Things to do in Suva
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Suva
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, May to October, with lower humidity and the best odds for hikes, golf and treks.
Driest months for Suva on Laucala Bay normals, and peak season, so book hotels and Talanoa earliest.
Wet and cyclone season, November to April, hotter and more humid with intense rain bursts and spectacular waterfalls.
Hottest and wettest stretch, when fixed outdoor plans need a spare flexible day.
What's on
- Hibiscus Festival late August to early September
Fiji's flagship festival at Albert Park, eight days of pageantry, music, food and enterprise stalls since 1956.
- Fiji Day 10 October
National day marking cession in 1874 and independence in 1970, most fully marked in the capital.
- Fiji Golf Open around Fiji Day
The Fiji Golf Club's biggest tournament at Vatuwaqa, three days with players from Fiji, Australia and New Zealand.
- Diwali October or November, varies by year
The festival of lights, a public holiday celebrated across communities, with Suva's Indian restaurants at their best.
Best things to do in Suva
Fiji Museum
The national collection in one morning, from Lapita pottery and a great drua canoe to the Bounty rudder.
Suva Municipal Market
One of the Pacific's great markets, best before 9am on Saturday for produce, fish, kava and cheap food stalls.
Thurston Gardens
Historic botanical lawns and mature trees around the Fiji Museum, the calmest picnic half hour in central Suva.
Albert Park
Suva's ceremonial oval opposite the Grand Pacific, famous for a 1928 landing and home to the Hibiscus Festival.
Parliament of the Republic of Fiji
The civic heart of the capital, walked with the Government Buildings, museum and gardens in one compact cluster.
Sacred Heart Cathedral
Suva's main Catholic cathedral in early twentieth century sandstone, a calm interior minutes from the bus stand.
My Suva Park
The city's modern waterfront park for picnics, play and harbour views, best in late afternoon with local families.
Sukuna Park
A small foreshore park named for Ratu Sukuna, a harbour viewpoint on the seawall walk through central Suva.
Where to stay in Suva
Victoria Parade and the harbourfront CBD
first trip, eating out, doing Suva on foot
The museum, gardens, market and best restaurants sit within a fifteen minute walk on the busiest, best lit streets.
Central CBD inland
business, value and longer stays
Apartments and business hotels a few streets back from the water, with kitchens and lower rates and everything walkable.
Tamavua and the Princes Road heights
quiet, gardens and a residential feel
Leafy and cooler above the centre, with a short taxi ride to dinner in exchange for calm and green.
Lami Bay
a resort feel without leaving the Suva area
A bay view hotel town of its own fifteen minutes west, self contained but not walkable to Suva restaurants.
Colo-i-Suva and Princes Road
nature, budget and a rainforest morning
Beside the forest park and handy for Nausori Airport, at the lowest prices, with the city a taxi ride away.
Think twice about
- Suva bus stand and market perimeter
Crowded by day and empty at night, with the petty theft downtown advisories attach to transport and market areas. Visit in the morning, sleep a few streets away.
- Isolated outskirts beyond Lami and along Princes Road
Unlit, broken or absent footpaths, unfamiliar residential areas and no passing transport at night. Without a car and a booked taxi plan, isolation is the risk.
Best restaurants in Suva
KANU Gastropub Suva
Lance Seeto's modern Fijian gastropub, cooking native ingredients with confidence in a colonial era building.
Prince Albert Restaurant
Fine dining at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Suva's formal splurge for premium seafood in a harbourfront room.
Eden Bistro & Bar
A beloved local bistro for seafood and crab curry, with a proper bar and a garden feel away from the CBD.
Tiko's Floating Restaurant
Seafood and steaks aboard a moored vessel on the harbour, with kokoda the dish regulars name first.
Maya Dhaba
Suva's benchmark North Indian restaurant, with tandoor cooking and a serious vegetarian range on Victoria Parade.
Daikoku Suva
Long running teppanyaki theatre in Dolphin Plaza, the city's default special dinner cooked at the grill.
Rudy's Italian Trattoria & Grill
A small suburban Italian trattoria with the highest rating in the city, kept for locals on Ragg Avenue.
