Best Time of Year to Visit Fiji

About the author, Michael Cottam Founder of Visual Itineraries, Michael lives in Bend, Oregon. He's an avid traveler, scuba diver, photographer, and a private pilot, and also the founder of Bright Yonder, which offers marketing tools to travel agents. He's been to Fiji, Thailand, Vietnam, Seychelles, Kenya, France, England, New Zealand, Jamaica, Belize, Costa Rica, Turks & Caicos, British Virgin Islands, Mexico, and the major islands in French Polynesia. He's been in Rotary for 23 years, currently on the board of the Greater Bend Rotary Club. Here's his LinkedIn and Pinterest.

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• Compare islands
• Airfare by month
• Travel specials
• See all resorts in Fiji
• Temperature by month
• Precipitation by month
• What's a "bure"?
• Storms in Fiji
• Scuba diving & snorkeling
• Map of all resorts & islands

Fiji is a tropical paradise...with weather to match! This luscious country is blessed with natural beauty both on the land and under the water.

Fiji wholesalers--and many of the resorts themselves--are very active when it comes to special offers, discounts, extra inclusions, etc., and so these kinds of deals are changing all the time. Most websites aren't able to keep those specials up to date--there's just too many of them, and they're changing and expiring all the time. At Visual Itineraries, we track the offers from the major wholesalers daily, and our specialists have tools that show them all the available offers and discounts for a particular property instantly.

TRAVEL SPECIAL: Tokoriki Island Resort

Traditional Wedding Ceremony From $2,498 USD

All Bures and Villas are enveloped in lush tropical gardens and positioned by the beach front, providing guests with a front row seat for that romantic South Pacific sunset. Experience Fijian culture with a visit to the local village, learn to dive, indulge in a decadent Spa treatment, or simply soak up the sun by the horizon edge pool.

Tokoriki Island Resort offers an authentic experience of Fiji. The friendly and accommodating staff are your hosts and their genuine hospitality is memorable to say the least.

Learn more about Tokoriki Island Resort

Tokoriki Island Resort is famous for being the most romantic resort in Fiji and is the current TripAdvisor #1 Resort for Romance. Our child-free environment provides peace and quiet for couples to escape and reconnect. Tokoriki is perfect for honeymoons, anniversaries, renewal of vows, proposals & elopements.

Inclusions:
Chapel • Marriage Licence fee • Ceremony by Minister • Tokoriki wedding certificate cylinder • Floral welcome in your Bure or Villa on arrival and at turndown on wedding night • Table flower arrangement • Traditional flower leis • Bridal bouquet • Fijian choir • Traditional Fijian warrior escorts for the bride • Flower girls in traditional Fijian dress • Decorated wedding cake for two • Toast – a bottle of French Champagne Moet & Chandon (or similar) • Wedding dinner – oceanfront candlelit dinner including a bottle of Moet & Chandon (or similar) • Tokoriki ‘Memory’ gift • Room Service breakfast with a bottle of Moet & Chandon (or similar)

See our complete list of travel specials for the islands of Fiji.

See & compare all resorts in the Fiji islands

If you're trying to decide where to stay in the Mamanucas, Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, the Yasawas, or any of the other islands, we can help! For the 80 resorts there, we've got over 1,000 high-resolution photos, 62 videos, and even some virtual tours to help you find your perfect Fijian bure. Click here to use our Visual Explorer to check out all of them.

You're going to fly into Nadi (pronounced "Nandi"), which is one of the two main cities in Fiji (the other being Suva). Both of these cities are on the main island of Viti Levu. The tourist areas on this island where the hotels are are the Coral Coast, and Denarau Island. Here, you'll mostly find traditional multi-room hotels, which are less expensive in general than the island resorts, and tend not to have separate bures.

The Mamanucas (pronounced "Mamanoothas") are the chain of islands that starts just off the west coast at Nadi, and curves around to the northwest. This is where you'll find many islands resorts with beach bures (including Liku Liku, which has overwater bures). Some of these islands have just one resort on the entire island; some have 2 or 3. These islands are easy (and inexpensive) to get to via a quick boat shuttle from Nadi, and tend to be moderately priced. Great snorkeling and scuba diving is very close by on the Malolo Barrier Reef.

Just north of the Mamanucas is the Yasawa island chain. These islands have just a few resorts, very high-end, with lots of privacy, stunning beaches, and very small numbers of guests per resort. One of my favorites there is Yasawa Island Resort.

Fiji's second largest island is Vanua Levu, which sits to the northeast of Viti Levu. It's far enough away that you'll need to take an island hopper flight out to your resort. It's very popular with scuba divers, and in fact Jacques Cousteau's son Jean-Michel Cousteau has a fantastic resort there, called Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort. The Somosomo Strait, which separates Vanua Levu and the smaller island Taveuni, has many world-class dive sites. Namale and Koro Sun are two of the other more notable resorts on Vanua Levu.

