Surfing

Fiji has some popular surfer-dude hangouts such as Tavarua Island Resort (tel. 805/687-4551 in the U.S.; www.tavarua.com), in the Mamanuca Islands near the main pass through the Great Sea Reef.

Its most famous surfing spots are Frigate Passage in the Beqa Lagoon and at Cape Washington on Kadavu.

All the best are reef breaks; that is, the surf crashes out on coral reefs instead of on sandy beaches. These are no places for beginners, since you could suffer serious injury by landing on a razor-sharp coral reef -- or as one of my island friends puts it, "You'll become hamburger in a hurry."