Then look no further than a Fiji family holiday.

Fiji family holidays have long been a favourite thanks to the reasonable flight time, warm friendly locals (who just LOVE kids) and the abundance of affordable, family friendly accommodation options.

Of course a holiday for the whole family should be about making everybody happy.

So along with the kids clubs, water sports and daily activities, there’s plenty for the adults to enjoy too including swim up bars, championship golf courses and indulgent day spas.

Fiji’s affordable child minding means you’ll enjoy the perfect balance between quality time together and some relaxing time apart.

But with so many Fiji island resorts to choose from, it can be difficult to decide where to stay in Fiji.

To make your decision that little bit easier, we’ve put together a list of the best family resorts in Fiji for all budgets.

Best Family Resorts in Fiji

1. Plantation Island Resort (3 Stars)

Voted best family resort in Fiji for the 3rd consecutive year by Holidays with Kids Magazine, Plantation Island Resort is situated amid 553 acres of exotic gardens and pristine beach.

Fronting a lush lagoon in the tropical paradise of Malolo Lailai Island in the Mamanucas, children 0-15 years stay and play free of charge.

Plus there are additional nanny and child minding services available.

For the Kids:

The complimentary Coconut Kids Club and Lairo Club are a haven for kids and young adults.

Offering a range of supervised activities, kids can enjoy treasure hunts, longboat rides, canoe races, fish feeding, crab hunting, beach games, pool volleyball, cooking lessons and much more.

Educational, entertaining and age-appropriate – it’s the perfect place to make new friends.

For the Adults:

The resort offers 3 swimming pools as well as a golf course, day spa and beauty salon.

There are a number of beach-side bars and restaurants to enjoy as well as complimentary snorkelling, kayaking and wind surfing.

For a small fee you can also participate in village tours, island hopping, surfing, water skiing, parasailing and scuba diving.

2. Treasure Island Resort (3.5 Stars)

Located in the Mamanuca island group just a 45 minute speed boat ride from Denarau, Treasure Island Resort is secluded yet family-friendly.

Situated on its own 14.5 acre coral cay, this Fiji resort is surrounded by soft white sand beaches and sparkling crystal clear water.

Children 0-15 years stay and play free of charge and babysitting is also available for around AU$13 per hour.

For the Kids:

The complimentary kids club offers daily activities and a weekly ‘Fiji day’.

Kids can take a short boat trip to Viti Levu and experience a day in the life of a Fijian school. They’ll also enjoy a traditional ‘lovo’ feast, where they can make their own food and weave their own plates.

The day concludes in an evening performance of traditional Fijian dance and song for their parents.

For the Adults:

With a whole island to enjoy, there’s plenty of space to find your own tranquil little pocket of privacy.

There’s a spectacular 3 swimming pool complex, day spa and boutique as well as an impressive array of activities if you feel like getting active.

The resort is also surrounded by world class dive sites and the onsite PADI dive shop can arrange everything, even for beginners.

3. Castaway Island Fiji (4 Stars)

Located in the Mamanucas, Castaway has been voted among the top 10 family resorts in the South Pacific.

The private island boasts a complimentary all-day kids club and warm Fijian hospitality that keeps families coming back year after year.

Kids stay and play free, and kids 0-2 years eat free while kids 3-12 years receive discounted meals. 

Babysitting is also available for around AU$6 per hour.

For the Kids:

Children 3 years and up will enjoy an entertaining yet educational mixture of games and cultural experiences while being cared for by the Castaway family.

Open from 9am – 4.30pm and 6.30pm – 10pm, kids will have the time of their lives making new friends while parents can enjoy some time to themselves.

There is also a supervised, separate children’s dinner from 5 pm – 6.30 pm.

For the Adults:

An ideal tropical escape, Castaway Island is dotted with swaying palms, relaxing hammocks, pristine beaches, refreshing sea breezes, beautiful calm clear waters and colourful corals reefs waiting for you to explore.

The snorkelling here is fabulous and there are a variety of activities on offer including windsurfing, parasailing and banana boat rides as well as an indulgent day spa.

4. Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa (4.5 stars)

One of the Coral Coast’s most popular family resorts in Fiji , the Shangri-La offers a generous child policy with kids 0-16 years staying free of charge with their parents.

