Bula! Hello from paradise! Fiji is a beach lovers dream. Warm crystal clear water, white sandy beaches, beautiful sunsets, and water sports on tap. Fiji was a holiday from our holiday…! Here we got some much needed rest and relaxation from our hectic travels around the world. We loved our world-wide adventure, moving to a new place every few days, but it was nice to take a break and just chill out and relax for a while in Fiji.
Fiji, a country in the South Pacific, is an archipelago of more than 300 islands. Its major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, contain most of the population, but there are many smaller islands, like the Yasawas and Mamanucas. We spent ten days at Castaway Island Resort, part of the Mamanuca Islands. Castaway Island Resort was perfect for us. This resort is great for families. With two swimming pools, long stretches of beautiful beach, water sports, and several restaurants, this place is perfect. We were here in low season, in fact during cyclone season, so the resort was only a fraction full.
Castaway Island Resort has a beautiful setting with fantastic facilities for a family of five. We stayed in a five person bure (thatched bungalow)with views of the beach and ocean. There was plenty of room for us all.
So, what was there to do for an active family at Castaway Island Resort?
ARRIVE BY SEAPLANE
Arriving at Castaway Island by seaplane was very special indeed. None of us had ever been on a seaplane before so we decided to book one as a means of getting from the mainland to Castaway Island. It was a great decision. The seaplane ride took about fifteen minutes but gave us wonderful views of the islands and reefs below. Dave even got to pilot the plane for a short while! We had a birds eye view of Castaway Resort as we came in to land. Taking off and landing in a seaplane is surprisingly smooth.
GO SNORKELLING
Fiji has fantastic snorkelling, often close to the shoreline. We snorkelled on the house reef with the boys, simply swimming out from the beach. There were many different types of coral. We saw a huge variety of fish in many differing colours, even spotting a turtle and a ray on our first morning snorkelling.
Dave and I also snorkelled on the outer reef, taking a boat ride from Castaway Island. Again we saw many different types of fish and coral of all different shapes and sizes.
LEARN TO SAIL
Dave and the boys learned to sail a small sail boat. They went our several times aiming to perfect their technique.
GO PADDLE BOARDING AROUND THE REOSRT
Paddle boarding is one of our newfound favourite activities. Whenever the sea was calm enough we took the paddle boards out. It is a wonderful feeling to be standing on top of the water as you paddle along, very calming and relaxing.
TAKE A TRIP TO MODRIKI ISLAND
Modriki Island, is the place where the movie “Cast Away” was filmed. It is also located in the Mamanuca Islands so it was just a short thirty-five minute speedboat trip away from Castaway Island. We all loved this trip and the chance to be castaways for a few hours on our very own deserted island. Modriki Island is a beautiful place and it was wonderful sitting on the beach and swimming in the ocean, right where the movie was filmed.
MORE OCEAN FUN AT CASTAWAY ISLAND
Castaway Island is loads of fun for kids. The boys went for a “banana ride,” on a floating banana pulled by a speed boat. They also spent a great deal of time in sea kayaks, messing about in the bay.
PLAYING WITH OTHER KIDS
Even though it was outside of school holidays in Australia and New Zealand there were a number of other children staying at Castaway Resort. The boys loved playing with the other kids, something they’ve missed out on throughout much of this trip. The resort has a free kid’s club with a range of indoor and outdoor activities. They were able to wander around the resort on their own as it was quite safe, catching up with the other kids. We barely saw them!
Watch our YouTube video of our time at Castaway Island.
We spent ten days at Castaway Island, it could easily have been longer, but we had to move on! As our speedboat carried us back to the main island on our last day, we watched the beach and palm trees drifting away, feeling a little sad. We made some wonderful memories here and I am sure we will be back one day. What an amazing place!
Have you visited Castaway Island Resort in Fiji? Did you enjoy it as much as us? Let us know in the comments below.
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