Most of what you pack for Fiji is what you would pack for any beach trip. This list covers the few things our trip made us think about twice: a lot of sun, rain that arrived without much warning, a boat day, a ferry to a small island, and the plug in the wall. Our route was the Coral Coast by rental car, a Mamanuca boat tour, then the InterContinental on Natadola Beach and Sheraton Tokoriki Island Resort (the full route is in our Fiji itinerary).
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One note before the list: we did not use the specific products below in Fiji. I picked each one to match something that came up on our trip, and where the resorts already covered the need, I say to skip it.
Sun protection: the one thing that went wrong
Sunburn was our one real mistake in Fiji. A bad burn the day before our boat tour meant staying out of the sun on the Mana sandbar, which is a strange way to spend what was probably our favorite day of the trip. The InterContinental has a small boutique that sells sunscreen if you forget, but you want it in your bag before the boat leaves Port Denarau, not after.
For sunscreen, I would start with a mineral SPF 50 like the Project Reef SPF 50 sunscreen (unisex). On the water, a long-sleeved sun shirt covers the shoulders and arms that burn first, and you do not have to keep reapplying to them. A basic UPF 50 shirt does the job, and Sporti makes one for women and one for men, each around $36 when I looked, rather than a pricier rash guard.
Rain, even in a resort week
It rained hard during the season we visited, with thunder one evening at the InterContinental. The resort keeps umbrellas in bins around the property for guests to borrow, so you do not need to bring one for resort days. For boat days and drives along the Coral Coast, I would pack something light rather than a jacket, because Fiji is warm and a shell would be hot. A packable poncho like the Totes unisex rain poncho costs about $10 and folds small.
Shoes for sandbars and reefs
At Tokoriki there is shallow water and a reef for snorkeling right off the resort beach, and the Mana sandbar is another place you walk out through shallows. I would bring a sandal with a strap rather than flip-flops. The Teva Hurricane XLT2 comes in women’s and men’s versions and works in water and on dry land.
Keeping your phone dry on boat days
We took a boat from Port Denarau to the sandbar and Monuriki, and a ferry to Tokoriki later in the trip. Phones, wallets and cameras are easier to keep dry in a small roll-top bag, so I would bring an 8-liter Sea to Summit dry bag. The ferry itself had padded seats and air conditioning, so the bag matters mostly on the open-water days.
The plug in the wall
Fiji uses Type I outlets, the same flat angled pins as Australia and New Zealand, at 240 volts, according to the CIA World Factbook. US plugs will not fit, so you need an adapter such as this Type I plug adapter. An adapter does not change voltage. Most phone and laptop chargers accept 100 to 240 volts (check the label), but hair dryers and straighteners often do not.
What we would not buy for this trip
- Snorkel gear. Our boat tour included it, and the InterContinental has a water-sports building where you can pick up snorkel gear.
- An umbrella. The InterContinental had them in bins around the resort.
- Snacks, until you are at Port Denarau. There was no convenience store on Tokoriki, so we stocked up at a grocery store first and spent about 30 Fijian dollars.
The short list
- Mineral SPF 50 sunscreen
- Long-sleeved UPF sun shirt (women’s or men’s)
- Packable rain poncho
- Strapped water sandals (women’s or men’s)
- Small roll-top dry bag
- Type I plug adapter
Prices and availability change, so check the retailer before you buy. If you are still choosing where to stay, our InterContinental review and Fiji vs Bora Bora comparison cover the rest.
Image credits: all photos are stills from our own videos of Fiji.