Up to 2 kids aged 0-11 years also enjoy free meals when dining with a paying adult.

There’s also a free kids club and babysitting is also available for AU$15 for a minimum of 3 hours and AU$4.50 per hour thereafter.

For the Kids:

Open daily, the complimentary Little Chief’s Club offers a variety of fun and supervised activities for different age groups.

Kids aged 4-7 years, 8-12 years and 13-17 years will enjoy an entertaining array of age-appropriate activities under the guidance of the resort’s friendly staff.

There is also a dedicated children’s pool, kids play areas and an onsite water park for all ages – Fiji family holidays just sounded even better!

For the Adults:

The onsite day spa at the Shangri-La is Fiji’s biggest and most luxurious.

With 2 rainforest bures and 4 ocean bures, you can relax with a range of massages, facials and body treatments.

And it’s one of the best Fiji resorts for golf lovers – there’s a 9-hole executive golf course designed by Australian champion Peter Thompson.

Get adventurous with a range of activities or kick back at one of the many onsite bars.

5. Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort (5 Stars)

One of the most loved family resorts in Fiji, the Outrigger on the Coral Coast, boasts one of the most comprehensive children’s programs in Fiji.

Kids 12 and under stay free and the kids club is also complimentary for children 3-12 years.

There’s also a teen activity program for older kids and a Mei Mei nanny program for one-on-one care of your children – truly something for everyone.

For the Kids:

The Little Riggers and Beach Riggers kids clubs are free for children 3-7 and 8-12 years.

For a small fee, the teen program offers everything from hikes and spear-making to a student exchange trip to a local high school.

The unique nanny program includes an intro session to understand your child’s needs and a daily brief on your child’s activities for around AU$7 per hour.

For the Adults:

Set among 40 acres of exotic gardens on the beachfront, the resort is styled after a traditional Fijian village.

The huge freshwater swimming pool is one of the biggest in the entire Pacific and the onsite Bebe Day Spa is famous as one of Fiji’s finest.

Guests can also choose to enjoy the VIP Talai butler service which includes daily champagne and canapes delivered to your door – definitely one of the best resorts in Fiji.

Read more: 5 tips to enjoy the Fiji islands with kids

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We hope this list of best family resorts in Fiji helps you plan your Fiji family holiday.

About the Author:

Glenn Checkley is the Managing Director of TravelOnline.com and a father of 3. Having worked in the travel industry for close to 15 years, Glenn is an expert on the Australian travel industry and online travel markets. His work takes him all around the world, but when he’s not travelling for work he loves to take his family on adventures in New Zealand, Fiji and Thailand.

Deciding whether to ‘go island’ or stay on the mainland was probably our hardest decision when planning a trip to Fiji with kids.

Part of me wanted a “stranded on a deserted island” kind of holiday but the other part of me knew that I could quickly go a bit mad just staring at the coral all day.

In the end, we decided to stick to the mainland and do some day trips out to the Fiji islands. Our reasons for sticking to the shore were many and varied, but included:

Arriving in Fiji after a plane trip with three kids we were quite sure we wouldn’t fancy hopping straight on a boat, no matter the destination.

The idea of spending a night on the mainland and then heading out was appealing, but we wanted to arrive and be settled, not enjoy ourselves for a night and turn around and pack again in the morning.

As much as a ‘do nothing’ beach holiday appealed, the idea of being stuck in a resort, even a luxury one, for over a week did not.

Our choice to stay on Denarau Island was the right one for us and we really made the most of it.

Here are some of the highlights of what we got up to.

1. Fiji Resort hopping for families

There are lots of signs saying “hotel guests only”, but we still had a ball catching the Bula Bus around the 7 resorts it stopped at and jumping in the hotel pool.

To feel less guilty, we made sure we enjoyed morning tea or lunch or afternoon tea (and even dinner one night at the Westin) while we were there. A top tip if you’re planning a little Bula Bus pool hopping is to take your own towels to Fiji so you don’t stick out with the wrong hotel towel.

Incidentally, the most family friendly pools on Denarau were the Sofitel or Blu Raddison.

The only trouble with both of them was line-of-sight: there were a lot of crevices to lose a kid in at both of these pools so you need to be on high alert at all times.

For a ‘relax in your armchair and see the whole pool’ experience – definitely my preference when you have young kids in tow – the Hilton is far preferable.

Here are 5 Family Resorts in Fiji you may like

2. Have a mud bath at the Sabeto Hot Springs and Mud Pool

The Sabeto Hot Springs and Mud Pool is a very family-bonding sort of experience.

The kids loved getting coated in the thermal mud and we parents loved the hot baths to wash it off in. It’s a very basic set up, but it’s so relaxing once you get into the hot bath that you quickly forget you’re basically swimming in a mud hole in the middle of nowhere.

We swam in the baths for a good couple of hours and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Incidentally, a visit to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant was really worth a side trip – it’s not far from the mud pool.

3. Kava drinking

You can take an organised tour to an ‘authentic Fijian village’ to participate in a kava ceremony, or you can become friends with some of the staff at your resort and be invited home to their village to meet their chief.

We managed the latter and we had an immersive afternoon buying kava at the local markets to take as a gift to the chief and then driving out to get to know the friendly people who live in the village of Nawaka, just outside of Nadi.

4. Visit other Fiji Islands

We took two day trips from Denarau Marina to two very different islands.

Savala Island, Fiji

The first was a trip out to Savala Island on the Oolala Cruise by Storck Cruises. Savala is a deserted island with just a shade structure and amenities for visitors who snorkel, paddle board, canoe and swim in the pristine waters for the day.

I opted for a massage in an open-air hut and it was such a delightful experience with the lapping of waves almost drowning out my children calling, “Mum, MUUUUM, where’s Mum?” every five minutes. Ah, kids, huh?

Though the day spent on the island was blissful, the best bit about the Oolala cruise was the trip in the boat there and back. The cruise is staffed with the chirpiest fellows you can imagine who are just fantastic with a song and their guitars.

I couldn’t imagine a nicer way to spend an afternoon than zipping along the Fijian waters belting out “Wichita Linesman” with a glass of not-too-bad wine in my hand – it’s true these guys are slightly obsessed with American country music, but you can’t have everything.

Treasure Island

Our second island trip was with South Sea Cruises to Treasure Island.

It was a complete contrast to Savala as the ship was large and so was the island. Treasure Island resort which hosted us for the day was quite run down, but set in paradise nonetheless.

The snorkelling around the island is unbelievable and my son was very taken with the resident turtles and water trampoline. Still, I was very glad we hadn’t opted to stay here for an entire week as there just wasn’t enough to do.

5. Explore Nadi for a city experience

I’m sure many people would be happy to laze at their beautiful Fijian resort for a week or more and I honestly wish I was one of them (I’m quite sure my family wishes I was too!), but I’m not.

I love to relax as much as the next person, but I’m far too curious to stay put for long. Which is why I dragged the family around the markets and streets of Nadi, meeting the locals, taking pictures and generally trying to soak up what life in Fiji is really like.

Nadi is a bustling, friendly sort of city but it would be a real eye-opener for many Aussie children and mine were no different.

We had many interesting, philosophical discussions about the nature of wealth and what it is in life that makes us truly rich people.

The kids were very quick to note how happy the Fijian kids were, even though they didn’t seem to have much.

“They’re rich with piles of friendship instead of money,” my daughter pointed out. I’d say that’s the sign of a very good holiday indeed.

Tours of Nadi

Here are some best selling tours of Nadi to help you learn more about the Fijian culture:

• Nadi half day market and cultural cooking class
• Nadi zipline and cave tour
• Coral Coast and Village School tour

Other Fijian tours and attractions

Do you have any tips for travel to the Fiji Islands with kids?

About the Author:

One sunny day Maxabella chucked in her twenty-year corporate marketing career – just like that. Turned out the view from up the ladder wasn’t worth it after all. Unleashed from the shackles she delights in writing all day, every day and only wears clothing that doesn’t require ironing. Writing about fitting good parenting into a lovely life is her favourite topic, mostly because in cyberspace you cannot see eyes roll. Visit her at her blog, Maxabella Loves.