Taveuni is popular with divers for the same reason Vanua Levu is--proximity to the fantastic soft coral gardens and walls in the Somosomo Strait. Here, be sure to check out Laucala, Matangi, and Qamea.

Beqa (pronounced "Benga") Lagoon is well known for shark diving--but, you don't have to be a diver to enjoy this area, as the islands nearby (including Beqa Island itself) are home to some fantastic 5-star resorts, such as Lalati and Royal Davui.

Namale Resort & Spa has this cool list of interesting facts about Fiji.

TRAVEL SPECIAL: Matamanoa Island Resort

Matamanoa Island Resort 5 nights from 1,285 per person

Matamanoa Island is an intimate and secluded Fijian Resort. We are set in the beautiful Mamanuca Islands of Fiji approximately 30 kilometres west of the Nadi International Airport.

One Island – One Resort. With only 47 rooms, Matamanoa is for those who dream of peace and tranquillity. Come ashore and experience a true gift of nature. Matamanoa is 4-star deluxe adults only with a minimum age to visit of 16 years.

Learn more about Matamanoa Island Resort

Set among tropical gardens and close to all amenities the Resort Rooms are always popular. Traditional wooden art and carvings have been used in the Resort Rooms to give you a true sense of Fiji.

Typical airfares from LAX to Nadi, Fiji

Airfares vary by season, but also day of week, and are definitely affected by holidays. The chart above shows the typical minimum and maximum fares for a economy class ticket from Los Angeles (LAX) to Nadi International Airport, by month. We gathered this data in June 2016 from FareCompare.com.

TRAVEL SPECIAL: Royal Davui

Royal Davui Island Resort 5 nights from 7,560 per person

Royal Davui Island is an adults-only barefoot luxury Fijian resort. Just 16 exquisitely appointed private Vales nestle around 10 acres of lush tropical landscape. At Royal Davui you will enjoy the best of both worlds: genuine care and warmth with staff calling you by name, in addition to the privacy and freedom to be secluded in your own tropical oasis. With spa treatments designed by Pure Fiji, private plunge pools in every villa and easy access from Nadi airport are just a few of the extra touches that make Royal Davui Fiji Island Resort special and unique.

Learn more about Royal Davui

Redefining laid-back luxury, Royal Davui offers 16 exquisitely appointed and air-conditioned vales (Fijian home) that are created with couples in mind, with private terraces, stone plunge pools and views of white sand beaches over sapphire waters.

Best time of year to go to Fiji

If you're coming from North America, you should try to set out between late April to early June, or late July through August, due to decreased fares on Air Pacific and Air New Zealand. June to October are the coldest and driest months in Fiji. Cyclone season runs from November to April. Hotels and resorts offer low prices in February and March as most are vacant.

Average temperatures in Fiji

From May through November, Fiji's winter, temperatures are warm during the day--around 80 degrees Fahrenheit--and cooler at night and in the early mornings. During the summer rainy season from November through April, temperatures can reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit with late afternoon showers. Fiji offers a tropical climate with higher humidity and rain during the summer and lower temperatures with dry air in the winter. However, the winds cause climate variances from island to island. Speak with your travel specialist about weather around your resorts.

TRAVEL SPECIAL: Matangi Private Island Resort

Island Wedding Package $1500 USD + tax

Matangi Private Island Resort is a family owned and operated resort, on a 240-acre private island, located in the lush tropical northern part of the Fiji Islands.

This unique horseshoe-shaped island paradise boasts virgin tropical rainforest and white sand beaches. It's no surprise that it was voted in
Islands Magazine as one of the "Top 10 Private Islands in the World" and also featured in "1,000 Places to See Before You Die", by Patricia Schultz.

Learn more about Matangi Private Island Resort

Celebrate your love at Matangi Island. A tropical private island paradise in Fiji that inspires romance. Enjoy your wedding in Fiji with an intimate beach ceremony and sand beneath your feet. With tropical palm fronds overhead, and the crystal blue South Pacific ocean before you, what could be more perfect than your Fiji wedding day on a private island in Fiji?

Package Includes:
- Marriage license registration – District Office, Taveuni Island (week days only)
- Methodist Minister to preside over the wedding
- Personalised service of our wedding coordinator
- Decorated venue
- Floral leis for the bride, groom and two witnesses
- Bouquet for the bride
- A cappella choir
- Bottle of champagne for wedding toast at completion of the ceremony
- Wedding cake – single tier
- Private beachside candlelit dinner with special menu
- Romantic floral turn-down service
- 60 Minute massage

What's a Bure?

