It happens some time between New Year’s and, well, World Kidney Day (yes, Virginia, March 12). The cold starts to freeze your thoughts, darken your dreams and bring on bouts of binge-watching reruns of “The Voice.” That’s your cue.
The powers that be are telling you it is time to head west, far west, to places where painted fish hide in plain sight amid wavy coral tendrils as friendly sharks and sting rays sweep the sandy bottoms of translucent seas.
Pick an island and own it, if only for a few days. Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji: The deals are there to be discovered along with a certain warmth that will melt the madness of winter and make it summer just in time.
Eye on Hawaii
There are four islands here to consider, and each has its own reason to be. Whether you’re heading to romantic Maui, amazing Hawaii or wild Kauai, you will likely be stopping in Oahu to change planes or stay the night. But Oahu offers plenty of its own great reasons to stay. Oahu has the surfing, the shopping, the urban attitude and the history and should not be overlooked, even if the end destination is an onward island.
Waikiki may be a bit crowded for relaxation but it’s a good place to get feet wet in surfing lessons and try on those Jimmy Choos while designer shopping along Lewers Street. The Ala Moana Shopping Center is the biggest mall in the state with 290 stores and plenty of transportation available back and forth from the resort district.
Of the properties to consider in Waikiki, Outrigger has the deals and some of the best rooms overlooking the Pacific, and all within sight of Diamond Head.
Upscale travelers can head to the Halekulani on Gray’s Beach on the margins of wacky Waikiki. The hotel offers plenty of history and some of the best mai tai sunset moments on the planet.
Serious surfers should hit the waves of Oahu’s North Shore. The beaches are less crowded and waves do not disappoint. Eat garlic shrimp out of the shrimp shacks dotting the Kamehameha Highway and stay at Turtle Bay Resort (think “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) in a bungalow by the water. The sunsets there are postcard grade.
Top take-ins around Honolulu are Pearl Harbor, the Chinese markets of downtown and the Iolani Palace – all offering various depths of island and U.S. history. (Guests of the Halekulani can take advantage of the hotel’s museum pass program for complimentary admission to most the of the island’s top museums and art galleries).
Outrigger Reef on the Beach in Waikiki offers rooms starting at $215. Make that $520 at the Halekulani – a favorite spot for weddings and honeymoons. Turtle Bay Resort offers a fifth night free.
Tapping Tahiti
Just under two hours from Hawaii and eight hours from the U.S. West Coast, Tahiti provides a much more ocean-centric stay for those who want to get away – from just about everything. A blend of island groups numbering some 118 in total (although many of them coral and uninhabited), Tahiti’s history is mostly a tale of ancient migrating islanders, a variety of Christian missionaries, a bit of Captain Bligh, an unstoppable Captain Cook, French domination and Americans fighting World War II in the Pacific.
The mélange means the food smacks of French saucing, hotels reflect French sensibilities, every village has a church and every volcanic land mass claims to have a peak that is the real Bali Hai.
The top islands to visit are the island of Tahiti, nearby Moorea (a 30-minute ferry ride away), Tahaa, Raiatea and Bora Bora. However, some treasures wait in the outer atolls as well.
Papeete on the main island of Tahiti is usually a pass-through en route to other islands. Although there is a town – an urban cough about six blocks squared with sprouts of black pearl jewelers and polyester beach attire (don’t miss the central market, however) – prices are absurd and, because Tahiti must import just about everything except coconuts, choices are not wide. Still, it’s walkable and colorful, and treasures can be found (consider artful jewelry at some of the gallery-grade boutiques or a dose of noni juice, a powerful anti-oxidant that is said to also cure depression).
Stay at the Manava Suite Resort, just 12 minutes from the international airport (or a 20-minute, $25 taxi ride from town) and on a gorgeous shore expanse overlooking Moorea in the distance. Rooms there are suites with cute kitchens and Wi-Fi is complimentary with the room tariff of approximately $150 per night plus taxes and fees.
The same hotel company, South Pacific Management, offers properties on Moorea, Bora Bora, Tikehau and Easter Island. While Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort is its flagship with 50 overwater bungalows and 30 garden and beach villas, plus a bar-none spa and dining that includes gourmet Italian specialties, perhaps it is the unplugged Tikehau Pearl Beach Resort that really gets the gold ring.
In a corner of this magnificent atoll that is about 20 miles by 60 miles in area, 24 overwater bungalows and a dozen beach villas provide perfect shelter from just about everything else in the world. The Motu Tiano containing the Tikehau Pearl is reached by 15-minute boat ride from the airport.
The Tikehau Pearl is where you go to watch a menagerie of fish rummage the clear shallow waters under your feet, or listen to the wind and nothing else as you lounge on your wooden terrace over the water. There is nothing else here – only a circle of coral outcroppings keeping the oceans at bay and teeming with bird life, exotic fish life and a few wandering humans checking out the hammocks or lounging by the freshwater pool.
