Fiji is greener than French Polynesia, more equatorial, with interior mountains that drive rainfall and produce the lush vegetation of a tropical landscape rather than the drier, more austere scenery of the Society Islands. The sea is correspondingly warm: 27–29°C year-round in the charter area, with visibility of 25–30 metres on the outer reefs.
The Mamanuca Islands, west of the main island of Viti Levu, are the accessible end of the Fiji charter market — a short sail from Port Denarau, sheltered by the Nadi reefs, with the barefoot-luxury resort aesthetic that the Pacific does well. The Yasawas extend further north: a chain of sixty volcanic islands with a more traditional village culture and fewer tourists.
The Lau Group is another world. Sitting 300 miles east of Suva at the edge of the Tongan plate, the Lau islands are geologically distinct from the rest of Fiji — more coral, more atoll-like, with the best diving in Fijian waters. Namuka-i-Lau, Fulanga and the fortress-like island of Vatoa are virtually unvisited; a foreign vessel arriving in a Lau village anchorage is still an event that the whole community turns out for.
The kava ceremony — an extended, formal welcome that involves drinking a mildly narcotic root infusion while sitting cross-legged on a woven mat — is one of the genuinely unrepeatable experiences of a Lau charter.
- Outer Lau Group — pristine coral reefs visited by perhaps one yacht a week
- Village kava ceremony — a formal welcome that cannot be arranged, only received
- Yasawa Island chain — volcanic anchorages with traditional Fijian culture
- Beqa Lagoon — one of the world's great dive sites, famous for shark feeding dives
The dry season (May–October) brings the southeast trade winds, lower humidity and the clearest diving conditions. The wet season (November–April) is warmer, more humid and brings occasional cyclone risk, though Fiji is south of the main cyclone belt and direct hits are infrequent. Water temperature is comfortable year-round.
