We are a family of five & flew to fiji from Brisbane where we stayed at Plantation Island. We found this particular island good because it was affordable at the time, lots of planned family activities, day & night or you were just free to laze by the beach or pool.
There was a kids club which we did use ,some things our kids got up to was coconut bowling, t-shirt printing & treasure hunts on the beach.
Our kids liked Plantation Island because they are into water sports, they made some friends, staff included, & it was something different than our normal driving holidays. We chose a resort because we felt safe there & the staff helped make the most of our holiday.
Some of the best activities we did was the dolphin watching cruise, a cruise to one of the original islands where we bought Fijian crafts & jewlery, the banana boat ride & snorkeling. There was always something happening but the best thing was no t.v. so my kids were always active.
Danielle Galvin
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My family had the good fortune to holiday on Malolo Lailai Island a couple of years ago. Our extended family went on holiday together and my sister was married on the beach whilst we were there. Our cohort consisted of 16 children aged 16 and under and 20 or so adults.
Ouir holiday was divided into 2 sections. The first part included staying at Plantation Island Resort, (prior to the wedding) and the second in a self contained house Villa Malolo which enjoys the facilities of Musket Cove Resort.
At Plantation Island Resort where we stayed first, we stayed in one of the villas, some of our group at the back of the resort and some along the beach. All accomodation was close enough to each other that visiting and organising times together was a breeze.
We bought some of the meal packages, but many of the adults thought some of the food quality wasn't great. The kids loved the buffets as they could feel independent and get up and down to get their own. There was a lot of food available, so I would recommend a package of just breakfast and dinner. We seemed to spend time eating and then getting ready to eat again.
We all thought the kids club was great. There were supervised activiites during the day and evening. My children wanted to go to the Kids Club even when we were with them. The supervisors at the Club were very friendly.
Fiji is for me! Thanks for the opportunity to relive my memories!
Frances Sullivan
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Our families favourite holiday spot in Fiji is Plantation Island, after landing in Nadi we stay the first night on the main Island at the Novatel, the staff are very friendly, food is great and the rooms are spotless and very comfortable, the next morning we catch the boat out to Plantation Island where we are warmly greeted.
We have found Plantation Island a kids playground: from the kids coconut club, to the kids pool, to the staff just joking with the kids, our children love it.
We chose to stay in a resort because they are more kid friendly and always have activities for them to do from crab hunting to crab racing, building coconut boats, t-shirt painting to movies all while the parents are getting a bit of time to themselves and knowing the kids are well looked after and having fun, they also are taught to do the native Fijian dance and the children put on a performance for all the parents.
This October will be the third year in a row to Plantation Island for our family we all love it. Its not only the friendly staff but the kids meals that are at 5pm so the parents get to dine on their own after 7pm while the kids are enjoying the kids club and the best part its all free.
Our family highly recommend Plantation Island not only for the kids club but also for the food, great accommodation and the friendly staff and we can't wait until October 2009 for our next family holiday.
The Shine Family
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When our daughter was 13 months old we set out on our first plane trip and overseas holiday together. We went to Plantation Island Resort and loved it! We had all transfers included which made life much easier with a jet lagged toddler (and worse parents).
The resort had all meals included as a buffet – so we could all find something to eat every meal – in fact there was too much there. The staff were lovely and very helpful, particularly helping out with our daughter to let my husband and I eat in peace if she was getting tired by dinner time – they’d take her off for a wander and she loved it.
We made great use of the very well priced babysitting (about $2 an hour!!!!!!!) since our daughter was too young for kids club. While my husband and I went off diving, our daughter was played with and pampered!
The diving was sensational! We also made use of the (free) snorkelling trips and fishing. It rained on some days and there were games that we could borrow. There was also a small supermarket nearby so we could top up on anything extra we needed and, unfortunately, we also got to make use of the doctor based at the resort – but it was such a relief to have someone there to see!
We didn’t have to worry about anything – the package covered all travel, transfers, meals accommodation and plenty of activities for us. We saw the kids club and made use of their play room (over 4s can use the kids club, we just had to stay with our daughter to keep an eye since she was so young) and could see the bigger kids having a ball. It was so clear to us that the staff loved having kids around – they all knew our daughter by name!
We’ll be back!