An Pho
The highest rated restaurant in Suva, generous Vietnamese pho, tofu and salads at cheap prices in Garden City.
Outdoor things to do in Suva
Colo-i-Suva Forest Park
Rainforest trails to waterfall pools and rope swings fifteen minutes from the city, best on a dry morning.
Mount Korobaba
A steep, muddy summit hike behind the city for the definitive view over Suva harbour and the Rewa delta.
Talanoa Treks
Village partnered guided trekking into the Viti Levu highlands, with homestays, local guides and home cooked food.
Fiji Golf Club
Suva's flat, walkable 18 hole local course from 1908, home of the Fiji Golf Open and a members welcome.
The Pearl Golf Course & Country Club
A Robert Trent Jones Jr championship course through rainforest and canals, the serious golf day trip from Suva.
Rivers Fiji
A full day rafting the Upper Navua gorge past waterfalls, guided by villagers who know the river intimately.
Zip Fiji
Forest ziplines in the hills near Lami, an easy half day of adrenaline a short drive from central Suva.
Best hotels in Suva
Grand Pacific Hotel
Suva's grand heritage hotel facing Albert Park and the harbour, with a pool, spa and the city's finest dining.
Holiday Inn Suva
A consistent harbourfront hotel with balconies and a pool, a ten minute walk from the museum and market.
Novotel Suva Lami Bay
A calm bay view hotel with pool and spa in Lami, a fifteen minute taxi ride from central Suva.
Tanoa Plaza Hotel
A steady full service business hotel a short walk from the market, cathedral and Victoria Parade.
Quest Suva
Serviced apartments with kitchens in the central CBD, the best space per dollar for longer Suva stays.
Five Princes Hotel
A small garden hotel on the Tamavua heights with a pool and a sunset restaurant, quiet above the city.
Rainforest Eco Lodge
Budget rooms beside the forest park entrance, with warm staff, a pool and the waterfall trails at the door.
Is Suva expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | FJD 180 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | FJD 380 a person |
| Splurge | FJD 800 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Talanoa Treks: weeks ahead
- Fiji Golf Club: a few days ahead
- The Pearl Golf Course & Country Club: a few days ahead
- Rivers Fiji: weeks ahead
- Zip Fiji: a few days ahead
- Grand Pacific Hotel: weeks ahead
- Holiday Inn Suva: weeks ahead
- Quest Suva: weeks ahead
- Book waterfront hotels weeks ahead for Hibiscus Festival week and around Fiji Day on 10 October.
- Book Talanoa Treks weeks to months ahead in dry season and Rivers Fiji days to weeks ahead for set departure days.
- Book KANU, Tiko's, Eden and Daikoku for dinner, and do not rely on the Fiji Museum opening on a Sunday.
Is Suva safe?
- Keep bags zipped and in front in the market and bus stand, carry only the day's cash and use the room safe.
- Avoid poorly lit streets alone at night, watch drinks in bars against spiking, and take taxis after dark.
- At Colo-i-Suva go in the morning with a guide or group and store valuables at the visitor centre.
- Use repellent against dengue mosquitoes and keep plans flexible in cyclone season from November to April.
Suva travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Suva has no white sand swimming beach in the city, so judge it as a capital and swim at waterfall pools or Pacific Harbour.
- Compare flea market souvenirs with the municipal market and handicraft centre, where tourist pricing is easier to spot.
- Do not build a night around wandering the Victoria Parade bar strip alone, and arrange the taxi home first.
Getting around Suva: public transport and more
- Walk the flat harbourfront centre, where the museum, market, cathedral and Victoria Parade restaurants sit within twenty minutes.
- Use plentiful inexpensive taxis after dark and for Colo-i-Suva, Lami and Pacific Harbour, and confirm meter or price first.
- Ride the Sawani bus from the bus stand up Princes Road for the Rainforest Eco Lodge and Colo-i-Suva in daylight.
- Nausori Airport is about 23 km away, and Nadi is about five hours by road or a short domestic flight.
Who Suva suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Suva your trip
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