A Fiji Airways flight going from Nadi to Taveuni. Photo / Sam Shead
Sam Shead flies from Taveuni to Nadi on Fiji Airways FJ152.
The plane: A cute, little De Havilland Viking Twin Otter DH36-300. Be prepared to hunch as you make your way to your seat. It was a surprisingly smooth ride.
Class: Economy. Business doesn't exist on this flight. If you're wealthy enough you can pay to charter your own plane though — there seemed to be plenty of them.
Price: $331 return.
Flight time: 1 hour 10 minutes.
My seat: 3A
How full: Eight passengers on board with 11 spare seats. There were two pilots as well.
Entertainment: No TVs, but views, views, and more views. The tropical Fijian islands and their surrounding reefs are so stunning even the co-pilot was taking sunset photos on his phone. There's also the Fiji Airways magazine, which had a feature about how you can swim with humpback whales in Tonga. Quelle surprise! I'm now thinking about going to Tonga in September.
The service: Each passenger was handed a bottle of water and a cold towel just before they climbed on board.
The toilets: None to speak of, sadly, but it's only a short flight so it's possible to hold it in.
Luggage: 15kg check-in allowance. I was 2kg over and they tried to charge me $14. I gently pushed back and told them I wasn't charged for being over on the flight out, and they waived the fee.
The airport experience: It's hard to call this place an airport. It's a few wooden benches covered by a metal roof. Though very basic, everything worked as it should.
The bottomline: If you want to explore some of Fiji's more remote corners you need to be prepared to jump on one of these tiny planes. They're fantastic in my opinion, and Fiji Airways is providing a simple but effective service.
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