Few locations are as evocative as Fiji and Bali.
Taking over main actual property in most vacationers' imaginations – particularly these of Australians and New Zealanders through the winter months – these two locations carry visions of countless seashores, adrenaline-pumping browsing waves, tropical forests and distinctive cultural experiences. Who wouldn't need to e-book tickets to both?
Sadly, tough choices should typically be made, and vacationers want experience to weigh the deserves of those two trip dreamlands. So we've requested a pair of passionate specialists to make the case for fascinating Fiji and delightful Bali.
Fall for Fiji
Journey author and photographer Chantae Reden not often strays removed from the shoreline. She has ridden a bike throughout Timor-Leste, scuba dived with bull sharks in Fiji and swam alongside humpback whales in Tonga, amongst different escapades.
The hug of heat, tropical climate greets you as quickly as you step off the tarmac in each Bali and Fiji – however you received't discover swarms of drivers shouting to your consideration on the latter's predominant worldwide airport. (After all, there's at all times a taxi driver shut by while you want one.) Fiji's relaxed hospitality begins as quickly as you arrive, and continues till you hear the candy sound of “Isa Lei,” the islands' heartfelt farewell tune.
I've referred to as the 333-island nation of Fiji residence for the previous seven years, and its laid-back and fun-loving bula spirit is really infectious. Though Bali can be near my coronary heart (I wrote a guidebook concerning the Island of the Gods, in any case), Fiji deserves to be your subsequent island escape.
Pristine nature
Fiji's pure wonders are clear and barely crowded. Fiji has fewer than one million residents unfold throughout its lots of of islands, and visitors solely actually exists within the cities the place vacationers few ever enterprise. In contrast to Bali, whose seashores undergo from crowds and plastic air pollution, Fiji's stretches of white sand are pristine all yr lengthy.
Solitude in nature is simple to search out in Fiji. Village custodianship over Fijian lands make waterfalls and trekking trails a bit tougher to entry with no information than these in Bali – however the effort is effectively value it. You possibly can climb to Fiji's tallest peak, Mt Tomanivi, on the island of Viti Levu, or seek for Fiji's uncommon tagimoucia flower on the island of Taveuni, with out encountering one other particular person. Enterprise to the Lau Islands, a area with none formal inns or airports that's solely accessible by boat, and also you're unlikely to come back throughout no different vacationers in any respect.
As for the inns: they're unfold all through the islands, which implies there's no must jostle for a spot within the shade or push back persistent seaside distributors. Even the native markets are a nice place to go to, with most retailers adopting a take-it-if-you-like, no-worries-if-not perspective about their heaps of colourful recent produce.
You probably have little vacationers to please, Bali and Fiji are each top-tier locations for households. But it surely's Fiji that takes the lead in relation to child-friendly tradition and leisure. I've seen lodge safety guards abandon their submit to instigate a sport of contact rugby for youths. Touring across the islands with my toddler twins has given me a glimpse of what it's wish to be handled like a star. Most resorts have children' golf equipment and reasonably priced nannies; mother and father and kids can every get the holiday of their goals.
Waves well worth the journey
Each Bali and Fiji host championship surf contests at their world-class waves. And whereas I can't deny the epicness of Bali's waves of Uluwatu and Padang Padang, Fiji is actually not swell-shy, with its well-known cloudbreak and restaurant breaks. Most of Fiji's waves require a ship experience to achieve – in contrast to the straightforward entry of Bali – however this serves to reduce the crowds at waves finest suited to skilled surfers solely.
Beneath the water, you possibly can peer by means of your dive masks and are available eye to eye with sea life each large and small. Manta rays, sea turtles, lots of of species of reef fish and reef sharks make common appearances round Fiji's vibrant hard- and soft-coral reefs. It's additionally one of many few locations on the earth the place you possibly can dive with bull sharks, with no cage – for those who dare.
Fijian hospitality extends past resort doorways. It's customary to enter a village with a sevusevua conventional present like yaqona (pepper root), then be welcomed with heat. Spend the day sipping coconut shells crammed with kava (the drink made out of floor pepper root), dancing and feasting on Fijian fare of just-caught fish, taro leaves cooked in coconut cream, and smoked meats. On the weekends, comply with the harmonic hymns to the native church or take part on a Hindu celebrations happening in Indo-Fijian communities round Suva, Nadi and Labasa.
