Oct 3, 2024
Fabulous adventure! Loved it! - We had a wonderful day out on this adventure.
The Eco park was lovely. We held a snake and the highlight for me was holding Ben the Iguana. Feeding turtles was fabulous! It’s a very peaceful setting. I enjoyed the board walks and the bridge. . All the staff were friendly and helpful. Cute little play area for the kiddies.
At the pottery village we took part in the Kava ceremony, the ladies were so welcoming and friendly. We enjoyed the singing and dancing and made a few purchases of the handmade pottery before we left. We stopped for lunch at the Olive. Good tasty food.
The Sigatoka Sand Dunes Park was a great walk with a fabulous view and a beautiful beach. We went on a very hot day but I’m so glad we got to see this part of Fiji and do this activity. Take plenty of water. Our driver was fantastic. Thank you for an awesome day!
Review provided by Viator
Jul 24, 2024
Great tour - Anan was a great guide. He gave us plenty of time to explore each location while proving good context for each. He was kind and gave us an excellent overview of Fiji’s history and current state for everyday people. We really enjoyed the market, primary school and dunes (where we saw flying foxes hanging from the trees). I would absolutely recommend if you’re looking to see more than the resort bubble of Port Denarau.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 7, 2024
ENJOYABLE DAY AT SIGATOKA - The trip was great the school was great, the sand dunes was interesting to see, the pottery village was entertaining and the bird park was enjoyable
Review provided by Viator
Dec 27, 2023
Exploring Fiji's natural beauty and local culture - This was an incredible experience - so glad I booked this. The day started with pickup by Raj from our hotel around 8:30am and an hour or so drive to Sigatoka Sand Dunes. We were able to choose which track we wanted to take through the park. We chose the 2 hour route, with a beautiful walk through the park. The park is incredible and we met some wonderful people there. We then drove to the Lawai Village, where we experienced a welcoming ceremony and were given the proper garments to wear. There was singing, dancing and a kava ceremony, then a pottery making demonstration. We then left and went to the Kula Eco Park, where we spent a couple of hours on a self guided zoo-type tour, and grabbed a bite to eat. We got back to our hotel just before 6:00pm. It was a very full day, and we felt that we really got to get a taste of authentic Fijian life. Raj was from the Coral Coast area and was an excellent narrator along the way, filling us in on history and other interesting facts about the coast.
One note: the description said that bottled water and light refreshments would be provided, but it was only 1 bottle of water for each of us. It wasn't enough for a long day hiking and walking in the heat. I would recommend packing your own extra water bottles and some snacks. Also, this tour was supposed to take us to a local village school to meet students, but unfortunately, we were there in December during a holiday break so we did not visit the school, which was a disappointment for my friend, who is currently earning her teacher's credential. It was one of the main reasons we chose this particular tour. We weren't notified the children were on break until we were in the car on the morning of the tour. It would be great if the website could post their school schedule so participants know ahead of time whether that will be included on their trip.
Review provided by Viator
Jul 28, 2023
Fun and educational day trip! - Great tour! Our guide Deo was phenomenal - he excellently answered all of our questions and curate our experience trip to make it a fun and packed day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 23, 2020
This trip was Kula Eco Park and local village - We thought this was great value for money and very interactive. The people are very friendly and so was our guide. Would highly recommend this trip
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 9, 2019
Amazing day tour - Great tour guide Raj. He was amazing from start to finish of the tour.
We visited first great local souvenir shop Baravi Handicrafts (not far from Naviti Resort) where we did some shopping. Staff at the souvenir shop were great.
From there we visited a local school which gave our kids a view of Fijian school education. School staff and kids were super friendly and we certainly enjoyed the tour.
Next stop was Sigatoka pottery village, where we were shown around the village first. We took part in traditional kava ceremony and had some dancing performed by the villagers. We also took part in the dancing. We bought some pottery products and several other items that are produced by the village inhabitants.
After the village tour we briefly walked around the Sigatoka town centre, before making our way to Kula Eco park.
