Ammon Watkins

Canada - 10-Oct-24 -

I had a day to spare between flights and like sand dunes so made a quick visit here in Sept 2024. This is an easy day trip from Nadi on public transport even on a Sunday when I went since there are still regular buses traveling along the southern route between Suva and Lautoka. The ride is a little more than an hour from Nadi and there is no official bus stop at the entrance to the dunes but the driver was able to pull over at a reasonably close distance so I could walk back along the road. On the way back to Nadi be prepared to walk a few hot km back to the Sigatoka bus station or get lucky as I did and get a lift there from a friendly local. 

Sigatoka Sand Dunes are Fiji's first national park and a visitor here would be forgiven for never realizing that it wants to be a cultural site. In the entrance room/museum where you buy your ticket is a small display of reconstructed pottery (by my old university!) and brief explanation about the early inhabitants but most of the focus is on the natural aspects of the dune environment itself. 

There are 2 loop trails starting from the same spot and I'd recommend the 2-hour loop over the 1-hour one to be able to be able to visit the larger dunes at the eastern end of the park and have a bit more time along the shore. The walk itself, other than the heat, is quite pleasant and the majority is very green; grassy at the beginning and through mahogany forest with bats at the end. 

The archaeological dig site is shown on the map at the entrance and when I asked about it the park staff just shrugged his shoulders and said the dig team hasn't been back for years and "people go there". I took this as permission to look around and ended up walking all the way to the mouth of the river searching for the excavations but found nothing other than the occasional pottery shard and some litter. It is either very well hidden or has been swallowed up by the sand again and after getting too close to overheating I gave up and continued back along the trail. 

I enjoyed my visit and understand the archaeological significance of the location but for a nomination based on that it feels like there is nothing left to preserve or display and would ultimately be rather pointless. 

Zoë Sheng

Chinese-Canadian - 25-Dec-21 -

No matter what your reason to come down to the southwest of the island, either for the resorts, or Beqa shark diving (highly recommended as one of THE top dives you will ever do in your life) or on your way to the east, you will pass the dunes on the lone road going around the island.

Even though the main attraction is the natural aspect of the park, the sand dunes, the place actually wants to be inscribed for the cultural relics found here. At first it didn't seem like there is much but I've seen sites inscribed for less. The site inside the park is off-limits and you can only enjoy the sand dune hikes. The hikes are pretty good though. It starts with hikes through lowgrass fields and eventually turns into tall dunes at the side of the beach, deep drop off and excellent views. By that time I had already lost the path though as I think it's not clearly signed once you get to the dunes. What's worse is that it started a downpour right as I reached the top and that can be pretty harsh in the Pacific islands.

After reaching the beach I finally found the signs again and could return to the museum. After it rained you don't really want to hike this park but you can just wait a couple of hours of sunshine and it's all good again. My visit was in March 2018 and they were just about the open up a better museum for the cultural aspect. I got a quick peek thanks to the friendly staff and I assume by now they actually opened it up so you can learn more about the park aside from "it's got dunes".

Recommended and only takes a few hours to visit thoroughly.

Stanislaw Warwas

Poland - 18-May-20 -

Visited May 2014

Sigatoka Sand Dunes National park was the first national park ever established in Fiji – and that was in 1989. The park is located on the biggest island of archipelago, Viti Levu, on its south-western part, at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, very close to the town of Sigatoka. It can be easily reached and visited as a day trip from both Nadi and Suva and any other lodge on the southern coast (called Corral Coast) of the Island – there are many buses going in each direction from early morning till late afternoon. The entrance to the park is visible from the road, the green board; you can just tell the driver that you’re heading to the park and you’ll be dropped at this green board. (I suggest doing this and after visiting the dunes to get back to your starting point, go to centre of Sigatoka town and take the bus from there.)

I woke up the man sleeping under the bog tree to buy a ticket and he asked me not to approach to the archaeological dig which was located right at the place where the river enters the ocean; he pointed me the path I should follow, but first encouraged me to read some info about the park (fluvial erosion, unstable ground, parabolic dunes, thousands of years, very old pottery finds, called Lapita ware, 1600 BCE – 500 BCE) and dos and don’ts while in the park (do not leave the path, do not take anything from the shore, take a lot of pictures etc.).  So I followed the path that leads to the dunes.

The park is not very big – you need less than 3 hours to see it all. The dunes, like all the dunes, are difficult to climb, although they are not very high, and the view is not maybe breathtaking but nice, especially the contrast between yellow-grey dunes and the green mahogany forest that was planted in the sixties to halt the dunes’ expansion into the fields and the road. But this site is not about the dunes, and if it is ever nominated, it would be under cultural criteria, as you can read in the short description of the site on UNESCO website: “one of Fiji’s earliest recorded prehistoric sites. Evidence of the past is clearly visible throughout the dune system as pottery scatters, stone tools, human remains and other archaeological relics to be uncovered by natural processes”. I have not seen anything of these, maybe because I was not approaching to the dig, as said by the man at the entrance.

But… you can still see some pottery at the museum in Suva. There is display with at least 6 pieces of pottery from Sigatoka, nicely ornamented. (And do not miss cannibal utensils!)