Accommodations are more upscale Caruso than Four Seasons on stilts. Only the beach villas are air-conditioned, which for overwater bungalow guests means sleeping under mosquito nets and listening to fish splashes and island breezes at night. Wi-Fi works most of the time, albeit slowly, but is complimentary, as are the precious breakfast buffets. A single kitchen keeps the menu going all day, but most visitors come this way to get away – to the islands nearby to bird-watch, picnic and swim, to snorkeling in special spots along the atolls and to remember that it is the quiet and lack of crowds they are seeking.
The island requires a 50-minute flight from Papeete, as do most of the destinations in these parts. A two-day stay is nice, four days is plenty; seven days and you might start talking like a fish. Rates run around $650 per night plus taxes and fees and main meals.
Finding it in Fiji
A 10-hour flight from Los Angeles – or as marketers like to say, “two meals, three movies and a nap,” Fiji finds itself in the far-flung regions of the Pacific, a spread of some 332 islands on a 7,100-square-mile spread. Unlike some of the other island destinations noted here, Fiji is set up for tourism in a variety of handy ways. Ferries ply the Mamanuca and the Yasawa islands with regular schedules that allow travelers to visit other islands with ease and affordably. Fiji’s islands feature rich volcanic soil, so the islands import less and hotels can depend on local sourcing. Excellent roads lace the main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, and for those looking for a back island vacation, take your pick. Dozens of islands accessible only by boat, plane or helicopter offer the private island experience with everything from backpacker shacks to uber-luxury villas.
An easy choice for the on-island and off-island experience is Outrigger Fiji, featuring the Outrigger Lagoon on Viti Levu, about 45 minutes drive from Fiji International Airport in Nadi (pronounced “Nandi”), and Outrigger Castaway Island, a three-hour ferry ride from Nadi in the Mamanuca island chain.
The Lagoon property marks an easy intro to Fiji. Near the town of Sigatoka, it is possible to take a river ride to a backwater village for a day of partying with the locals – sampling their sacred kava kava, visiting their schools and houses, picnicking and dancing with the locals.
Do not expect to shop in Fiji, unless you like shell jewelry and sarongs. But do expect to eat. Whether crusty Austral lobster, fresh chicken curry or piquant coconut shrimp, Fiji is on the competitive-food movement path and pulling up chefs that are winning world attention.
Guests of Outrigger’s Castaway Island will have a chance to test the waters – and the food – as one of Fiji’s finest (now tabbed the official Fiji Food Ambassador), Lance Seeto, makes his home there and cooks up amazing meals – a la carte or part of resort meal plans – at his signature restaurant, 1808 (named for the year the Chinese first set foot in Fiji).
Food aside, the fish are biting and Outrigger Castaway Island is just minutes away from two amazing spots in this world. The first is the uninhabited island used to film “Castaway” with Tom Hanks. Find Wilson still there, but nothing else. The island is a wild mound of sand, caves and cliffs, surrounded by warm calm waters and perfect picnicking conditions. The second must is Namotu Wall, a 3,000-foot plunge of incomparable fish life whether seen just below the surface or in the depths.
Fiji’s fortune has been its ability to offer island resorts with just that – the island, the luxury resort it supports and nothing else. And there are plenty of these to choose, depending on budget (although always pricey), tastes, time and focus. The Royal Davui, for instance, is a precious island resort with just 16 villa accommodations and only 45 minutes from the main island of Viti Levu (where Nadi and the Fiji’s international airport are located). The resort is a good choice for time-debting travelers as it offers the remote private island luxury experience without the lengthy travel times and possible hassles – weather often prevents private plane transfers to area island and ground passengers at properties around Nadi (although these properties are brand chains, such as Sheraton, Marriott and Hilton).
The adults-only Royal Davui can be accessed from a small harbor about two hours’ drive from Nadi via a 45-minute speedboat ride. Villas there are independent and private and huge. A spa is at the ready, as is a doting staff, and meals here are a hidden treasure whether seafood or vegetarian. Rates start at around $821, but that is all-inclusive. A “Stay Seven, Pay Five” deal is in place through mid-March.
For the far island experience that Castaway can offer, accommodations veer to humble bungalows with large stone bathrooms, day beds, tapa paintings covering the bure ceilings and air conditioning. Front porches overlook the ocean, hammocks and loungers within reach. A sense of privacy pervades. Catering to approx. 132 guests at the max (all must arrive by boat (although helicopters are an option, too). There is a small spa, two pools, four restaurants, nannies on tap to entertain the children (the island is a favorite for families) and a great three-mile hiking loop up a large hill to exquisite vantage points. Wi-Fi is free and available in the public areas. Rates at Outrigger Castaway Island start at around $500 per night, not counting meals.
Lark Gould reports on travel and the travel industry from Los Angeles. She blogs on Larkslist.com and covers trends on Travel-Intel.com.
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