Fiji Coral Coast options
Bumpity bump.
Maybe try Yanuca Island resort Furlong. Close ( as possible ) to Frigates. Great fishing and diving.
Staying with locals, the money goes in their pocket. Very beautiful.
But ! ! ! It's informal in that Fijian way , late boat drivers/ kava' d from the night before . Tiny island with few organised activities if you're a resort/ guided tour kind of family.
It is beautiful with nice people and if you're keen there is great times indulging with the locals and living a proxy version of their existence although catered for a short while.
Go do it !
The Fijians are ( loose ) legends with great waves.
Frigates can get GOOD.
Hideaway short hollow wave very wind dependant. Can paddle from beach. Heaps of waves in the area as any reef will have a passage. Sigatoka up the road has a river mouth and black sand beach breaks as does the Fijian resort have a wave on the other side of the bay. All depends on how much swell you get there are other options, you will meet up with others who I'm sure will point you in the right direction. (Or a guide)
Flying back from Kadavu once Cameron Kirkconnell (spear fisherman) tells me as we were flying over the reef passages in the area about the abundance of VERY large bull sharks in each of the reef passages I had surfed, some what un-comforting. At least there is plenty of food, also had a marlin jump and tail walk just outside the breakers don't see that everyday.
Looking at 45mins boat ride from the coral coast to frigates at the closest launching point. Great wave, when it gets above 6ft it starts to look like CB.
I can't add much info about Hideaways or other nearby spots, however I did see quite a few setups with potential on the drive past.
I have stayed in Pacific Harbour and gone on a few day trips with Waidroka. They will do either a half day trip to the local reefs, usually until the tradewinds get too strong, or a half/full day trip to Frigates, depending on what the majority of the surfers staying there want to do. Your hotel should be able to organise a driver for you, but I'd deal directly with Waidroka as they'll have a better idea of surfer numbers and locations. And your hotel can't add on any extra charges.
Well worth a trip to Frigates if the swell is up and tradewinds are blowing!
Oi furlong i stayed at naviti in 2000 with my young family and had the best time.All you have to do is walk next door into the village and introduce yourself and ask about fishing , diving ,surfing options . We ended eating the the best meals every night drinking kava for little dollars and my kids made the best friends with the local kids. At the end of my trip i gave my host family shoes ,fishing gear , tee shirts and whiskey and they were stoked . Im sure if you took some rugby gear it would make it even sweeter have a great time and say hello to sunny and family for me .
Thanks for the tips (except for the one about bull sharks....)
I think i have learnt that i should stop stressing about trying to plan and instead take the laidback Fiji mindset and just enjoy whatever is there.
Cheers all.
Sorry forgot to mention All Blacks gear the local crew idolise .
Get in touch with Paul and the boys at club masa, sigatoka, they will take you everywhere. I once stayed at Warwick and discovered on last day that there was a reef break two minutes down road called "beachhouse rights" (in front of lagoon at beach house backpackers resort). Its close and fun and spot X is a bit further. Everyone us right about fiji time but hey, you want relaxed.....
Hey Furlong you back yet, how was it and did you surf around the area like Hideaways?
No, getting close now. Even more excited after seeing those epic rides at Cloudbreak. I will let you know what I find....
Cool, my family want me to go with them to Hideaways next year but I want to make sure I've got surf options, look forward to your review. Enjoy and may the wave gods be friendly
Just got back and had a great time, I especially enjoyed the afternoon games of touch footy with the locals, and the crankin Fijian reggae on the bus rides but didnt do very well with the surfing.
First set-back was being stung $50 by Fiji Air to take my board even though i was told it would be free while i was booking. First lesson: get any promises in writing.
Secondly, those trade winds...I was told they came up strong at around 11:00am but they blew non-stop for my first five days. I checked Hideaway a few times( $2 bus ride or 40 min walk down the beach) but i couldn't even see the wave because it was so choppy. Since most breaks work best at high tide, going when high tide is in the morning will give you the best chance but no guarantee.
Lastly when arranging boat trips i learnt to call, call again and write down the names of who you talked to so you can lock down the details and not get shafted like i did. I was told by Waidroka surf Resort to get there by 8:00 am for boat trip to Frigates, when i arrived on time after setting out at dawn i was told there was no boat that day as they where not enough passengers. I also spoke to a bloke at my resort who arranged a boat trip from Hideaway to Pipe. When he turned up early there was no space for him as they had given the spots to people staying at the resort. So obviously easier to arrange things from a resort with other surfers.
So overall it was a great family holiday which i would love to do again and hopefully do better with the waves next time.
Thanks for the feedback Furlong, bummer you didn't score some waves
So Furlong, did you not even get one surf in?
That whole coral coast is very exposed to trade winds. Much better either side of the peak tradewind season. But all in all, it's a hoax coast. You'd think it would be full of good set-ups looking at it but it's mostly half waves, close-outs rideable at high tide etc etc
Umm....well i paddled across a creek while walking up the beach to check Hideaways but thats as close as i got. I thought many times about paddling out to check the passage out front of my resort but it was so blown out and choppy with strong currents i was was worried where i might end up.
I did improve my golf game though....
Regarding the swellnet forecast for for CB or Frigates, and the Easterly component there in... does the SWELL, not surf, forecast show the full swell in the water.
i.e. If I see "2.1 m 7.7s 118 (ESE)" tertiary swell (CB Sat 6pm), can I go to a fairly exposed reef on the Coral Coast and expect to see "2.1 m 7.7s 118 (ESE)"????
Cheers.
The swell component should be fine, it's the surf height calculation which takes direction into account.
OK cheers, will let you know how I go if I do... Some flukey winds in the Lee of Viti Levu; surprised at padre76's hoax coast call...
We want to go to Fiji in late January. The group wants to go to the coral coast. Where is good for mellow two to Four foot waves and good for families. Is it a good time to go?
I went there late Jan two years ago. Stayed on the coral coast. I didn't get a chance for many surfs, however hideaway pumped in the 2 - 5' range while I was there - if you get swell, there will likely be no trades that time of year. I don't agree that it's a high tide only wave though; sure it gets sketchier as the tide drops, however guys leave and it gets more hollow. On one session it was just our bunch of mates and 4' sheet glass barrels for 2 hours because "the tide was too low"
Haggis is asking about a mellow wave and Hideaway definitely isn’t that. Sheet glass 4’ barrels would be epic but sounds like that may be beyond the ability of what haggis could handle.
I scored hideaway in 2005 where it pumped every day for a week. Not sure how common this is though as it is a bit exposed to the winds. It does get busy but if you take your time you’ll catch your quota of waves.
I am staying at the Naviti resort in June for a weeks holiday with my family and would appreciate any tips/advice about t the Coral Coast area. I have heard of a break called Hideaways out the front of the resort next door. I am wondering what its like and if it is accessible enough for an everyday surf without abandoning the family for too long. My local library's copy of "The World Atlas of Surfing" mentions a break right out the front of the Naviti but i haven't heard any others references to this on the internet. Does it exist?
Apart from that my research leads me to the Waidroika Bay Resort as the place to go to to get boat rides to Frigates....etc but that sounds like it might be a whole days mission to do from my resort. Also any tips on dive trips from Waidroka to keep the missus happy while i surf.
Any advice would be appreciated...... Cheers.