Eleanor Coates
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My family and I travelled to Fiji over the Christmas Period last year. We have two daughters aged 15 and 14 and we departed Brisbane on 23/12 and flew direct into Nadi and from there got a boat from Denarau over the Plantation Island.
We were booked into the beachfront bureau and the accommodation was just absolutely fabulous. This was a two bedroom bureau and the beach was approx 200m from your front door. Just fantastic.
We chose to include the meal package with our booking and would highly recommend this to any family - the choices were just fantastic and the food was just beautiful. We did pay extra for the Christmas Day dinner which was well worthwhile - they deducted what we had already paid for a meal for that day. We sat with out feet lapping the water on Christmas Night and had a great evening.
There was kids club available and our girls did not partake in this, however from what I saw and read regarding the Club, it was certainly going to keep the kids busy and entertained. The resort was full of friendly staff and I would highly recommend this.
We made full use of the water sports that were available, including, kayaking, banana boat rides, snorkelling and we went on a Sunset Cruise one night. The guys that took us on this were just great and as there was no sunset that night due to weather, they took us island hopping and go to see surrounding islands etc. - very accommodating staff.
Maree Droney
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We stayed in Fiji for 11 days and it was great. It was just myself and my partner and we needeed a break away from the kids! But when we arrived at the Nadi Airport early hours of the morning, we stayed in the hotel opposite the airport, Raffles.
The following morning, we were transferred to Denaru where we boarded the catamaran over to Plantation Island Resort where we were welcomed by a band playing Fijian music and were given leis made from shells!
This Resort was fantastic, with so many activities on offer! We watched lots of families enjoy the swimming pools, sailing, kayaking, fishing and off island tours of surrounding resorts and Islands!
They allocate a special time for childrens dining, so adults can dine in the 'on beach' villa restaurant and enjoy the relaxed romance without the hastle of feeding the little ones! The resort offers babysitting and kids club activities everyday so you can have family time as well as 'time out' from each other!
As we visited the other Resorts, which are beautiful too. I would still prefer to bring the kids back to Plantation Island Resort as it is a bit bigger, has a lot of staff and offers so much to do for the kids that they won't get bored., Which I think could happen at the other resorts which are probably more for honeymooners, like Musket Cove, Mololo, Walu Beach, Treasure Isalnd and Castaway Island Resorts.
I will Definately come back to Plantation Island resort with the kids next time!
Angie Oflaherty
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At Plantation Island my children loved the food, activities, snorkeling, banana boat ride, kids club, 2 pools (1 with a slide & 1 huge pool right outside our room), shell village trip, the swimming in the beautiful ocean, finding shells & treasures in the sand, the Fijian dancers & singers, bingo and the live Fijian local band as we ate our dinner. My children really loved the self serve of their own meals but you can choose menu meals.
Plantation had a very friendly Kids' Club which my children weren't too keen on as they would rather hang with us but when they did go they loved it & made boats that they could float.
Favourite activites: On the island- snorkeling,banana boat ride,village tour,fishing. On the Mainland: We went on a tour with DISCOVER FIJI TOURS, they picked us up from our hotel & drove us to the 4 hour location on a very comfortable air condioned mini bus & the driver was so very friendly & happy & it included a River Canoe trip, Viallage Tour which showed us the school, Bamboo Rafting & Waterfall swimming tour in Navua which was an all day tour & it included a traditional Fijian lunch & a Kava ceromony with a very friendly bunch of all aged Fijians. The tour is for all ages & not at all dangerous for children, pregnant woman or elderly people. They even allowed us to hold their babies. This is strongly recommended. It was the highlight of our holiday.
Jodie
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We stayed at the Westin Resort at Denarau and then a few days at Plantation Island. They were both very family friendly with the Westin offering a kids club during the day and plenty of staff to just play games and chill out. The people were all so friendly and nothing was too much trouble. Plantation had all meals included in the package and with kids activities and separate meal times for kids and adults it left time for all to have fun with their peers. Dinner on the beach is a must.
Fishing and water sports were all the rage at Plantation and I will never forget the look on my 6 year old as she caught her first fish. We enjoyed all sorts of activities including kayaking, swimming in the pools and beach, snorkelling in the beautiful warm water and banana boat rides.
On the main island make sure you head to the marina at Denarau where the Fijians put on a free cultural show twice a week and the restaurants are kid friendly and clean. It was by far the best family holiday ever and as a first trip overseas it was so easy and carefree.
Debbie
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