A bure is technically the Fijian word for a wood and straw hut. In traditional Fijian culture, there was a vale, which was the "family house", and then separate bures for the men to meet, eat and sleep.

Today, you'll find any kind of detached bungalow referred to as a bure. With the exception of the main island of Viti Levu, you'll find that nearly all resort accommodations in Fiji are bures (the main island has a number of more traditional multi-room hotels).

Bures come in a number of "flavors": beachfront, garden, and even overwater bures (at Likuliku). And Matangi has a romantic Treehouse Bure, as does Koro Sun Resort.

TRAVEL SPECIAL: Likuliku Lagoon Resort

Likuliku Lagoon Resort 5 nights from 4,510 per person

Likuliku Lagoon Resort is a haven of subtle luxury for adults only and reserved exclusively for guests in-residence at the resort. A wilderness island retreat, it is the first and only resort in Fiji with authentic over water-bures, in a natural ocean lagoon, surrounded by a protected marine sanctuary. It is a unique and special place amidst a pristine environment, designed with integrity to Fijian cultural values, traditional designs and architecture, and is embraced by the renowned warmth of the Fijian people.

Learn more about Likuliku Lagoon Resort

All meals including breakfast, lunch and dinner (food only – alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks not included)
Welcome refreshment and exclusive Likuliku Lei on arrival
Likuliku Sulu (sarong/wrap)
Complimentary bottled water
Likuliku special amenities
Complimentary use of non-motorised water sports and activities including snorkeling equipment
Free WiFi (in all bures and in limited public areas – note: video streaming limited)
Weekly Management Cocktail Party (Fridays only) with traditional Fijian “Meke” entertainment

Storms in Fiji

During the winter rainy season, afternoon showers occur with frequency. In the case of a tropical storm or cyclone, residents and travelers are relocated to safe areas. Tropical storms during the rainy season are not uncommon: the last major cyclones to hit Fiji occurred in December of 2012, March of 2010, December of 2009, December of 2007 and December of 2003.

If it rains while you're there--then it's a perfect time to sit down with the locals and try kava, a traditional drink made from the kava root. It's got a mild calming effect, and there's a little ceremony that goes with each sip you take--the locals will be sure to teach you. It tastes a bit like dirty water, with a bit of a sparkling edge to it...but it's an experience you really should try while you're there.

A little inclement weather might encourage you to forgo a snorkel trip and experience a Lovo: it's a traditional Fijian feast, a bit like the Hawaiian luau, complete with a pig roasted in an underground oven, wrapped in banana leaves. Often this will be combined with the Meke, which is a traditional story-telling dance performance, with an orchestra performing on percussion instruments.

Water temperature, SCUBA diving in Fiji

Fiji has warm water temperatures year-round although thin wetsuits are recommended for deeper dives. In the northern islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni, the rainy season (November through April) has a much greater effect and if you really want to dive that area, you'd be advised to stick to the dry season. In the Mamanucas, Beqa, and on Viti Levu it's not nearly as much of a concern, and diving and weather in general is pretty nice all year round.

Popular dive areas:

• the Black Forest--ancient black coral trees, diverse assortment of fish and marine life, near Wananavu Beach Resort
• near Taveuni you'll find The Ledge, The Great White Wall, Jerry's Jelly, and Annie's Bommie; nearby resorts include Qamea, Laucala, Matangi, Taveuni Palms, Paradise Taveuni, Maravu, and Taveuni Island Resort
• the Great Astrolabe Reef is near Kadavu Island, and this is considered to be the largest living organism in Fiji, with tons of varieties of hard and soft corals and diverse marine life; it's about 40 miles from the major resorts at Beqa Lagoon
• Naiqoro Passage has both a wide variety of coral plus schools of sharks and barracuda
• Beqa Lagoon, near Beqa Lagoon Resort, Lalati, Royal Davui, and Shangri La, is known for shark encounters as well as brightly colored coral, and is considered one of the best lagoons for diving in the South Pacific
• in the Mamanucas, you'll find gorgeous corals, some sharks, and plenty of colorful fish and marine life, especially around the Malolo Barrier Reef; popular sites include Supermarket, Salamander shipwreck, Plantation Pinnacles, and Magic Island; there are many resorts in the Mamanucas to choose from

How we work with you to plan the perfect trip:

• We'll talk with you to find out what you're looking for, what you like/don't like, etc.
• We'll use our first-hand knowledge of the destination to pick out a handful of resorts we think you'd like
• We'll create a custom mini website for you, with photos, videos, maps, etc. of the resorts we are recommending
• We'll follow up with you to help you make your decision
• We'll go to work with our suppliers to get you the best deal available on what you've decided on.