Travel Story: Fiji Weekend Getaway

Fiji is one of the most popular destinations for Australians looking for a tropical escape due to its short flight time from Australia's east coast and the warm friendly local greeting received by all visitors to this beautiful part of the world. Virgin Australia has daily flights to Nadi from Brisbane and as they had a sale on business class we decided to get away for the easter long weekend and get some tropical sun.

Day 1: Arrival & Check In At The Marriott Momi Bay

After our excellent business class flight with Virgin Australia from Brisbane to Nadi we met the friendly staff at the Fiji Airport Shuttle who we had pre booked our hotel transfers with. The staff introduced us to our driver from Tourist Transport Fiji who took our baggage and led us to his waiting private car (if there is two people or more you automatically get a private vehicle rather than having to travel in a shared bus which is great), our driver told us of his Fijian Indian heritage and told us lots of information about Fiji on our one hour drive to our hotel the Marriott Momi Bay. We choose this hotel as the Marriott is a Velocity Frequent Flyer partner so we would earn points on our stay, you can read more about the hotel in our review here. Once at the hotel the friendly staff checked us in and then loaded our luggage in to a golf buggy to take us to our overwater Bure, the Marriott Momi Bay is only two years old and one of the only hotels on the main island that has overwater Bure's so we were keen to check them out. Once inside we were impressed with the size of the Bure and the large deck area with steps going down to the water for swimming, the entire room including the bathroom are open plan with hidden sliding doors that you can use if you need some privacy. After getting unpacked and enjoying a celebratory sunset glass of champagne on the deck we headed to The Fish Bar, the hotels in house seafood restaurant. We had made a reservation in advance through the hotels website and it was just as well we did as most tables were full. We enjoyed the scallop and pork belly as well as the seafood bisque starters but were not overly impressed with our scotch fillet steaks which we had ordered medium well and received them rare. After dinner we went to the lagoon bar for a nightcap where they had a local musician playing so we sat back and enjoyed the music and our drinks.

Day 2: Day Trip To Malamala Island Beach Club

On our second day in Fiji we had booked tickets to visit Malamala Island Beach Club, a small island just off of Port Denauru. Malamala had arranged for us to be picked up from the Marriott along with several other guests and then we had a 1 hour road transfer to the South Sea Cruises ferry terminal for our 40min ferry trip to the island. We had pre booked a beachfront cabana and when the ferry arrived at the island our butler was waiting for us at the end of the pier to take us to our cabana, the location was perfect and there is about 20 metres between each of the cabanas so they are also very private. As we were settling in to our cabana the staff came around with frozen hand made pineapple ice blocks and our butler took our drinks order for a bucket of the excellent Vonu Fijian Low Carb Beer. After we had wandered the island and taken some photos we got back to our cabana where our butler was waiting with our drinks and he took our pre-order for lunch, we ordered the daily special which was a Fijian-Indian fish cake made from fish locally caught that morning, the coconut prawns and sweet potato fries on the side as well as a bottle of Australian rose to go with it. We relaxed for the next hour with a good book enjoying the serenity and before long our butler brought our lunch which was excellent, especially the fish cakes! After lunch we borrowed some snorkelling gear from the water sports hut, they also have kayaks and stand up paddle boards available and its all included in the price. We loved the snorkelling and seeing all the fish and coral as well as a massive blue jellyfish which was the biggest we've seen. After snorkelling we headed back to our cabana where our butler took the final drinks order for afternoon cocktails and we relaxed and even napped for a short while until it was time to leave. We did encounter a strong tropical storm as we were boarding the ferry back to Port Denauru but like most tropical storms it passed quickly. We would highly recommend anyone to visit Malamala Beach Club, the food, service and location were all amazing. In the evening after our return transfer to the Marriott Momi Bay we headed to the in house mediterranean restaurant, Lagoon House. We had the croquettes for starter and the paella for main both of which were sub par which was a disappointment as was the atmosphere of the restaurant which had bright lighting and was very echoey. Judging by what everyone else was eating which was pizza we would assume that is what their specialty is. We did enjoy our nightcap at the lagoon bar where they had a local band playing popular cover songs on request.

Day 3: Quan Day Spa Visit & Flight Home

On our last day in Fiji we had breakfast at the hotels in house buffet the Goji Kitchen where we had some local specialties for breakfast, the food was excellent and we were disappointed we hadn't visited the buffet for dinner as it was the best food we had eaten out of all the hotels restaurants. After breakfast we rang reception to see if we could get our check out extended to 12pm as our massage booking was 10:30-11:30am and they were happy to grant us that extension at no additional charge. We headed to the in house Quan Day Spa passing by the water sports hut where you can hire jet skis, paddle boards, kayaks etc. and checked in for our pre booked massages. The spa is beautifully presented and the staff friendly and professional. We enjoyed our Quan Signature Massages which is a relaxation massage using heated herb packs to help relieve muscle tension. After a quick shower back at the bungalow we checked out using the Marriott's app and then headed to the concierge to meet our driver from Tourism Transport Fiji for our return trip to the airport. Virgin Australia does not have a lounge at Nadi airport or a partnership with any other airline lounge so we used our priority pass cards to enter the Fiji Airways lounge. The lounge is very new and well laid out, the staff were friendly and the food and drink offering was good as well. Before we knew it we were flying home again with Virgin Australia and their great inflight service and food, it was a short trip but we enjoyed every minute of it and would highly recommend Fiji to anyone who's looking for a tropical get away. So that ends this travel story, if you have any questions about this trip feel free to comment on the blog, Until next time!

Want More Infomation?

For more information about the Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay's accomodation and facilities you can read our review here or you can visit their website www.marriott.com.au

For more information about Virgin Australia's services you can visit their website www.virginaustralia.com

For more information about Malamala Beach Club you can visit their website www.malamalabeachclub.com

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About The Author

Rob has been passionate about cruise ship holidays and exploring the world since the first cruise he went on when he was only seven years old. Since then Rob who is a Photographer and his partner Mike of 18 years have travelled the world on over 25 cruises with over 10 different cruise lines visiting every continent across the globe as well as many remote tropical islands along the way. In addition to cruise holidays they enjoy relaxing at beach side holiday resorts and first/business class air travel as well as transcontinental rail journeys. Between them both Robert and Michael have worked out the best way to maximise frequent flyer reward points allowing them to travel first/business class at economy class prices or in some cases travelling first/business class for free.