How to Book Tours in Fiji + Get the Best Deals

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Booking Tours Through Travel Agencies

Travel agents are companies that specialise in planning and booking travel itineraries for travellers. You’ll find travel agent offices in your home country, as well as offices in Fiji. Think of companies like Flight Centre, STA, House of Travel, Fiji Vacations and Travel Express based overseas or Rosie Holidays, Bula Travel, Fiji Holidays, Fiji Travel Deals, Fiji Escapes, Tropical Holidays Fiji, Fiji Bound, and Fiji Journeys based in Fiji.

The Pros of Booking Tours Through a Travel Agent

• They do the whole planning and booking for you.
• Travel agents have sometimes (not always, so ask) experienced the tours and activities themselves, so they can advise from personal experience. Note, however, that they will have done free trips, which is often slightly different from the paying customer experience.
• You only have to deal with one person, so if there are any changes or cancellations, the travel agent can make them for you.
• Travel agents may be able to offer you good package deals.
• They can help you with some of the logistics of organising your trips, such as visas, transport and other things you might not have thought about.

The Cons of Booking Tours Through a Travel Agent

• Booking through a travel agent may work out more expensive than other methods of booking tours, as tour prices may be pricier considering extra commission is given to the travel agent. There also may be a service fee for planning your trip.
• Using travel agents outside of Tonga means that money is going out of the Tonga economy.
• Travel agents can only offer you the select tours that they sell.
• They often cannot price-match on cheap tour deals.
• Overseas travel agents are known for charging high prices on tours to customers who don’t know any better until they arrive in Fiji, by which time it’s too late!

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Booking Tours Through Resorts and Hotels

Go to the reception or travel desk in your accommodation in Fiji and they will be more than happy to book you onto local activities and tours. On check-in, the receptionist will usually give you an overview of the types of tours the resort offers. You can return anytime to start booking your activities with the resort.

Pros of Booking Tours Through a Resort

• It’s super convenient! Reception is usually open 24 hours in all major resorts and hotels, so you can book a tour anytime while you’re staying at the resort.
• Let the resort staff make the phone calls so you don’t have to pay the high phone network roaming charges.
• It allows you to be more spontaneous.
• They will only offer you the activities that are easy to do from the resort, making for a smooth experience. For activities that are a bit further away, they will usually book transport for you too.
• Like travel agents (see above), resort staff have sometimes experienced the tours and activities themselves, so they can advise from personal experience. Again, they will have done free trips, which is often slightly different to the paying customer experience.

Cons of Booking Tours Through a Resort

• You will almost always be offered the activity at full price, not leaving much room to get a good deal.
• Some resorts will only offer you the activities that make them the highest commission. However, if you have a specific activity in mind, they still may be able to book it for you.
• Resorts will push hard for you to book activities within the resort, meaning you will have to do your own research if you want to do other activities.

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Booking Tours Through Online Travel Agents

If you’re reading this article on this delightful website, then chances are you are pretty comfortable with the online world and might even favour using online booking platforms, also known as online travel agents or “OTAs”. OTAs are websites that compare and book tours, activities, flights and accommodations. However, with the exception of operators in the competitive tourism landscape of Denarau, many parts of Fiji are still catching up with the online world, meaning that many activity operators simply aren’t on online booking platforms. Nevertheless, there are some listings on OTAs such as BookMe, Expedia, Viator and TourRadar for multi-day tours!

The Pros of Booking Tours Through Online Travel Agents

• They are at your fingertips! As long as you have an Internet connection, you’ll find booking with an online booking website super convenient.
  Online travel agents make it easier to compare activities and prices, by listing everything together and offering the ability to filter to your specific needs.
• Many of the booking websites are worldwide, so you can use the same website to book your next holiday and the next.
• Booking websites often have relaxed cancellation policies, where activity and tour providers must offer a full refund or all cancellations up to 24 hours before in order to be listed on the website. For you, this gives you more flexibility.
• The reviews and ratings section of booking websites means that you get a more trustworthy representation of what the activity is like, compared to the positive reviews that activity providers will post on their own websites.
• Tours and activity providers sometimes list their cheapest deals on booking websites, giving you a better deal than what you might get with a resort or travel agent.

The Cons of Booking Tours Through Online Travel Agents

• Many OTAs charge extra fees for booking with them, which you usually don’t find out about until you are about to input your credit card details.
• Tour operators use these booking websites to fill up spaces on less popular tours, so you might only be able to book tours for the unpopular times of day, for instance.
• Some booking websites can be misleading saying there are only “two spaces left on this tour”. What that really means is that there are only two spaces left to book through that specific website, there are probably a lot more spaces if you book directly with the tour company.
• Most online booking websites are based overseas, which can have a negative economic impact on local businesses.
• Relying on booking websites while in Fiji might be a little costly when using roaming data on your phone. However, if you use your data on your phone a lot while in Fiji, consider getting a local sim card. For more advice, see The Best SIM Card in Fiji for Travellers.

