By Ben Wheeler
December in Fiji is always hectic.
In Suva, the hustle and bustle that characterises the urban sprawl peaks as we collectively rush to wrap up the year, limping, exhausted, to the finish line.
Those of us lucky enough to have saved a modest amount of disposable income often allow ourselves a small kindness in the form of a journey west. Here, now, the resorts and activities usually reserved for tourists offer Love Our Locals deals, and this season you cannot do much better than a staycation at one of Viti Levu’s most historic premiere resorts, The Shangri-La.
Hopping off the bus from Suva we walk to the gate where we find Waisake, the friendliest of security guards, who humours my broken Fijian between enthusiastically greeting both customers and staff as they arrive and depart the island.
He teaches us that the Fijian for horse is “ose” – or in the local dialect “ohe” – as we gingerly approach the beautiful creatures whose chilled state adds both a layer of tranquillity and excitement as we learn we can book rides during our stay if we chose.
“Guests consistently highlight the warmth and authenticity of our team,” Joseva from the Shangri-La team tells me. “The genuine care, personal attention, and sense of welcome they receive throughout their stay are what they remember most. They also speak highly of our island setting and the convenience of having beaches, dining, activities, and relaxation all in one place.”
With that in mind we check in and visit the Golden Cowrie Italian Restaurant for dinner. We are very happy with our prosciutto and beef carpaccio starters and are blown away by the authentically rustic main of chicken with lentils and crispy bacon, all washed down with a delightful Santa Margherita Merlot, which comes with a seasonal discount.
As expected, this is complemented further by the wonderful service, and when we relate our praise for the food to our waitress, she insists we meet the chefs. They are shy, humble, and very happy that we enjoyed our meal.
Our appetites sated, we retire for the night in the kind of luxurious floating-on-air bedding only these high-end hotel rooms provide.
We awake and head for breakfast, and here, gentle reader, is where the Love Our Locals deals really come into its own. A place like The Shangri-La really, really knows how to do a breakfast spread. You will find everything from the finest pastries, cakes and muffins to waffles and French toast, full English cooked breakfast ingredients, noodles and rice with rotis, and a full spread of in season local fruits with filter coffee, teas, water and fresh juice.
I like to get in early and adopt a three-course approach, and begin this fine morning with watermelon, pineapple, passion fruit and peak ripe mango, before moving on to perfectly poached eggs on toasted muffins with a side of crispy bacon. I round things off with a pain au chocolate and wash everything down with several mugs of black coffee and glasses of orange juice.
Pure heaven.
On our way back to the room we pass the snorkelling shack and decide to book in for the 10am morning snorkel, giving us a couple of hours to relax, digest, drink peppermint tea, and catch up with our holiday reading: A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao and The Brown Dress by Tulia Nacola – Fijian literature at its finest!
Come 10am we are ready to explore; the resort providing a boat to and from the main reef and, for those of us who still don’t have their own gear, masks, snorkels and flippers.
Despite the fact the sky has bruised a little, the visibility is still good enough for us to thoroughly enjoy the 45-minute allocated for exploring. We see fish of all shapes, sizes and colours without really knowing enough to name names, but the thrill is still incredible, especially when you think things have quietened down only to turn and be faced with a large school of black and whites heading your way.
Despite the visibility and some signs of bleaching, the reefs at Yanuca Island are beautiful, cavernous affairs, patterned with incredible elaborate coral and flecked with colour and light. When he is not happily blowing bubble rings for our entertainment, our guide encourages us to be adventurous, signalling that amongst the formations on the seabed some ten metres down, there are shy turtles and octopi.
We snorkel and dive, together and apart, swimming for a time against the current that seems to want to push us away from the reef and back to shore in a way that pleasingly makes us feel like we’ve had full workout. No need to check out that gym as we had planned.
Heading back to our room for a shower, we quickly realise we have built up an appetite for lunch. This is almost unheard of with the Three-Course Breakfast Plan I outlined earlier, but when my stomach says “jump,” I tend to ask, “how high?”
We decide to sample the menu at the Beach Bar n’ Grill and before we know it, we have Kokoda and Soft-Shell Spicy Lamb Tacos – a delicious reward for a morning in the water. The service is as always warm and accommodating, and we find ourselves chatting away in that broken Fijian I am so fond of with the staff. We recommend both dishes to an American couple who seem quite taken with our selection, before once again retiring to our room to rest.
That night, we are treated to the delights of the Black Marlin Rum and Steak Bar, which has happy hour cocktails with over 90 rums from around the world, and a steak selection that includes wagyu ribeye and a fillet mignon that melts in the mouth, along with favourites like pork ribs and chicken kebabs, and an incredible array of sides, each tastier than the last.
The next day our dreamy 48-hour staycation draws to a close and, happy as lambs, we decide to skip the bus and treat ourselves to a taxi back to Suva and reality.
Returning to Joseva’s words, I feel they sum up the pleasures of the resort perfectly.
“What I enjoy most about working at Shangri-La is seeing guests connect with the island and leave with memories that feel meaningful. Being part of a team that represents true Fijian hospitality every day is something I’m proud of.”
Shangri-la.com/yanucaisland/fijianresort/
This article originally appeared in Issue 11 of Fiji Traveller.
