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Suva City Travel Guide
Fiji Islands
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Suva City
As the country’s capital, and for the 80,000 people living there,
SUVA
CITY
has a lot going for it. Shopping is good and the nightlife is excellent with a cheap cinema, trendy bars, lively restaurants and busy nightclubs, even on week days. There’s a good range of facilities from spa centres to sports grounds along with all government departments and many South Pacific regional headquarters for charitable, political, theological and educational organizations. But by international standards it’s still only a small city with no beach, no amusement parks, no resorts and it almost constantly rains. For tourists it has little instant appeal except a quaint museum and perhaps to experience the edgy and often seedy side of Fijian life. But spend some time here and you’ll discover a vibrant cosmopolitan city with strong community bases not only from all corners of the
Fiji
archipelago but also from the entire South Pacific region with some interesting and sometimes radical urban characters.
Suva
has a great many budget motels and inns although many are quite shabby and serve the local clientele only. There are a few upmarket business hotels and tourist apartments mostly in Suva South which is the better option for tourists being close to the best restaurants and bars as well as the
Fiji Museum. Suva North is distinctly seedier and several of the hotels offer rooms by the hour, especially along
Robertson Road. Hotel rooms are seldom discounted yet the only time it is difficult to find accommodation is at Christmas and during Hibiscus Festival (usually the school holidays in August), or with international conferences.
Suva Accommodation, Viti Levu
Tanoa Plaza
Tradewinds Suva
The City
The majority of
Suva’s shops, restaurants and sightseeing attractions are crammed into the city, running south of
Walu
Bay
alongside the harbour to Government House beside
Ratu Sukuna Road. The bus stand and market lie north of Nubukalou Creek in distinctly seedy Suva North, with the administrative Suva Central south of the creek hosting the major banks and high rise shopping arcades. Along Victoria Parade are the government quarters of Suva South which has the city’s best nightlife and accommodation, along with several large parks and the
Fiji
Museum.
The hub of the city, Suva Central, is not even half a square kilometre in size and runs south of Nubukalou Creek to
Gordon Street. At its heart is The Triangle a tiny park where locals congregate under an impressive ivi tree for idle gossip. Busy
Scott Street
has Village Six Cinemas with the latest
Hollywood
and Bollywood flicks. Behind the Post Office, between Central and Edward streets facing Stinson Parade is the staid Handicraft Market with fifty stalls all selling pretty much the same stuff and each plying desperately for your attention with false welcomes.
Albert Park and
Thurston
Gardens
At the end of
Carnarvon Street
and facing Victoria Parade and Albert Park is the solemn looking Old Parliament, built in 1939 but now more appropriately the judicial headquarters and offices of dour government departments. There’s usually a rugby game going on in Albert Park, or if not, then a cricket match takes over the muddy quagmire.
Queen Elizabeth Drive
Opposite the park is Thurston Gardens with Suva’s most rewarding attraction, the Fiji Museum. The museum is neatly laid out with a grand hall displaying a double hulled war canoe, some impressive oars twelve metres long and lots of intriguing daily items such as tattooing tools and head wigs. The adjoining gallery maps out the arrival of the first Europeans including part of the HMS Bounty’s rudder, a piece of eight from the shipwreck Eliza, and a shrine to the death of Reverend Thomas Baker, eaten by cannibals in 1864. Upstairs is the Indo Fijian Gallery recounting the history of girmit. The gift shop on the ground floor has a great selection of books about Fijian history and culture, many of which are discounted.
The most common restaurants in
Suva
are Chinese owned and many of these whip up quick meals from unhygienic kitchens for around $6 a serve. Counter cooked food is also best avoided, unless purchased from one of the two busy food courts: one at Dolphin’s Plaza in Suva Central off Renwick Road; the other at Downtown Boulevard in Suva South on the corner of Victoria Parade and Loftus Street - both are open between 8am- 5pm but closed on Sundays. Otherwise, there’s a good variety of cuisine and prices seldom exceed $20. BBQ hawkers set up on Victoria Parade beside
Sukuna
Park
from 6pm every day selling large serves of chicken and sausage with dalo and salad for $4.
Nightlife: bars and clubs
One of
Suva’s most enduring charms is its diverse nightlife. Most of the bars and night clubs are in one block around Victoria Parade and
Carnarvon Street
making it easy to hop from one to another and sample the different atmospheres. Fijians like to drink communally, as if drinking yaqona - if you buy a Fiji Bitter long neck which are more economical, it will be shared by passing round a small glass to down in one. It’s a quick way of getting drunk, which Fijians excel at, and with their love of boxing, punch ups often flare. But they are equally protective of their guests and on most occasions you’ll be well looked after. Girls on their own or in groups should be cautious. Taxis are advisable for the ride back to your hotel even if it’s only a couple of streets away. A few of the rougher pubs in Suva North are wild if you have the stomach for it - if you’re curious try the Kings Hotel on Waimanu Road and befriend one of the bouncers before heading inside.
Suva Accommodation Listings
Fiji Tour Companies
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Cook Islands Travel Guide
Samoa Travel Guide
Tonga Travel Guide
Tahiti Travel Guide
Hawaii Travel Guide
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