Great trip, amazing food thoroughly enjoyed the day out, kids enjoyed themselves and enjoyed the traditional dancing

My partner and I went for a day trip on Fri 7 March. While we did get to see a number of sharks and tick that bucket list item off, I think there's a few things folks should know before going on this trip... - This isn't snorkeling like you'd do at a shallow reef or calm water near a beach. You're taken in a tiny boat out to 30mins from the shore to water that's both deep as hell and really choppy in bad weather. - I've snorkeled 5 times in various locations on holidays and snorkeled most weekends from living in Australia for 10 years. I've never snorkeled in water so rough. Even confident swimmers kept their lifevests on (when staff were encouraging folks to discard them if they were "good enough swimmers"). 4 of our party were back in the boat within 5-10mins. If you're not a very confident swimmer think twice about this trip unless it's a clear day with no breeze. And if you go, keep your lifevest on! - Once the snorkeling is done you're taken back to a backpacker/hostel style resort to wait it out for hours until the main ferry comes back. The swimming pool can best be described as a pond, and the resort is exceptionally basic. Not somewhere I'd choose to spend the day if I had a choice. Bear in mind that once you've snorkeled for 25-30mins (not the 45mins you're told), the rest of the day is 2hrs on a ferry to the resort, 2hrs to get back, and the apart from the snorkel, you're stuck on a basic resort with nothing to do. If seeing sharks is a must-do for you, then yup, go for it and knock yourself out. But if you're thinking this is the best thing to do in Fiji - that couldn't be further from the truth!

I told the agent on-line we wanted to go on February 15, 2025. I booked it on January 19, 2025. The agent scheduled us to go to Fiji South Sea Island on that same day ( January 19, 2025)!!! What the heck?!!! When we got to the harbor on February 15th we were advised a "No show charge" was added to my credit card!!! We had to pay again to go on the trip. We were shocked to say the least and are requesting a Refund!

Today (Saturday, 08/02/2025), we went on a full day tour of the South Sea Island 🏝. Whereas the Pacific ocean 🌊 around Denarau/ Nadi, where we are staying, is not clean & clear ( not even blue), near South Sea Island, the water is clean and clear (but the turquoise seduction of Maldives was missing). South sea island is a tiny island, 45 minutes away from Denarau port by a Cruise, which has been developed as a beautiful tourist spot with all the facilities. The island is so small that you can make a complete round of it in 15-20 minutes. It has no jetty & tourists are taken from the Cruise to the island by motor driven boats (picture 2). Our tour package included a lunch (which was sumptuous) & unlimited beverages (tea/ coffee, beer, soft drinks & water). I once again tried to go for Scuba diving but the Trainer & Instructor, Stuart, refused to entertain me because of my age & blood pressure (I had to fill a health declaration). He asked me to bring a doctor's fitness certificate knowing well that there was no hospital on the Island! (Same thing had happened in Elephanta beach at Havelock island in Andaman).😞 Snorkelling was free but we have had enough of it in Maldives 🇲🇻 and Havelock (Andaman), so we avoided it. There was a subsea view ride also with a good view of the Coral 🪸 reef but very little sea life. It made us recall the terrific submarine ride at Maldives that had taken us 120' below sea level for a great view of under sea life. In short, Fiji 🇫🇯 is no patch on Maldives.

The journey was easy, it was very cool in the captain's lounge. On arrival it was a bit chaotic trying to secure seating in the shade and listen to a briefing both at the same time. Lunch was called before we'd even got chance to go in the water which added to the chaos. The food was good though. The snorkelling trip to the reef was great but around the island was not at all good. Very disappointing. Perhaps there were good spots (and I did ask for guidance) but we never found them. There were only 2 snorkelling trips but we were over it all by the time the second one was called....! I would advise securing a seat on the opposite side of the island to where the boat moors, as there was zero breeze otherwise, and it was unbearably hot. The beach was hot and totally broken coral, no nice sand, so wear swim shoes. One final grouch ( and I normally don't grouch) - the staff did not seem the usual friendly bunch one gets all over Fiji. If you got an enthusiastic Bula out of them you were lucky. Even the guys on the snorkelling boat were a bit over it all I reckon. This was low-season. It would be even worse in high season!!! We left early, we'd had enough!!

So much fun!! It was awesome to see the sharks and swim with them! The short boat ride out to the reef was almost as much fun! It was like a bonus thrill ride!!