Irrespective of the place you go, count on a hearty greeting from “Bula!” and real heat. Bali merely can't beat that.
Wager on Bali
Mark Eveleigh lived in Bali for a yr in 2022 – and has since returned usually to a West Balinese village the place he has some well-stacked bookshelves and a shed full of surfboards.
It's typically mentioned that the very best issues are available in small packages. I fell in love with the diminutive island of Bali 20 years in the past, and have since explored each nook of the island. Even now, I stay shocked by the variability on a land mass lower than a 3rd the dimensions of Fiji.
Most individuals know Bali for its world-famous seashores and celebrated resorts, together with a number of the most luxurious (and costly) on the planet. But you don't want an infinite price range to get pleasure from Bali's pleasures: a bungalow overlooking a abandoned seaside can go for $20.
Its promoting factors have caught on with the crowds, it's true. But solely a minority of tourists – even amongst veteran expats – ever enterprise past the celebrated artwork and yoga heartland round Ubud. Venturing only a bit additional afield, you'll end up amongst dense jungle valleys and huge paddy landscapes that ascend, like a large's staircase, towards the sacred peaks.
Magnificence past the seaside
Don't assume Bali is simply sand. A half-day tour (faster on a rented scooter) takes you to the solitude of the highlands. Bali's spectacular volcanic landscapes stretch westward from sacred Gunung Agung (at 3412m / 11,195ft, it's effectively over double the altitude of Fiji's highest level) previous smoldering Batur to the not often visited rainforests of Batukaru Mountain.
You don't have to hunt out tradition on the Island of the Gods; it's actually in all places, with the colourful rituals of Balinese Hinduism enacted in small villages, the backpacker hangouts of Kuta, and across the stylish seaside golf equipment of Seminyak alike. Spend time exploring additional and also you would possibly even really feel some similarities with far-off Fiji. As in Fijian conventional communities, rural villages are ruled primarily by a neighborhood of elders, often known as the banjar. At Mekare-kare festivals, the place the younger warriors of Tenganan combat to attract blood with pandan “swords,” or through the day by day launching of jukung (outrigger fishing canoes) into the pounding waves, it could be simple to think about that you just're on a Pacific Island. Bali's connection to the ocean is very evident within the fishing city of Perancak, the anchorage for greater than 100 selerekbrightly painted, 20m(66ft)-long fishing vessels.
The western third of the island stays nearly unknown to outsiders, and few vacationers (and even islanders, for that matter) understand that uninhabited jungle and seemingly countless seashores that not often see a international footprint are the norm right here. You would stroll for hours alongside the gorgeous curve of wave-pounded volcanic sand that’s Yeh Leh Seashore – simply 50km (31 miles) from the worldwide airport – with out assembly anybody apart from a handful of native fishermen.
Take to the water
In Fiji, you want a ship to achieve nearly any first rate browsing wave. In Bali, in the meantime, immediately accessible surf breaks have made spots like Uluwatu and Canggu world-famous (maybe just a little too well-known). If you wish to break free from the pack, depend on the low-key surf cities of Keramas, Balian and Medewi – the final city the gateway to numerous, solely un-surfed beach-break waves alongside the southwest coast.
In case you're drawn to calmer waters, Bali has wonderful diving and snorkeling, with sightings of sharks, turtles, barracudas, dolphins and even the occasional whale shark off the tranquil north coast. Inland, you'll discover journey actions within the type of mountain climbing, mountain biking, horseback using, quad-biking and even white-water rafting. You possibly can stroll with uncommon pink buffaloes in Pekutatan, or attend Jembrana's dramatic (if considerably gory) mekepung buffalo chariot races. In West Bali Nationwide Park you possibly can take jungle hikes amid giant herds of untamed sambar deer, gibbon-like ebony-leaf monkeys and flocks of Bali starlings (the island's personal “fowl of paradise”).
If it's the notion of hopping from tropical island to tropical island that pulls you to Fiji and the South Pacific, take into account that Bali is however a speck within the huge, dense Indonesian archipelago. Lombok and the Gilis are on each backpacker bucket checklist, positive – however there are 17,500 different Indonesian islands ready to be explored.
Who is aware of? Considered one of them would possibly even be as enchanting as Bali.
