Fiji - what a travel highlight

^{Picture by @detlev in 1993 and optimized by Gemini 2025}

So there I was in 1993, stepping off a plane in Fiji. Hot. Really hot. Like, way hotter than I expected. I'd seen some photos in a travel magazine or something, read a bit, but yeah, nothing really prepares you.

Why I did this post? It's my Pin #300 on my worlmappin map at

Memories from a 6 month round the world trip that changed my life

But first, where is Fiji?

We might all know the word but who knows exactly the location? To make it easy, south of Hawai and east of Australia. Close to Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu. Does this help?? May a little bit but here is a map and for more funtions, this post is as well on #worldmappin.

^{Picture by Oceanic Schooner Company}

Getting My Diving Certificate in Nadi

I decided pretty much right away that I was gonna learn to dive. Why not? The water was right there, and I figured, when else am I gonna do this? Plus everyone kept talking about how amazing the reefs were.

First day in the pool though - complete disaster. I kept trying to breathe through my nose underwater like an idiot. Every single time. And the mask kept fogging up. My instructor was this English pro diver who worked at offshore oil platforms, Dave I think his name was, or maybe Dan? English anyway. He just laughed and said something like "guy, you're thinking too much, just breathe normally." Which is easy to say when you're not the one panicking in a pool.

But then, man, the first real dive. We went down, I don't know, maybe five meters? Not that deep actually. And I'm there on the sand, trying to remember all the hand signals and not touch anything and equalize properly. Then this school of fish just appears out of nowhere. Hundreds of them. Just surrounding me. I actually forgot to breathe for a second which is like, the one thing you're NOT supposed to do. But they were so close I could've touched them. Blues and yellows and some with stripes.

The coral was insane too. Looked fake honestly, like too colorful to be real.

Got my certificate after maybe five or six days? Lost track honestly. But I remember being super proud walking around with that card in my wallet.

The "Whales Tale" – Best Decision I Ever Made

Okay so then the sailing trip. The "Whales Tale." This ship was incredible. Old wooden thing, thirty meters long - they told us that, might've been less, but it was big. Two masts. Smelled like wood and salt and I don't know, just old. Good old though.

^{Picture by Oceanic Schooner Company}

We had maybe ten or twelve people on board? Mix of everyone. Couple Australians of course, some people from New Zealand, two other Germans. This one guy from Sydney wouldn't shut up about rugby the entire time but he was alright.

During the day we'd just sail. I'd sit up front for hours, feet over the edge, watching the islands go by. My legs got so sunburned the first day I could barely walk. Should've worn more sunscreen but whatever, too late.

^{Picture by Oceanic Schooner Company}

The nights were the best part. We'd anchor somewhere - these little bays where we were completely alone. One night (second night? third? somewhere in there) we all went swimming and the water was glowing blue. Bioluminescence or something like that, one of the Aussies explained it but I wasn't really listening. I was too busy waving my arms around watching the light trail behind. Like magic.

The ship made these noises at night, creaking and groaning. First night I thought we were sinking. Asked someone about it in the morning and they just laughed at me.

Oh and the food on the ship was pretty basic. Lots of rice and fish. Not complaining though, it was fine. Better than I expected actually.

The Blue Lagoon - Yeah, THAT Blue Lagoon

So we sailed past this place called the Blue Lagoon. Or maybe we anchored there? It's a bit hazy now but I'm pretty sure we stopped for a few hours at least.
Someone on the boat - might've been one of the crew - mentioned that they filmed that movie there. You know, "The Blue Lagoon" with Brooke Shields. The one from the 80s. I'd never actually seen it but everyone got excited about it anyway.

^{Picture by @detlev in 1993 and optimized by Gemini 2025}

The place was ridiculous. Like postcard ridiculous. This sandbank with palm trees sticking out, turquoise water everywhere, these dark green hills in the background. I think the actual island was called Nanuya something. Lailai maybe? There were a bunch of islands close together there - Turtle Island was nearby too, that's where they actually filmed most of the movie I think.

^{Picture by @detlev in 1993 in 768x512 size}

We anchored and just swam around for a while. The water was so clear you could see the bottom even when it was deep. Well, deeper anyway. Maybe ten meters? I'm terrible at judging depth.
There was this one sandbank that was only knee-deep for like fifty meters out. You could walk out into the lagoon and it felt like you were walking on water. Couple people from the boat were doing handstands out there, taking photos. I tried too but just fell over. Not as easy as it looks.
The palm trees on that little sandbank - I took so many photos of those. Pretty sure none of them came out great because my camera wasn't waterproof and I was worried about getting it wet. But I tried anyway.

We ate lunch on the boat anchored there. Just sandwiches or something simple, but eating lunch in the Blue Lagoon felt pretty special. Even if it was just a sandwich.

I remember thinking the whole scene looked fake. Too perfect. Like someone had designed it specifically to look tropical and beautiful. But nope, that's just how it looked.

Only stayed a few hours I think. Could've stayed days honestly. But we had to keep moving, other islands to see and all that.

Still one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. And I didn't even know it was famous when we stopped there. So we went further to see a cave.

The Sawa-i-Lau Caves - Swimming in the Dark

Okay so before we got to the village visit, we stopped at these caves. Sawa-i-Lau Caves they're called. On this island with the same name - Sawa-i-Lau. Part of the Yasawas.
Someone on the boat had been going on about these caves for like two days. "You have to see them, they're incredible, blah blah blah." I was skeptical honestly. I mean, how amazing can a cave be right?
Wrong. So wrong.

