Fiji Attractions: Robinson Crusoe Island Cruises and Tours

This post is part of a bigger series of posts about my time in Fiji. For more, see the parent post here.

The beach at Robinson Crusoe Island #NoFilter

The Basics

Robinson Crusoe Island is a small island off the south-western coast of Viti Levu. It is a beautiful place that is bursting with history. The island has a single resort that is run by the High Chief’s family in partnership with Australians. The island itself doesn’t have a local community – it is just inhabited by the resort staff.

The island has two tours – a Day Tour or Night Tour that seemed to run on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. You can also choose to go on a combo tour and get the best of both worlds. That’s what we choose to do!

For those looking for to island hop around Fiji, the island also offers its own accommodation that is incredibly modest – I’m talking buckets of water for showers and incredibly Spartan lodgings that would suit backpackers. We met a group of wonderful people on the island who were doing just that. They only stayed for a night or two but seemed to be on an amazing adventure.

The Cost

The combo tour cost $150 Fijian per person – or about $95 AUD. To say it was worth it would be an understatement! This price included transfers to and from the hotel, travel to the island, lunch, dinner and all the activities.

Overall Impressions

This trip was one of the highlights of Fiji for us. We had an incredible day on a beautiful island with some charming people from around the world. The people who went to the island on our recommendation also fell in love with it! It was a fun-filled day and for the price, we were really in for a good deal. Do not expect the hight of luxury here – it’s all very lovely and clean, but you’re in for a Fijian Island experience. You’ll also end up buying multiple bottles of water because the island is hot and the day can be long – so bring some cash with you.

Below I give you a very detailed breakdown of our day. It’s a bit lengthy and will act a a memory for me later – so feel free to scroll through to see what we were up to!

Of course, there was much more to see and do – massages, kayaking, longer tours through the island. If you’re interested, have a look at the Robinson Crusoe Island website.

Getting to the Island

We were picked up at 8am by a coach and picked up guests from other resorts on our way. We arrived at the Robinson Crusoe jetty and by 10am, we were all sitting in a little tin boat on the way to the island. Accompanying us was our wonderful guide, Shaun. He was bubbly and very entertaining.

As we approached the island, I felt a rush of excitement. I had felt like I was in a tropical paradise while I was in Fiji; but this made it clear that I was about to be on a tropical Fijian ISLAND.

On our adorable little boat

View of Robinson Crusoe from our boat

We were greeted by the Fijian locals who managed the island. Not just any locals – cannibals in traditional gear who were throwing coconuts at our invading boat!

It was amazing how far he managed to get those coconuts!

We were greeted very warmly by the staff who sang to us as we disembarked and settled in for a general introduction to the island.

Activity 1: Snorkelling

For the first part of the morning, we were told that we could either go out snorkelling or learn to cook some traditional Fijian dishes. Having only learned to use flippers and a snorkel the day before, I was encouraged to go out and give it another go by the other visitors to the island – and I am so glad that I did! We took a quick 15 minute boat ride out to sea and went down with our guides, who I swear are half dolphins or something.

Almost immediately, I felt completely comfortable swimming around and exploring the sea life. I was very impressed by the kindness that the guides showed for the less capable swimmers, staying close enough to keep them safe but giving them enough distance to feel accomplished.

It was definitely a case of time flying while we had fun because before we knew it, we were heading back for the next activity.

I loved this part of the morning. The water was beautifully warm and the snorkelling put me at complete easy. It’s amazing how relaxing it can be to peruse about, breathing gently as you take in the sea life.

The slight downside was that the waters were slightly less clear than they were on the Coral Coast at our resort and there was less sealife – but this is a given. The Coral Coast is just a whole other level of brilliant.

Activity 2: Fire Walking & Digging Traditional Lovo

Preparing the Lovo Pit

As we settled down from our snorkelling trip, we got to watch a traditional lovo pit being prepared. Lovo is basically a feast that is cooked in the Earth. The food had a distinct taste that was a little bit smokier than a charcoal barbecue.

Of course, we were also treated to a fire ~~walk~~ stand. That night we cornered the firewalker to ask him how it’s even humanly possible to do what he did. To tell you, I’d have to kill you so just enjoy the video instead and bask in the glory of humans doing amazing things!

Activity 3: Lunch

By the time we got back from our snorkelling trip, those who had stayed behind had helped prepare an amazing lunch banquet for us. It was delicious and I wish I had taken pictures for you! There was some grilled chicken and meats, rice, a beautiful papaya, tomato and coconut salad, Fijian Kokoda (a ridiculously good raw fish salad!), cassava and potatoes and traditionally prepared fish. It was a feast with more than enough for seconds and thirds for everyone.

Activity 4: Performances

People on the day tour were lucky to watch the most skilled fire and knife dancers that Fiji has to offer! To begin, we watched some pretty chilled out dances. It was probably the best thing we could see right after lunch.

This was followed by a fashion show, where the customary dress of the village chief, his wife, and the village warriors were showed off. We were also told about the intricate process required to make these fabrics.

Then, of course, came the exciting part. There were flames and knives flying in the air, swinging precariously closely to the dancers faces. It was just so cool to watch! We found out that our charming guide, Shaun, was also a talented dancer and could twirl fire and knives like a professional!

We did a few other things – like chill out together and race teeny tiny crabs but I’ll skip over that and move on to the island tour!

Activity 5: Island Tour with the Medicine Man

Those who were interested were invited to go on a little tour of the island. Part of this involved learning about the medicines that could be obtained by the native plants. As a person who worked in the regulation of complementary medicines, this one was a fun one for me.

A cure for all sickness

A cure for eye infections

We were told about how these plants cured all kinds of illnesses – cancer, diabetes, a headache. We were also told that even good old Queen Liz used this medicine also. There were more than a few sceptics in the group; however, the Fijian people we came across during the trip all believed in the healing powers of these plants and so of course, all due respect should be paid to them.

We were then taken to a site where 3500 year old pottery was found. Here, we were given a little history lesson on the first groups of people who came to Fiji and where they came from.

Activity 6: Volleyball

As the sun burned down upon us, we were invited to a game of volleyball by the staff. At first we split ourselves up – boys v girls, with the staff on our side. Needless to say, we absolutely kicked butt. It was a lot of fun and we definitely started to feel the heat. While the locals were able to play on as though nothing was happening, we were constantly running out to the ocean to cool our feet down and splash our faces.

At some point the girls bailed. We were far more interested in relaxing and chatting about holiday destinations, fashion, hijabs (I know) life and the universe.

Activity 7: Chill Out Session for Me – Water Activities for the Boys

We headed back to home base where I chilled out with a nice mocktail, lounging about on the beach.

Ahhhhh.

It was some of the best relaxing I’ve done, laying back with my feet up, refreshing drink in hand while the sun kissed my face. My brothers were far more interested in climbing this floating… thing… with their new friend. I don’t even know either.

It wasn’t long before this beautiful Australian couple running a fly-boarding business appeared. My brothers paid less than $70AUD each to try out flyboarding. Don’t know what that is? It’s when you stand on this board thing and get propelled into the sky by a jet-ski!

Not my brothers and probably not Fiji

I wasn’t game, and instead chose to lounge out on the beach and watch my brothers get ready to go.

My brothers learning about how flyboarding works

The boys were still out there having a great time while we watched the sunset and had a beautiful buffet dinner.

Activity 8: Night Time Fire Dancing

This was probably the highlight of the day. Although we had watch some great performances during the day, the night performances that we saw were amazing. Beautiful dances, flying, twirling fire sticks, blind-folded fire and knife dancing and fire dancing ON FLYBOARDS. It was just a feast for the eyes!