As a Survivor fan, I was convinced my first trip to Fiji would involve Jeff Probst, a CBS film crew, and at least one gratuitous B-roll sequence of me gazing dramatically into the distance. But alas, my introduction to the South Pacific nation swapped bamboo shelters for air-conditioned hotel rooms, and rice rations for five-star meals. A tough assignment, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. (You better believe I still got my pensive, Parvati-worthy footage, however.) After six nights island-hopping around Fiji, I came away with a deep appreciation of the country’s natural beauty, chic resorts, and warm hospitality. It’s certainly much more than the place where Survivor, Love Island, and Cast Away have filmed, but Fiji’s TV and film lore did have me disproportionately delighted nonetheless.
Overview
Situated roughly 1100 miles south of the equator and comprised of over 300 islands in the South Pacific Ocean, Fiji is brimming with coral reefs, world-famous surf breaks, rainforests, white sand beaches, and rich marine biodiversity. And that’s just the natural realm. Luxurious resorts, some with overwater bungalows known as bures, draw visitors to top-notch restaurants, indulgent spas, cool bars, and fun beach clubs. And thanks to the friendly Fijian people, you can experience all of the above while wrapped in the warm glow of the bula spirit. In Fiji, you’ll often be greeted with the word “bula,” but it doesn’t simply mean hello—it also represents Fiji’s joyful, generous, and welcoming ethos.
Weather: Fiji has a warm tropical climate year-round. November to April is the hotter, more rainy season, while May to October typically sees slightly cooler, drier weather.
Getting there: Nadi International Airport (NAN), home to Fiji Airways, is the country’s busiest airport. Fiji Airways operates nonstop routes to Nadi from Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), and Honolulu (HNL). Whichever American city you leave from, be prepared to time travel across the International Date Line. I took a late-night flight from Los Angeles on a Tuesday, slept like a baby on my hitch-free Fiji Airways flight, and arrived in Nadi on Thursday morning.
Tip: Nonstop Fiji Airways flights from mainland U.S. typically land in Nadi between 5 and 6 a.m., so consider paying for your hotel room for the previous night so you can check in right away.
Time difference: Fiji does not observe daylight saving time, so the time difference compared to the U.S. will vary depending on the time of year. Fiji is 19 hours ahead of Los Angeles during Daylight Saving Time (mid-March to early November), and 20 hours ahead during Standard Time (early November to mid-March). This might sound jarring at first, but I honestly found this time difference easier for communicating with my family in California than traveling to Europe.
Where to Stay
As the daughter of an avid surfer, my favorite fun fact about Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay is that it’s the closest mainland resort to Cloudbreak, one of the most famous surf breaks in the world (and Kelly Slater’s all-time favorite wave). As such, the resort has served as the official host venue for several World Surf League events, including the 2024 Corona Fiji Pro and the 2025 Lexus WSL Finals Fiji. In other words, don’t be surprised if you spot pro surfers around the grounds in between south swells.
Another fun fact: This resort boasts the only overwater bures on Viti Levu, Fiji’s mainland. Each of these thatched-roof villas (pictured above, in the bottom row) has a private deck with direct access to the tranquil lagoon. Floating in this bathwater-warm turquoise lagoon was by far my favorite thing to do at Momi Bay. Only after my fingers started pruning did I reluctantly decide to swim back to shore.
Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay has several amazing restaurants. On the ocean-facing side of the resort is Fish Bar, serving up freshly caught seafood and insanely Instagrammable sunsets. I also loved the chill vibe of Voi Voi Bar (pictured top right), where we ordered beers and took a Fijian cooking class. (Continue to the What To Do section below to see what other activities I tried.)
(Image credit: Courtesy of Marriott)
Here’s a bird’s-eye view of Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay’s standalone Fijian bures, both over the water and on the beach. The hotel also has standard rooms housed in two-story buildings along the east side of the lagoon.
Sheraton Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island, was the second stop on my luxury tour of Fiji. Accessible only by boat or helicopter, this island is roughly 21 miles off the coast of Nadi. Our private boat transfer dropped us off directly on the sand (pictured above, bottom left), and I was immediately itching to get in the ocean. There’s fantastic and convenient snorkeling directly in front of the resort, where you can see green sea turtles, Nemo-like clownfish, angelfish, and a rainbow of colorful coral. Coral is so abundant, in fact, that Jacques Cousteau famously called Fiji the “Soft Coral Capital of the World.”
Post-snorkeling, I cleaned up for dinner and put on a polka-dot dress by Et Ochs and a red woven bag by Apaya, which matched a fallen hibiscus I found and wore behind my ear. Did you know that in Fijian, Hawaiian, Polynesian, and other cultures, wearing a flower on your left ear indicates you’re in a relationship or married, and wearing one on your right ear says you’re single? I can confidently say that Tokoriki is the most scenic place I’ve ever taken an outfit photo in, so it obviously went on my IG grid immediately.