The views were great. The people were great. The food service was a little disappointing as it took an hour for food to come out and it was cold.

I have used the south seas ferry to Yasawa resorts many times and never been motivated to review until today because after much 5 star service the behaviour of two destroyed all my goodwill. I am not sure but suspect south seas dominant position has led to complacency creep. Collecting baggage on return to Denarau had my bus pointed out. Took bags to bus and a very disinterested (I assume driver) appeared sort of pointed at my bags and said yes yes get on board. I asked if he wanted me to load my bags not that I have EVER had to do that on a tourist bus before but if it was expected so be it. He just ambled off saying get on the bus. I flatly refused to get on the bus and just leave bags unattended. After at most a minute other passengers appeared as did yet another South Seas employee who told us we had to load our bags - I was somewhat incredulous but ok until he did ABSOLUTELY nothing to help but yell at us for not pushing bags into the bus far enough. I turned round and said I will push my bags in as far as I can but I am NOT climbing in the luggage compartment to sort suitcases. We then were informed it would be another 30 minutes before we left which left the choice of sitting in a cold bus (air con requested to be turned off driver said no) or standing outside where it was warmer but also pouring with rain. A few passengers got off requested their bags and took taxis to their hotels.

This is a must do while visiting Fiji!! We did the full day and booked out tickets through viator. 2xA 2x kids 6,3yrs We had the most amazing time plenty of room on the beach for everyone and the bbq lunch was fantastic! The unlimited drinks was great as it’s very hot so you want to stay hydrated at all times, we did a snorkeling trip also included and went out and saw some reef sharks and lots of fish and coral. We had such an unforgettable amazing day out with the kids! Would definitely do that again.

Fantastic day on castaway. Merewai was our host and took us onto the island where she showed us around with lots of information. We then snorkelled and swam and enjoyed the island hospitality. We met Merewai again before re boarding the boat and she told us lots of things about Fiji and the islands. Felt like we had our own private host. Would highly recommend. What a great day and lovely host and people.

What an amazing island and welcoming reception! The whole process from arriving on the island, to instructions and information, friendliness and great BBQ lunch!! We loved it! A smaller boat takes you to the Beach from the large air conditioned boat but it’s only a few minutes and a lovely way to arrive. The BBQ lunch was delicious and free drinks all day! Very relaxing- would highly recommend for families and couples

Brilliant day out. Our guide meremeriba was brilliant. Food was excellent and the snorkeling off the beach was worth the long trip

The Island visit was remarkable, especially my snorkelling experience. Michael was amazing explaining the process and gave me time and made me feel very safe to learn snorkelling

We had a great day trip to Castaway Island. Ticketing and boarding was very easy. We had a calm and scenic boat ride out to Castaway Island via a couple of other islands to drop off visitors. Our guide Merewai was fantastic - friendly, funny, knowledgeable, helpful and attentive. She made our day most enjoyable. Castaway Island Resort was very nice - the staff are lovely, the facilities are great, food was really nice and plentiful, the beach is beautiful and it was a great place to relax.

We had a very disappointing experience with South Sea Cruises during our planned trip to Malamala Beach Club. On the day of our booking, the weather was terrible—pouring rain with no sign of improvement. Anyone familiar with Fiji knows how unpredictable monsoonal weather can be, and with a 19-month-old baby, it simply didn’t make sense to transfer to an island for half a day under such conditions. There’s minimal shelter, and we would have been stuck outside the Club restaurant in the rain, which is not ideal for families with young children. We held off making a final decision until the last hour, hoping the weather might clear up, but it didn’t. The rain was torrential, not just a light drizzle. Their website explicitly states the tour operates only in good weather, and this clearly wasn’t good weather. Despite this, when we tried to cancel due to the circumstances, South Sea Cruises insisted they couldn’t refund or cancel our trip, citing their terms and conditions. This left us feeling frustrated and disheartened. We invested a significant amount of money into our Fiji holiday, but this experience soured the entire trip. As a family with two young children, it was entirely unsuitable to proceed, but it seemed our situation didn’t matter to the company. Had we been adults alone, we might have gone ahead, but our children’s well-being took priority. This experience left us feeling like nothing more than a dollar figure, despite Fiji’s reputation for its family-friendly culture and love for children. Unfortunately, I now regret booking with South Sea Cruises and would not recommend them to others. This lack of understanding and flexibility was disappointing, and we won’t be returning.