At Kula Eco park kids had lots of fun by going down the long water slide. Also the kids petted smaller iguana and snake. Kids also enjoyed walking through enclosed aviaries which had quite a few exotic birds. Our kids also took part in turtle feeding. We finished the visit to Kula Eco park by walking around the park and exploring different kind of plants and trees.
Special mention goes to Raj our driver from Valentines tours who was an excellent tour guide. Thank you Raj and Valentine tours for a memorable tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 19, 2019
Day Trip to Kulo park and local village - Our tour guide was Dev, who was informative, warm, and accommodating. We were the only two on the tour, so it was like a personalized tour. The pottery village was extremely welcoming with a large contingent to greet and entertain us. The singing was amazing! And the pottery demo showed us the whole process to the final firing and sealing. The elder who greeted us was well spoken and explained everything about the kava ceremony and village life.
Then instead of a restaurant lunch we opted for a market tour and street food and Dev was most helpful as we bought some local fruits we had never had before and some fijian street food!
Kulo park was beautiful and we just wished we had a couple hours more to spend there.
Altogether this tour was a highlight of our trip!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 30, 2024
Enjoyable cultural experience - An insightful experience for a quick deep dive into Fijian culture and history. Bobby was a knowledgeable and friendly tour guide.
The dunes and beach teepees are great to see but be prepared to get sweaty! We did the shorter 1hr walk option, and it was a medium level difficulty.
The pottery village experience includes a welcome kava ceremony and singing by local women. A nice way to support local craft. Just make sure that any of the pottery you buy is treated and fired!
Review provided by Viator
Jul 24, 2024
Ups and downs while exploring Coral Coast - I didn't realize the dunes were part of my day; the various vendors call the school and pottery village tours different titles. The dunes was a great addition and gave me some of my best dramatic photos for the day.
The school I felt awkward; I learned a few things about differences of Fiji learning from my country, but visiting the classroom was a bit painful. The 7 year old class was called together, sat on the floor and sung a few English songs to us (that they "wanted to sing"). The boys who like to be hams were very animated, but the small number of girls in the class looked "over it" and listless, some not even singing at all, head in their hands and bored. Probably from being made to perform for visitors a lot. I'm sure the school wants to get outside awareness; it's actually a southern India style Hindu school, all the schools have a different approach or religious thrust it seems, but this one was the beneficiary of all the tours and it seemed "overproduced" to me.
The pottery village was interesting, complete with kava ceremony and lots of traditional songs and dance. I couldn't help but also notice some of these singers (adult women) were less than enthusiastic about performing for us. I have no idea how many times a day they must put on their show and then each try and sell their items from tables circling the whole room; sadly, the first place you look is probably where you will buy, so I felt bad for the tables further along the progression in the room which got less attention. Many selling exact duplicates of the items at the other 11 or so tables: it almost was too competitive. Almost better to not buy anything but leave a donation to the village so they can share it. I got some simple clay beads.
The town we visited I guess was fairly typical; the farmer's market looked shockingly similar to one I visited in Korea last year, the same vendors of fruits and vegetables all calling to you to buy their items, which being in a tour bus limits considerably what you might purchase. The rest of the town was a hodgepodge of shops and some restaurants; I couldn't bring myself to eat at the "Wine and Dine" which ironically had a large Coke ad right above the title, so I found Naidiri Seafood which has a 4.5 Google rating, and a helpful chef behind the counter (I presume was the owner). The company should recommend here to eat. I did pick up a Fijian made shirt at the department store, so my shopping trip wasn't a bust; inside Tappoo is also a coffee bar with ice cream stand, and many different departments to look through, it was a pretty nice store by all standards. Anan our guide was very passionate talking about Fiji, and I appreciated his perspective on things. I would definitely have him as a tour guide again. Any of my issues with the tour were about how it was constructed, not about how Anan executed his host duties, at all. 3.5 overall, better than average with a couple of not so great moments thrown in.
Review provided by Tripadvisor