October 28, 2004 -- It's the sheer friendliness of Fijians that creates the most indelible impression on visitors to this South Pacific Eden. You'll return even happier knowing that you haven't paid top dollar for your trip.
Go Today has a fine "Outer Island Special" to Fiji this fall and winter, with prices starting from $1,419. The package includes roundtrip air from Los Angeles to Nadi on an available carrier, roundtrip airport/hotel transfers, one night in Nadi on arrival, roundtrip car/boat transfers to your selected outer island, breakfasts, four nights on the outer island at a resort, hotel taxes and service charges. Add-on fares from other gateways include these examples: $160 from many California locations, Reno and Tucson; $380 from Portland OR and Seattle; $470 out of Dallas, Denver, Houston, Tulsa; and $550 from Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C. and West Palm Beach.
The basic hotel/resort combo is the Dominion in Nadi and the Beachcomber Island Resort on the islet of the same name. You can upgrade to more expense hotel/resort combos if you feel the urge. The Beachcomber is situated on a marine sanctuary in the Mamanuca Islands, just 12 miles from the Fiji international airport, and is a "barefoot" paradise where you do as much or as little as you feel.
Validity dates are from now through December 11, 2004 (with deadline for booking on December 6) at $1,419 and up; and from December 29 through March 24 (deadline for booking March 18, from $1,449. Contact the sponsors at www.gotoday.com or phone 425/487-9632.
Captain Cook Cruises, based in Australia, has joined with the Sonaisali Island Resort in Fiji to offer a cruise and resort package with a choice of three-, four- or seven-night cruises aboard the MV Reef Escape, combined with a three-night lodging package at the resort. During the cruise, you wake each day to a different tropical island setting, and you can stay aboard ship to sunbathe or go ashore and do the same on sandy white beaches. Snorkeling in lagoons is also on tap. Cruises start and finish in Nadi, the biggest town on the west coast of Viti Levu, the country's main island.
When you finish the cruise, you stay at the Sonaisali Island Resort, just 900 yards off the Viti Levu coast. On its own 105 acres, the resort has two restaurants and offers swimming, tennis, shopping, horse riding, sailing, fishing, jet skiing, ATVs, paintball and snorkeling trips daily.
The Fiji package prices include all meals on board the ship, guided village and island tours, glass bottom boat excursions, onboard entertainment and use of all the ship's facilities. Prices start from AUS1,533 per person (about US$1,127) for the three-night cruise and three-night resort combo for cruises departing until November 30, 2004. Packages for December 2004 through March 2005 start at AUS$1399 per person (about $1,029), valid for cruises departing December 4, 2004 through March 30, 2005.
For full details and booking, contact the sponsors at e-mail fiji@captaincook.com.au or visit www.captaincook.com.au/fiji.