Tip: You need to snorkel and rent Jet Skis during high tide because it’s too shallow to safely traverse over the coral reef during low tide, so be sure to ask the resort staff for guidance on timing. (You can still swim in the shallow water near the shoreline during low tide, however.) Oh, and please learn from my mistake: Don’t forget to apply sunscreen on the back of your legs if you’re snorkeling!
(Image credit: Courtesy of Sheraton Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island, Fiji)
Wearing fins, it took me less than five minutes to leisurely swim past the sea grass to reach the edge of the coral reef in front of the Sheraton Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island, pictured above, but you can also hitch a ride on the resort’s Jet Ski tows if you prefer.
Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort is a foodie’s paradise. It doesn’t have as spectacularly clear water and white sandy beaches as the other two hotels I’ve already discussed above, but it has a much wider range of restaurants and the biggest breakfast buffet I’ve ever seen.
Newly opened Cellar & Barrel is Fiji’s only dedicated wine and whisky bar, and the resort’s café, 28G, was the only place I found a real matcha latte during my weeklong island-hopping excursion. That’s also where I ate the delectable dessert pictured above (bottom right): a crunchy, dark chocolate-coated puffed rice cake topped with mango mousse coated in yellow frosting, finished off with swirls of whipped cream and strawberry slices. I also enjoyed touring the resort’s beehives and five-acre farm (pictured top left and bottom left), where seasonal vegetables and fruit are grown on-site for the property’s six restaurants and bars.
What to Pack
- Reef-safe sunscreen: As I mentioned, Fiji is known as “The Soft Coral Capital of the World,” so pack a reef-safe sunscreen made with mineral UV filters such as non-nano zinc oxide or titanium dioxide instead of chemical sunscreen ingredients. Avoid oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, and parabens, which have been linked to coral bleaching and harm to marine ecosystems. My colleague recently did an in-depth review of Osea’s Marine Screen SPF 50 Mineral Sunscreen ($42), which is made with non-nano zinc oxide.
- Sturdy wide-brim hats with chin straps: Sorry, but your floppy sun hat will not hold up during windy boat rides. You need both a stiff brim and a chin strap to provide adequate sun protection in the wind and to ensure your hat doesn’t immediately take flight. The one I’m pictured wearing above is the Your Stylist Says Best Hat ($130). I’m obsessed with this hat, and I’ve been wearing it for over four years—it’s also come with me to Kauai, Oahu, Montecito, and lots of other places. It’s not “packable” in the sense that it’s not foldable, but the designer, Abby Arad, made this Instagram Reel demonstrating a genius way to stash it in your suitcase. Oh, and Hilary Duff owns it, too!
- On-theme books: There’s nothing I love more than curating a thematic reading list for a trip. For instance, in Savannah, Georgia, I bought Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which chronicles a murder in the Southern city’s most haunted mansion. For Fiji, I packed Escape!: A Novel by former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishback. (As I mentioned, the show films in Fiji.) It’s about a reality TV competition set on a tropical island that devolves into a Lord of the Flies type of situation. I promise you don’t have to like Survivor to appreciate this fictionalized version of reality TV’s seedy underbelly.
OSEA Malibu
Marine Screen SPF 50 Mineral Sunscreen
Your Stylist Says
The Best Hat
Set on a tropical island, this novel skewers the reality-TV competition genre.
What to Do
- Village tours: Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay organizes guided visits to a nearby village, where we were greeted with a song and dance by four generations of residents (pictured above, top left). We also joined a kava ceremony, a South Pacific tradition that dates back over 3,000 years. It involves the special preparation and sipping of a drink made from kava roots.
- Craft workshops: All three hotels I stayed at offered fun crafting projects using palm fronds, where you can learn how to shape and loop the leaves into functional objects like fans (pictured top right), baskets, or small keepsakes, guided step-by-step by local hosts.
- Spas: All three of the above hotels had phenomenally serene spas. After I stupidly got sunburned on the back of my legs from snorkeling, I reveled in the Dilo Sun Cooling Wrap at the Sheraton Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island (pictured above, bottom left). It uses traditionally Fijian dilo oil (a locally used botanical oil known for its soothing, restorative properties), and is applied as a body wrap so the cooling ingredients can fully absorb. It was exactly what this pale girl needed post-sunburn.
- Jet Skiing: Each of my stops offered Jet Ski rentals, but I think the best scenery can be found at Sheraton Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island, where you can skim past water that shifts from pale turquoise to deep sapphire, with coral formations visible just below the surface and small, uninhabited islands dotting the horizon.
