Fiji Air has started expanding its presence into Canada, but what does a dream vacation to Fiji and Vanuatu cost for Canadians?
Fiji was not on my bucket list, but I cannot pass up an unbeatable flight sale! Fiji Airways was offering an introductory sale of $599 return to Fiji from Vancouver and I booked tickets for myself and a friend. Fiji and Vanuatu ended up being one of the most spectacular vacation spots I have been to, all while being authentic and unintimidating. I am not rich, so what did it cost me?
Skip to: #1: Our Itinerary
#2: Cost of Flights
#3: Cost of Hotels / Accommodations
#4: Transportation
#5: Activities
#8: Total
Our Itinerary for 2 weeks Fiji and Vanuatu from Canada
This trip started out simply as booked flights, and we ended up expanding the scope by quite a bit. There were a few things on our bucket list we wanted to accomplish but the focus was to see as much as possible without feeling rushed. Fiji itself is many islands and many geographies and we didn't want to stick to one location and get such a small sampling. After 8 months of planning and changing things, we took the following trip.
Day 1: Halifax -Vancouver.
Day 2: Vancouver day trip - Red-eye to Fiji that night.
Day 3: Land in Nadi, Fiji. Sightseeing for 7hrs, flight to Port Vila, Vanuatu that night.
Days 4-7: Port Vila, Vanuatu. Fly back to Nadi, Fiji on night 6 and stay near the airport.
Days 8-12: Fly to Savusavu and stay at a remote resort. Fly back to Nadi on day 12.
Day 13: Castaway island day trip and sail around Mamanuca Islands. Red-eye to Vancouver that night.
Day 14: Flight to Halifax.
You lose a day somewhere in there crossing the international date line and gain it back coming home, so that's just a general idea!
The cost of flights for Fiji and Vanuatu from Canada
We did an intense amount of flying on this trip to maximize everything we wanted to see without spending days on ferries or slower types of travel. Ferries exist for slower and more eco-friendly travel, but on this trip, I made the choice to prioritize convenience and speed. All of our flights except our Halifax to Vancouver flights were through Fiji Airways which offers international service AND inter-Fiji service and I found the quality of service and availability of flights exceeded our expectations, however, we did book most of our travel 4+ months ahead of our trip to maximize availability
Fun Fact: The company that owns Fiji Airways (Air Pacific Group) is 51% owned by the Fijian government with Qantas holdering a 46% stake and other South Pacific nations holding minor stakes. I love this!
Flight Cost All flights ended up being round trip:
YHZ-YVR : $450 YVR-NAN : $808
Upgrade bid to Business Class: $360*
NAN-VLI: $ 413
NAN-SVU $147
Flights TOTAL: $2,153
*Due to what I think was a glitch I was able to bid a jaw droppingly low $180 per person per flight on the YVR- NAN flights which by some MIRACLE we WON! This was near lie-flat seats for an overnight red eye flight each way. ALWAYS try to bid!
The cost of Accommodations
We stayed at a wide variety of accommodation types ranging from $50 a night to $400 a night!
Vancouver: YMCA Hotel [$152 per night.]
This is like a hostel with a private room. I booked this as soon as we knew we would be overnighting in Vancouver. Vancouver is notorious for being expensive, but for what we payed compared to other options in the area, we were very happy with it. Our room had its own sink but you did have to share shower and toilet facilities with other rooms.
Port Vila, Vanuatu: Lagoon Gardens [$69 per night.]
We ended up booking this as a last-minute change.
We had booked the over water bungalows at the Holiday Inn. Yes, OVER WATER BUNGALOWS at a HOLIDAY INN! However, due to back-to-back hurricanes, the hotel contacted us before we left Canada to cancel our reservation. This was a huge bummer but we understood. They may be the most reasonably priced over-water bungalows in the world!
($375 CAD per night at the time of booking)
Lagoon Gardens was just down the road from the Holiday Inn and jaw-droppingly cheap at the time of our booking. It was a tiny resort in which there were 4-6 private bungalows surrounded by vegetation. This was not a high-end place but a family-owned and run spot that offered basic accommodations and breakfast included in your price. The bungalow had one bed plus pull-out couch and an efficiency-style kitchenette for cooking your own food if you want. Another traveller from New Zealand gave us the run down as he would come back frequently. They are a bit out of town but within walking distance to a grocery store and a 3-minute walk to a spot on the road at which you could catch the local private bus/van service at around $1.50 a ride into town.
Nadi, Fiji: TokaToka Resort [$154 per night.]
We stayed at this resort 2 nights- once as a stopover in the middle of our trip, and as our last night before flying out of Fiji. This resort is literally across the street from the NAN Nadi airport which has international and domestic flights. I chose this because of its proximity, and even though they offer a shuttle service, looking on Google Maps seemed to show we could indeed walk TO it from the airport. As a backpack traveller, I love a good walk and we successfully walked to it in under 10 minutes each time. Our booking included breakfast but this was not always included, make sure you shop around. Overall, it did have a resort-like feel and we were able to walk to a shopping plaza and into downtown Nadi from there. There was also a local bus stop on the street nearby for longer travel. Nadi, Fiji: TokaToka Resort [$154 per night.]
