, paid before I start and non-refundable.
Next
Start with a call
When you’re ready to start on Fiji, the first step is that free fifteen-minute call.
You don’t need dates or a resort picked yet. Bring whatever you have and we’ll work from there.