Suva

 

Excursion on the Navua River

There was much angst amongst the cruisers when Disney changed our port of call from Lautoka to Suva. It was frustrating as there were seemingly less offerings of the typical island beauty with regard to shore excursions. We picked what we thought was the most authentic and the most fun. If there are no beautiful beaches within easy distance, then let's go for a river. It turned out to be a great call!

We did an excursion with River Tubing Fiji on the Navua River - made famous as the backdrop to the classic feature film: Anaconda... 2. We had enough people from the ship (25ish?) to run our own group which included pick up and drop off at the ship. As our port time was short, the usual tour itinerary had to be shortened and the village visit was culled. Annoyingly, 2 passengers didn't show up and we wasted precious time waiting for them at port.

In short, the excursion was fantastic. It was simple and a lot of fun. The guides were all local to the village of Navua and were great fun to be with. The river was pristine, we saw locals doing their thing along the river banks, and the tubing was so relaxing. The highlight was our guides singing for us on the river. They sang so beautifully in harmony, singing for us in lieu of being at church with their families. 

We get why the other cruisers were upset. We docked at a commercial port

Our welcome part was a...marching band in skirts! Unexpected but fun

First off the ship again

They were there waiting as promised

A 45 min drive inland took us to their "base"

A 30 minute boat ride upriver

Had to walk around the rapids as the boats otherwise couldn't make it past with the weight

First waterfall. This was unfortunately the same one that the Disney excursions took their guests to. So there were streams & streams of passengers

ummm....water heels?!?

We were taken to a smaller but quiet waterfall opposite our lunch stop

Lunch. Simple, cooked on the spot, healthy. 

Cassava, chicken, sausage, fish. Something for everyone

Seats with a view

Just to highlight how clear the water was

Tubing for around 50 minutes down the river

Rabbit? 

Local children playing by the river

Our awesome group