Twenty islands of white sand, half an hour from Nadi

Fiji: Monuriki, Mana Sand Bar & Snorkelling Cruise

The most-reviewed Mamanuca day trip on GetYourGuide by a wide margin. A Fijian family-owned boat heads for the outer islands: a sandbar stop near Mana, snorkelling at Monu Cove and time ashore on Monuriki, the uninhabited island used for the film “Cast Away”. It is a full day and a long way out, which is exactly the point.

• Walk the beach of Monuriki (Modriki), the “Cast Away” island
• Swim off the Mana sandbar and snorkel at Monu Cove
• Run by a Fijian family-owned crew

Fiji: Malamala Beach Club Private Island Day Pass & Transfer

A day pass and return boat transfer to Malamala, a small island set up as a beach club: an infinity-edge pool, cabanas, a white-sand beach and snorkelling off the shore. Food and drinks are bought on the island. It is the easiest “island day” from Denarau for people who want comfort rather than a boat-hopping itinerary.

• A beach club on its own small island
• Infinity-edge pool, beach cabanas and a restaurant
• Short boat transfer from Port Denarau

Fiji: South Sea Island Full Day Trip with Lunch & Drinks

South Sea Island is the closest Mamanuca island to the mainland — a coral cay small enough to walk around in a few minutes. The full-day trip includes the catamaran ride, a barbecue lunch, drinks and the use of snorkelling gear and kayaks. Simple, good value and very easy with children.

• About 30 minutes from Denarau by fast catamaran
• Snorkelling, kayaks and a swim on a tiny coral cay
• BBQ lunch and drinks included

Fiji: Cloud 9 Floating Bar and Pizzeria Day Trip

Cloud 9 is a floating bar and pizzeria anchored in the open lagoon of the southern Mamanucas. The day trip covers the boat transfer from Port Denarau and time on the platform; check the listing for what food-and-drink credit is included on your date. Expect music, sun loungers and a party mood on busy days.

• A two-level floating platform moored over a turquoise reef
• Wood-fired pizza, a full bar and DJs
• Jump straight off the deck to swim and snorkel

Denarau: Seventh Heaven Floating Bar Day Trip

Seventh Heaven is the other floating pontoon in the Mamanucas: a bar and restaurant on the water with music, daybeds and a reef below for snorkelling. Reviews on GetYourGuide are consistently strong, and it tends to feel a little more relaxed than its better-known neighbour.

• Floating bar and restaurant in the Mamanuca lagoon
• Swimming and snorkelling from the platform
• A calmer mood than a party boat

Fiji: South Sea Sailing Experience with Lunch & Drinks

A day on a large sailing catamaran rather than on an island: morning tea as you leave Denarau, a buffet lunch on board, and stops to swim and snorkel. A good choice if the boat ride is the bit you look forward to most.

• A full day under sail through the Mamanucas
• Buffet lunch and drinks on board
• Swim and snorkel stops in the lagoon

Fiji: Captain Cook Cruises – All-Inclusive Island & Reef Day Trip

Captain Cook Cruises has run sailing day trips from Denarau to a small coral island for many years — long to Tivua, while the current listing describes a sail to Kadavu Lailai. Either way the formula is the same: a slow sail, a beach, lunch, drinks and guided snorkelling. Check the listing for the island your date visits.

• Sail out on a traditional-style sailing ship
• Lunch and drinks included
• Snorkelling over coral gardens from the beach

Nadi: Mamanuca Islands Snorkel, Turtle & Iguana Sanctuary

A shorter day built around the water: guided snorkelling on the reefs, a visit to a small sanctuary that looks after turtles and iguanas, and lunch on an island. A sensible length for children and for anyone flying out the same evening.

• Guided snorkelling over Mamanuca coral reefs
• Visit to a turtle and iguana sanctuary
• Lunch on an island

Malolo Island

The biggest island, from villages to overwater bures

The largest of the Mamanucas and the group’s traditional centre, with two Fijian villages, green hills to walk and a run of resorts that covers every style — the family-friendly Malolo Island Resort, adults-only Likuliku Lagoon and Tropica, Six Senses Fiji and a surfers’ lodge on the south coast.

Malolo Lailai

Plantation Island, Musket Cove and a yacht marina

“Little Malolo” is the easiest island in Fiji for families: the big, lively Plantation Island Resort, the yachtie favourite Musket Cove with its marina, and adults-only Lomani share one long lagoon beach — with their own ferry, the Malolo Cat, and even an airstrip.

Castaway Island (Qalito)

A classic family resort on its own island

Qalito is a forested island wrapped in white sand just west of Malolo, and Castaway Island is its only resort — thatched bures, a strong kids’ club and a house reef you can snorkel from the beach. One of the best-loved family islands in Fiji, and a popular day trip.

Mana Island

Long beaches, a sandspit and something for every budget

One of the larger islands, with beaches on both the north and south shores, a famous sandspit and a wide lagoon. Mana is unusual in having a big resort, a small adults-only retreat and village-run backpacker lodges side by side — plus the dive site known as the Supermarket.

Monuriki (Modriki)

The uninhabited island from “Cast Away”

A steep, jungle-covered rock with a perfect arc of white beach, far out in the western Mamanucas. Monuriki is where Tom Hanks was marooned in the 2000 film “Cast Away”. Nobody lives here — you visit on a day cruise, swim, snorkel and take the photograph.

Cloud 9, Seventh Heaven & Malamala

Floating bars and an island beach club

Three places with no hotel rooms at all, built purely for a day out: Cloud 9 and Seventh Heaven, floating bar-restaurants moored over the reef, and Malamala Beach Club, a tiny island with an infinity pool and cabanas. All are easy boat trips from Port Denarau.