We stayed at this resort 2 nights- once as a stopover in the middle of our trip, and as our last night before flying out of Fiji. This resort is literally across the street from the NAN Nadi airport which has international and domestic flights. I chose this because of its proximity, and even though they offer a shuttle service, looking on Google Maps seemed to show we could indeed walk TO it from the airport. As a backpack traveller, I love a good walk and we successfully walked to it in under 10 minutes each time. Our booking included breakfast but this was not always included, make sure you shop around. Overall, it did have a resort-like feel and we were able to walk to a shopping plaza and into downtown Nadi from there. There was also a local bus stop on the street nearby for longer travel. Savusavu, Fiji: Koro Sun Resort [$408 per night.]
We stayed at this resort for 4 nights in a 2 bedroom Bure (jungle villa). The resort was small and offered some edgewater and overwater accommodations but we chose one of the mid-price options due to budget and practicality, and not wanting to share a bed!
I loved the villa we had, which had an outside shower as a nice novelty for a tourist AND it was small in size, which made it very low-key. Each morning they offered you the evening menu to choose your dinner, which may seem like a pain, but it was explained to us this was to minimize waste and to maximize freshness. Once guests chose their food, the chef and kitchen staff would then go source the ingredients for the day and make every meal fresh to order without having to hold extra ingredients 'just in case'. I ordered a half-sized portion of my meal each morning as it was more than adequate as the meals were 3 courses.
Koro Sun is not all-inclusive as part of its room prices, but we booked directly through the resort on a promotion that included a reduced price and half-board included in our booking, which proved to be more than enough food for us. We spent approximately $30 each on drinks, which were primarily pop/soda or sparkling water with a meal. They provide filtered water for free. Drinks ranged from 5-25 Fijian. The resort offered free airport pickup by van at the airport. There was no public transportation in the area, but for a short stay we had everything we needed on-site.
Accommodations TOTAL: $1,150.56 per person (total costs split by 2 travellers)
The Cost of Transportation
I am very physically active and love walking and prioritize public/cheap transportation whenever possible. That kept these costs SUPER low. Rental Car: $77 + $15 gas
We rented a car for 1 day in Nadi, Fiji directly at the airport when we had a stopover on the way to Vanuatu after arriving. We took this opportunity to see some sights that were not transit or walkable in the area. Taxi: $40
We took a cab from the Port Vila airport to our hotel since we were absolutely exhausted after about 40 hours of not seeing an actual bed. This was the expected fare but it was a splurge which we didn't repeat since comparatively, the price was SO high compared to using a shared public/private bus.
Public/Private Buses: $24
We took quite a few bus (minivan) services around Port Villa, Vanuatu. These were roughly, $1.50 CAD and run on loosely set roots and pickup spots. After a quick explainer from someone, we were confident enough to wave them down, and explain where we were going, and they'd take us or tell us the wrong route. You paid at the end of the trip. Port Vila has a lot of cruise ship passengers which I assume stick pretty close to the port, while we stayed outside of downtown. We visited when there weren't any ships in and I found drivers and passengers were super helpful and chatty about the obviously very pale white tourists using the local infrastructure and went out of their way to be very patient and helpful.
Walking: FREE
Transportation TOTAL: $70 per person
The Cost of Activities
Many of our activities were free or included in accommodations. MY favourite vacation activity is walking around a local grocery store. Seriously. Try it, it's amazing!
We paid for: 1 tour in Vanuatu - $130
1 tour in Fiji- $120
1 Snorkeling excursion from the resort in Fiji: $65
Activities TOTAL: $320 per person
The Cost of Data and Cell Service
Both Fiji and Vanuatu have programs through private cell providers to offer tourists a very simple 1-3 sim service for FREE at the airport. You have to show your passport to receive it, but then you can simply upgrade or extend your service by providing payment details.
Cell Service TOTAL: $20 per person The Cost of Food
Our food cost was extremely low due to the amount of 'free' food we were eating. When dining in restaurants and cafe, we found the prices relatively comparable to Canadian low-mid range prices. Most flights started with a visit to a lounge where we would eat. And we flew a lot! All accommodations provided free breakfast or all meals free. We would eat a large breakfast and then snack until dinner, which would be very affordable or grocery store food. The two 1 day tours we took included our meals for the day.
I even packed protein granola bars to provide some calories and protein when we simply needed some fuel between meals. We did love an Indian restaurant in Nadi which sadly is now closed but we found google reviews were accurate to our taste. A lot of Fijian food has a lot of Indian influence due to 37% of the population having Indian heritage. And the Thai food here was affordable and good in Port Vila, Vanuatu. I loved the treats and pies at The Hot Bread Kitchen which has multiple locations. The included food at Koro Sun Resort was fresh and so good. We didn't really have a bad meal in the entire 2 week trip!
Food TOTAL: $220 per person
Grand Total Costs
I would classify this trip style as budget with a few key splurges and overall the 2 week Fiji and Vanuatu from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada costs us:
Grand TOTAL: $ 2,933.56 per person It can absolutely be done cheaper! We had a lot of flight costs you would not incur out of Vancouver or Montreal where Fiji has booking sales. Omitting the costs of the Vanuatu portion of our trip and staying in Fiji would save you even more money, without shortening your total trip or limiting your amazing experience! If you want to support my travels and info, feel free to buy me a coffee here. I'm mostly on Tiktok.
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