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Booking Tours Directly with the Tour Company

Booking tours directly through your chosen tour company is often the best way to get the best price, making it an encouraging booking method when possible. However, with many Fijian tour companies not having websites or being hard to find, there are some challenges when it comes to booking directly in Fiji.

If you struggle to find a website of your chosen tour company, the only way you can book directly with them is likely over the phone, through a travel agent or their Facebook Page.

The Pros of Booking Direct

• All the money you are paying for the tour goes directly to the company, as they do not need to pay commission to anyone else.
• It’s possible to get the cheapest deals by booking direct. By cutting out the middleman of travel agents, no commission needs to be paid therefore they don’t need to raise their prices in order to make a profit.
• If you find a cheaper deal elsewhere, the tour company will almost always match it or offer you a cheaper price.
• Booking direct makes you a more independent traveller, which means you’re more likely to stick to your budget, rather than being tempted by add-ons that travel agents might offer.

The Cons of Booking Direct

• It’s more time-consuming and stressful to book everything yourself. It’s up to you to do the price comparisons, contact the companies, and make sure everything is booked on the right date at the right time.
• In many cases, tour companies have strict cancellation policies where you probably will not get a full refund if you have to cancel the trip.

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Conclusion: Which Booking Method to Choose for Booking Tours in Fiji

There’s no “best” booking method when it comes to booking tours in Fiji – it’s more like whatever booking method suits your needs. For instance, if you are a newbie to organising your own trip or saving money is not an issue for your holiday in Fiji, then booking through a travel agent or your resort will probably be the best option. On the other hand, seasoned travellers might prefer to have more control over their own itinerary and save a few bucks along the way by booking directly with the tour company. If you want to be really crafty, use online travel agent websites to compare tours and activities, then book directly with the company to ensure you’ll get the best deal possible.

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How to Get the Best Deals on Tours in Fiji

Anywhere we can save money on travel is a good thing, so when it comes to tours, how can we get a good deal? While it’s not always easy to save money on tours in Fiji, there are a few nifty tricks worth trying to make sure you get the best deal. We’ll go through some of those tricks right now in this guide to getting the best deals on tours in Fiji!

Buy Tours in Fiji, Not From Overseas

While it makes sense to book accommodation from overseas, offering peace of mind that you have somewhere to stay once you arrive, the same cannot be said for booking tours from overseas. Travel agents and cruise liners are notorious for selling tours at their premium price to travellers who, well, don’t know better until they arrive in Fiji. By that point, it’s probably too late.

Travel agents and cruise liners are in the business of making big commissions off travel products, like tours, which means that prices are often priced much higher for the seller to make a significant commission, as well as for the tour operator to make money on their tour still. If you absolutely have to book a tour before you arrive in Fiji, book the tour directly with the tour operator to ensure you’re at least getting the retail price.

Additionally, last-minute deals are a common thing in Fiji, especially in busy tourist centres like Port Denarau and the Coral Coast. Many operators will offer things like “Two for One” deals or discounted rates to fill spaces on the tours. All in all, it usually pays to be more spontaneous when it comes to doing tours in Fiji.

For more money-saving tips, see 10 Ways To Save Money on a Cruise to Fiji and 20 Ways to Save Money When Travelling in Fiji.

See What Tours Are Included in Your Resort

It’s important to know what is offered at various resorts before you panic about having nothing to do in Fiji. Resorts in Fiji offer their own in-house tours, many of which are free. This is especially true for resorts that are a bit more off the beaten track.

While resorts in Nadi, Denarau, the Coral Coast, the Pacific Harbour and the Mamanuca Islands mostly offer activities with external tour operators, resorts in Fiji’s outer islands, like the Yasawa Islands, Vanua Levu, Taveuni, the Lomaiviti Islands and Kadavu, offer their own tours and activities.

Free tours that we have regularly seen include medicinal and herbal tours, tropical garden tours, Fijian weaving and crafting tours, kava ceremonies, island walking tours, cultural dance shows and much more! That’s on top of the usually free use of kayaks, snorkelling gear or beach sports equipment.

So, when deciding on a resort, be sure to take a look at what types of experiences are included in your stay!

Do Tours With the Locals

Finally, one of our top hacks for saving big money on activities in Fiji is staying with the locals! By doing homestays with locals, not only do you get nights in affordable accommodation, but many of the locals also offer activities for a cheap price.

Locals will offer Fijian cooking classes, snorkelling trips, crafting lessons, fishing and more for a fraction of the price of what independent tour operators and resorts offer. However, tours with locals are usually not as “streamlined” or as “polished” as a proper tour, offering a more casual approach that you might not be used to in a tour. Note that some safety features may be lacking, such as life jackets in boats, where locals might need to be prompted that you want these features – then they are usually happy to provide.

See some ways to stay with locals in the 20 Authentic Village Stays in Fiji.