This past March our family traveled to Fiji for Spring Break. Sure, there are closer beaches, but this one was well worth the journey. Our children are 12 and 14 and seemed to be under as much stress as we are in their busy middle-school lives. Our daughter, Madison, had just completed a year-long process of applying to boarding schools, and we needed a true escape.
We flew non-stop from LAX to Nadi, then took a float plane to Nukubati Island. Nukubati is a small, private island, with an appropriate address of "somewhere in the South Pacific." Once you step off the float plane into the cool pacific water, greeted by smiling Fijian faces and melodious music, you can forget life as you know it. Leave your cell phones, BlackBerries and computers at home, you won't be needing them.
Nukubati is owned by a Fijian woman, Jenny Burke, and her Australian husband, Peter. She is on property most of the time, and her staff of local villagers is delightful, genuine and well-trained. With just 7 bures, it is like being a guest in their home. This is a very "local" experience where you get to know the people. It's not slick, there's no spa, no air conditioning, no TVs, no phones, just simple pleasures. Most of the food is grown on the island, caught hours before consuming and wonderfully prepared. The resort is eco-friendy, using solar power and collected rainwater. Our bures were simple but comfortable. We spent our days fishing, snorkeling, beach combing and playing tennis on their one court. We did not need to plan anything in advance as the staff and boats are ready to take you where you like on a moments notice. We enjoyed visiting a local pearl farm run by some village women, and meeting the children at the local school. One day, we were dropped off on a deserted sandbar with a picnic and spent the day swimming and beachcombing until they picked us up moments before the sandbar disappeared into the ocean.
This was truly a magical experience for our family and we cried when the Sea Plane took us away 8 days later.
http://www.nukubati.com/
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