Jul 7, 2024
Half Day Nadi Tour incls Sri Siva Temple, Orchid Gardens,Local Village & Markets was great - The 1/2 day island tour was very nice with Avi. He was a great tour guide. In addition to the sights, he gave us information on taxi's, restaurants to try, and which stores and markets to go to. He also told us about his life, too, and it was fun to learn how Fijians study and live.
When we stopped at the Sri Siva temple, it was especially interesting as Avi is Hindu and explained the temple and region from his perspective. We also were lucky enough to see a couple that had just gotten married at the temple, and a couple that were getting their car blessed.
We saw the valley of the Sleeping Giant. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so we didn't get to see the sleeping giant, silhouette, but I'm glad we saw the cloudy version.
We hiked in the orchid gardens, which was a very nice hike. The flowers and greenery was very pretty.
Avi took us to a produce market and explained the various fruits and vegetables to us. I felt no pressure to buy any of the produce. The place was a nice market to buy produce, if you would want to.
We stopped at a store where there was a demonstration of the Kava ceremony. You could try the kava, also. The shops had items you could buy (we had ice cream to take away the flavor of the kava!!). I felt no pressure in the store to purchase items. We did buy a bracelet, but I didn't feel obligated to buy it.
Avi also took us to the first Village. The village tour wasn't much, but it was interesting to hear. Avi did warn us that there will be a trinkets set up to purchase after it. He told us we did not need to feel obligated to purchase the items, but to also understand that that is how they make their money so they may give some pressure. I did purchase a bracelet at the village. Because I did feel like I should ( not because of how they acted, but because I understand tourism is important to the island).
I mentioned that I did not feel pressure to buy items, because several reviews stated they did feel pressure. Maybe it's the guide, I don't know. We had a very enjoyable experience on this 1/2 day island tour, and I recommend it (especially with Avi!).
Review provided by Viator
Apr 5, 2024
Great information about... - Great information about the island and a lot packed into a half day. We even got to see Drua women’s rugby team practice.
Review provided by Viator
Aug 31, 2022
Informative Cultural Tour - This was such a comprehensive local tour of Fijian culture! Not only did we get to see how locals live, the local markets etc, our guide Sami was just so friendly and knowledgeable and shared with us so much information the entire time! The trip was enjoyable and a good break from all the water activities, especially if you want to learn more about the culture.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 3, 2022
Nadi City, Temple, Garden, and Village Trip - The weather was beautiful. The city, temple and gardens experience was wonderful, but I personally enjoyed the visit to the oldest village on the island. The family atmosphere and love for God, family, friends, and country was touching. The people of Fiji are the most FRIENDLY of any I’ve met around the world. They are genuine. Sashi, our tour guide, was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, and cared about our comfort. He made the trip memorable.
Review provided by Viator
Jul 9, 2024
Great tour worth doing small group size - The tour guide was very informative. All the places we went to were worth visiting. Just felt a bit rushed at the village. Wasn't shown around properly but it was still worth visiting. Enjoyable day.
Review provided by Viator
Nov 5, 2023
Solid - Nice tour. Tour guide was hilarious. We went through the market quickly because it was so hot. The village was quick, while the village guide was kind, we did a different village tour the next day that far surpassed this one. The hike was my favorite!
Review provided by Viator
Mar 2, 2024
Easy way to see the sights of Nadi - We thoroughly enjoyed the different places we visited on the tour but the tour guide made us feel a bit uncomfortable with contant references to the "Indian" and the Fijian sections of the city & surrounding areas.
His guided tour at the Temple was too long & included too much detail that by the time we left the Temple our heads were spinning & overloaded with information.
Highlight of the tour was the Garden of the Sleeping Giant - the guide there was very informative as she guided us through the beautiful orchids & other parts of the garden.
Review provided by Viator
Aug 14, 2022
Bit Disappointing - Pick up from Doubletree Resort cost $30 per adult on top of the cost of the "tour". Then the first stop at the temple is underwhelming, next to the souvenir shop to buy, then to the fresh fruit market to buy more, then to the garden which is quite nice, but everything on a clock, gotbto keep moving. Then to the village, the first in Fiji, but very underwhelming and set up to buy more souvenirs. It felt a bit icky, like we HAD to buy things. Very unfortunate to have paid such a lot of money to mostly be encouraged to spend more, clearly there are relationships or kick backs at each spot.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 27, 2022
Late, hot, no consideration for the guests interests - The gardens are worth a visit, but don’t take this tour! The tour went 3 hours over the end time of 12:30. This due to backtracking to drop off and pick up guests who were on a different tour! The tour operators did not provide any food and only 1 water bottle. We were dropped off at 2 places where the locals expected that we would buy from them in their market. This should not be an expectation from the tour guests. I would not use this company.
Review provided by Viator
Jan 3, 2023
Stay away from this one! - The “handicraft market” turned out to be Jack’s of Fiji. Really? There is a Jack’s store in every hotel and shopping center in Nandi. Taking us to a food market didn’t make any sense. We couldn’t buy anything because we still had several hours of touring ahead of us and would have no way to keep things refrigerated. The historical village was the worst. We were dropped off in front of multiple tables of crafts and trinkets and pressured to buy things we didn’t want. SO uncomfortable and icky. The 4 - 5 hour tour dragged on to 7 hours! No lunch provided! The van was hot and everyone was sweating and starving when we were finally dropped off at 3 pm. Do NOT take this tour. Find some other way to see the orchid gardens. They were the only thing worthwhile on the whole trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor