South Pacific Service and Ocean Skills

If you are a U.S. citizen, you will not need a visa for Fiji. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you will need to check with your local embassy or consulate regarding visa requirements.

• Fiji: Nadi, Sigatoka, Lautoka, Suva, Pacific Harbour, Nasivikoso Village, Sasa Farm, Vaturu Dam, Somosomo Village

Fiji operates at 240 V and uses plug I. Residents of the USA and Europe will require an adaptor for their electronic items. You can see an example of the required adapter at this link.

All accommodation will be separated by gender and students will be paired with one or more others in the group. In Fiji students will initially stay in the Eco Lodge base house with electricity, a hot shower and modern amenities. Accommodations will then vary from sleeping on cots in large safari tents to traditional Fijian bures with homestay families.

Fiji: While in the mountains the participants will be staying in traditional Fijian bures and sleeping on mattresses on the ground. There will be access to toilets and bucket showers but no electricity | While out on the islands participants will be sleeping on a comfortable cot in a large safari tent without electricity a few meters from the beach. Girls and boys will stay in separate tents and enjoy meals in a central kitchen area. There will be cold showers and a low impact compost toilet for use. In between each adventure and at the end, participants will stay at the Eco Lodge and other modern western style accommodations where they will have electricity, a hot shower, and common amenities.

Many of our homestay families in Fiji have been hosting Rustic Pathways participants for years. Homestay families have been interviewed and trained on Rustic Pathways rules and protocols. Our local staff within the community holds homestay families to a high standard of accountability while participants are in the village.

Bathrooms are western style toilets with running water while at the Eco Lodge. There will be cool showers and a low impact compost toilet for use while in the islands. While staying in the mountains there are bucket showers or river bathing and flush toilets.

Our team in Fiji has its own resident chef and team of cooking staff. Participants will eat a combination of local Fijian dishes and more western-style dishes. Breakfasts typically include cereal, breads, eggs, crackers, and fruit. Lunches and dinners range from traditional Fijian lovo feasts of chicken, cassava, and dalo (root crops similar to potatoes) to barbeques, pastas, stir fries, curries, salads, and vegetables. Vegetarians can easily be catered for, and most dietary restrictions can be accommodated.

This program can cater to most specific diets including but not limited to vegetarian, vegan, gluten and lactose free, as well as peanut free cooking.

Rustic Pathways either purchases bottled water or uses sterilization techniques to ensure that all drinking water for students is potable and safe to drink. We ask students to bring reusable water bottles in order to reduce plastic usage.

Laundry services will be available every one to two weeks. In some locations there will be coin operated machines, and in others there will be a paid laundry service for approximately $10-40 depending on the amount of clothing. Hand washing is always an option.

Phone and internet service are often readily available to our students. However, there are portions of our programs during which students will need to go up to two weeks without access to phones or the internet. We encourage students to limit communication with their parents to a phone call or message no more than once per week. This ensures group cohesion, the building of trust among students and leaders, and allows for the most culturally immersive experiences. We suggest that students and their parents create communication plans that set clear expectations around the frequency of and reasons for contacting each other. In urgent situations, students and parents have access to our 24-hour emergency line, which they can call for immediate assistance.

Discuss your travel plans with your physician prior to travel and consider visiting your local travel clinic well in advance of your program. Print the itinerary from the program website and show it to a travel doctor or clinic, so they can suggest vaccines and preventative medications for the regions where you’ll be traveling. Be aware that some immunizations require multiple injections spread out over several weeks and plan accordingly. We recommend consulting your personal doctor, visiting the CDC (Center for Disease Control) website or this page on our website.

As this trip covers a lot of territory in each country, there will be times when we are quite close to healthcare, and other times when access to healthcare will be over an hour away. In cases where a hospital is not close by, program leaders have a response plan in place for emergency situations that may involve helicopter support or outside expert assistance.

Mosquitos are prevalent in Fiji and participants are expected to bring bug spray. Participants will be provided with a mosquito net over each individual bed.

Skydiving: Nadi, $300 to $500
Skydiving Photos: $120-$150
Fijian Massage: $30
Scuba Diving: $100-$200 depending on 
certification level and number of dives.
Island Hopping: Mamanuca Islands: $80 
(extra $ for add-on Banana Boat – $20 Parasailing – $40 Wake Boarding $40 Hotel Lunch – $20)
• Zip-Lining: $60
• Sky Walk: $150
• Sky Jump: $180
• Bungee Jumping: $130-300 depending on jump and photo/DVD package
• Extra Zorb or Agrojet: $45

We recommend that you bring $350-$600 per month, plus money for any optional activities that you want to try. Students tend to use spending money for personal gifts, internet, phone calls, laundry, snacks, visa or medical expenses.

Rustic Pathways works with local community leaders and organizations to identify and prioritize the needs of each community so projects may vary.

Participants should bring their certification cards and log books if they are certified divers. Though not required, some participants choose to bring their own mask. The Scuba vendor will provide all the gear during the program.

Participants interested in learning to Scuba Dive will have access to intro (no certification required) dives and certified dives. Please bring your certification card if you are a certified diver.

This program is not overly strenuous, but students should be in at least average physical condition. Activities include hiking, white water rafting and mountain biking. The service work that is conducted can be fairly strenuous as well and students should be prepared to carry adobe bricks, dig trenches and do other physically active work.