We anchored offshore and took a small boat to the island. Had to wade through shallow water to get to the beach. The entrance to the cave was this dark opening in the limestone cliff. Not huge, but big enough to walk through if you ducked a bit.

^{Picture by @detlev in 1993 and optimized by Gemini 2025}

Inside though - completely different world. The main chamber was massive. Like cathedral massive. There was this pool of water, crystal clear (you don't see it on the pics), and light coming in from somewhere above. The water glowed this bright blue-green color. Someone said it was connected to the ocean underground or something.
People were swimming in it. Just floating around in this underground pool. So obviously I jumped in too.

The water was cool but not cold. Maybe twenty-something degrees? Refreshing after being in the sun all morning.

There was supposedly a second chamber you could reach by diving underwater through a tunnel. I tried to find it but chickened out halfway through. Too dark and I couldn't see where I was going. One of the other guys made it through though and said it was even more beautiful than the first chamber. Still kicking myself for not doing it.

The whole cave had this echo thing going on. Every sound bounced around. Someone started singing and it sounded incredible in there.

We probably stayed an hour or so. Could've stayed longer but the boat was leaving and I didn't want to get left behind on a random island.

Legend says some Fijian god hid in these caves or lived there or something. Can't remember the exact story. But standing in there, looking at that glowing water and the light coming through the rock, I could see why people would make up stories about gods living there.

Definitely one of the highlights. Should've brought a waterproof camera but of course I didn't think of it.

^{Picture by @detlev in 1993 and optimized by Gemini 2025}

The Yasawa Islands and Meeting the Chief

This was probably the most important part of the whole trip. Or at least the most memorable. We visited this village on one of the Yasawa islands - don't remember which one exactly, they all kind of blur together now.

Our guide Seru (definitely remember his name because he said it like twenty times) explained beforehand that we needed to bring kava root for the chief. Sevusevu they call it. Some kind of traditional thing. He was pretty serious about it - said we couldn't enter the village without it. So we stopped and bought this bundle of dried roots that looked like old tree branches.

The village was small. Maybe thirty huts? Forty? Kids everywhere, running around staring at us. We probably looked ridiculous, bunch of tourists in their hiking sandals and sunhats.

The chief's hut was bigger. We had to take off our shoes and sit on these mats. My legs cramped up almost immediately but I didn't want to move and be disrespectful or whatever. The chief was this older guy, gray hair, really weathered face. But he had this smile that made you relax a bit.

Seru did all the talking in Fijian. Went on for a while. I just sat there trying not to shift my weight too much. Eventually the chief said something back and Seru translated - basically "welcome, you're our guests now" or something like that.

Then they made the kava. They pounded up the roots and mixed it with water in this big bowl. It looked like dirty water honestly. The chief drank first, then they filled up this coconut shell thing and handed it to me.

I was supposed to clap once before drinking - Seru had explained this - so I did that. Then drank it down.

Tasted awful. Really earthy and bitter. Made my tongue go numb which was weird. But everyone was watching so I just tried to smile and not make a face.

^{Picture by Oceanic Schooner Company}

The whole thing lasted maybe an hour? Hour and a half? Hard to say. But sitting there in that circle, watching this ceremony that's probably been done the same way for hundreds of years, it felt important somehow. Like I was seeing something real, you know?

Also my legs hurt for like two days after from sitting cross-legged that long.

"Bula!" Changed How I See the World

Okay so everyone in Fiji says "Bula." Everyone. All the time.

^{Picture by theloverspassport.com}

Taxi drivers yell it. Kids on the beach shout it at boats. Shop people say it. Random people you pass on the street. At first I thought it was just for tourists, like they're supposed to be friendly for the tourism industry or whatever.

But then it kept happening even in places with no tourists. Little villages. Random beaches. Middle of nowhere.

I remember one time - think it was towards the end of my trip - I was walking through this village, completely lost, trying to find my way back to where our boat was. This old guy, must've been seventy or eighty, sitting outside his hut. He sees me wandering around confused and just grins and shouts "Bula!"

I shouted back "Bula!" and he cracked up laughing. Like it was the funniest thing ever.

By the end I was doing it too. Saying bula to everyone. Every boat that went past. Every kid. Every person I saw. And honestly? Made me feel good every time.

Someone told me it means "hello" but also "life" and "health." So it's not just hi, it's like... acknowledging life I guess? I don't know, that sounds cheesy but it's true.

I still say it sometimes now when I'm by myself. Just to remember and to go back to that good vibe.

All the islands

Read facts about Fiji at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji and even more about history at https://www.britannica.com/place/history-of-Fiji

What I Brought Back

So yeah. Fiji 1993. That was the trip.

Changed how I think about traveling I guess. And about people. There are places where life just moves slower and people are genuinely warmer. Not fake warm, actually warm.

When I'm stressed now, or things are crazy at work or whatever, I think about those nights on the boat. Just rocking gently in some bay. Or that chief smiling at me. All those people shouting Bula.

Sometimes I wonder if the "Whales Tale" is still sailing. Probably not after thirty years but who knows.

Anyway. That's Fiji. Best trip I ever took. Should probably go back sometime. Better soon!!

^{Picture by @detlev in 1993 and optimized by Gemini 2025}