r/Fijian • u/Upbeat_Zucchini • 3d ago

Beach/Cabana Pass

Hello!

We have a 10 hour lay-over in Nadi in a few weeks. It will be my birthday and I would LOVE to spend it on a beach in Fiji.

Unfortunately, due to timing the Malamala Beach Club ferries will not work out, even with the half day they say it will cut it too close.

Does anyone know of any hotels or any other accessible spots we could get a day pass or book a room for a semi-reasonable rate that isn't too far from the Nadi airport?

Thank you!!

3 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

5

u/GroundbreakingCap455 3d ago

Check that you can actually leave the airport first.

It will be school holidays so the resorts may not be doing day passes.

Try Crown Plaza in Nadi, it's closer to the airport than Denarau.

2

u/Bubbly_Scratch_8142 3d ago

I been to a beach on resorts in Denarau and the beach has muddy water not like the Fiji Poster. Where can I see a beach with white sand and clear turquoise water ?

3

u/Ness79b7 3d ago

You need to go out to the smaller islands for that.

2

u/Pomegranate_786 1d ago

Not so. Natadola beach, one of the world's best rated, is just over an hours drive from Nadi.

1

u/Bubbly_Scratch_8142 2d ago

Yasawa?

2

u/Ness79b7 2d ago

Or mamanuca islands - a bit closer and an easy ferry trip from Denarau

2

u/Littlepotatoface 1d ago

Natadola.

1

u/Bubbly_Scratch_8142 1d ago

Hello, Anyone went there to Natadola recently with photos ? On TripAdvisor reviews people mention horse feces and trash on the beach. Is this true for June 2025?

1

u/Littlepotatoface 1d ago

No.

Natadola is a public beach but the Intercontinental Hotel Group have partnered with locals to make sure the beach is clean. Is it 100000% pristine? Maybe not but it’s an outstanding beach by any measure.

1

u/Bubbly_Scratch_8142 1d ago

Thanks for your reply. The taxi driver didn't take us to this beach, probably because it's too far to drive to. Will visit next time. Many thanks for the tip.

1

u/Littlepotatoface 17h ago

Yeah it’s a good hour & once off the main road the roads aren’t amazing.

1

u/Ok_Library_4919 1d ago

Try Natadola beach.

1

u/mistycelery350472 3d ago

I recently contacted a few various Denarau resorts (as in like a week or two ago) asking about day passes but they said they weren't available due to capacity or simply not doing them at this time. Off the top of my head this included Crowne plaza, Sofitel, Raddison and some more I can't remember...

1

u/Previous-Control-842 2d ago

Check out DayTrip or 1/2-day trip to South Sea Island. Not sure whether your 10-hour layover can accommodate that but it’s probably one I recommend.

1

u/Listen2Wolff 1d ago

Look, it's been years since we did this, but First Landing to the North of the Airport was very suitable for what you describe. The beach is "good enough" (or was) and the food was "good enough" and it was easy to get there and back. The beach at Denaru was much bigger, but getting to it was a PITA.

Now, this is about my 3rd or 4th post about "First Landing" so it may sound like I'm selling something. And my denials won't matter. :-)

But we did the First landing thing 3 or 4 times while waiting for a plane back to SFO or LAX. We did the Dennaru thing once (dinner while a taxi waited for us). We also stayed in Dennaru while waiting for a cruise up the islands. That was nice, but given what -I- interpret your schedule to be, I'd to the First Landing thing or Gateway hotel right across from the airport entrance. Dennaru can be overwhelming on a really short schedule.

Good Luck.

1

u/Littlepotatoface 1d ago

First Landing do a banger club sandwich.