This latest tourism trend promises many rewards besides tired muscles

Our open-water swimming adventure begins when we fly from Nadi to Fiji’s third-largest island, Taveuni, in a 20-seater plane. We drift over fluffy clouds, tiny lands scattered like jewels in blue seas below us. Our journey continues in a minibus, dodging potholes and sleepy dogs along a road lined with lush foliage, the ocean just beyond. It’s a bumpy road to paradise.

These types of trips attract groups already united by a shared a love of swimming, they also cater to solo travellers.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

We’ve arrived at Paradise Taveuni Resort, which is known as a dive destination. To the resort’s operators, we are a curiosity, a group of keen open-water swimmers brought together by UK-based company SwimQuest, which specialises in swim holidays worldwide. Our experienced guide, Dewi, has teamed with local dive crews to plan morning and afternoon swims that will allow us to explore the island’s coasts and reefs.

While we swim, Dewi surveys us from his yellow kayak and Uli, one of the local dive experts, circles us like a graceful merman. The swimming is slow-paced, enabling us to explore the coral world with its multitudes of colourful fish and surprisingly fast-moving turtles.

At the end of each session, towels, freshly baked cinnamon buns and tropical fruit are a deserved treat. After one swim, we go ashore to a deserted beach for a picnic lunch where, over cocktails, Dewi shows us videos of our individual efforts to encourage stroke correction.

While SwimQuest is open to all, participants should be comfortable swimming at least a kilometre in open water (our swims in Fiji averaged about two kilometres). And while the trips attract groups already united by a shared a love of swimming, they also cater to solo travellers.

Our days are physically active yet calm, with our hosts and the resort creating an atmosphere of family and turning strangers into friends overnight. And it’s not just swim-eat-sleep-repeat. A trip to Bouma National Heritage Park and Fiji’s most renowned waterfalls sees us diving under tumbling white foam into cool, translucent green water. After, we sit on rocks in the dappled sunshine and take in the sound of the rushing waterfall.

At the end of the week, I treat myself to an outdoor massage, the lapping waves providing a soundtrack. As I force myself to stay awake, my masseuse, Selina, kneads the muscles in my back that have been worked hard on the swims, leaving my whole body feeling renewed.

Of course, no trip to Fiji is complete without a kava ceremony. As we gather in the late afternoon light, our Fijian host places the powder inside a cloth bag and submerges it in water, kneading it until the liquid turns a muddy, pale brown. The drink is then served to each of us in a halved coconut shell and is best described as an acquired taste. Kava is reputed to calm stress and induce good sleep – just like swimming.

As we pack our goggles, fins and other belongings prior to our final breakfast of the trip, a group of 10 staff sing a Fijian farewell song. We have built new friendships alongside our swim muscles and Manasa, one of our dive guides, plays the guitar while the others sing poignant words of farewell in English and Fijian. The. The lyrics ask us not to forget them – and there’s no way we could.

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