Fiji Islands Travel Guide | Discover the Islands | Suva | Regional Highlights

Colo-i-Suva

So you’ve visited Suva, a bustling and fascinating tropical island city, and you’d like to take a breather.

Say no more.

Around 20 minutes from Suva heading on the back road to Nausori, Fiji’s Colo-i-Suva Forest National Park is waiting to cool you down and give you a taste of Fiji’s forests where you can picnic and swim to your heart’s content.

Tourism is the most important income earner in Fiji and Colo-i-Suva Forest National Park has made rapid strides in eco tourism. This park is among the many Parks and Gardens in Fiji, the others being Koroyanitu National Heritage Park, Garden of the Sleeping Giant, Nausori and Sigatoka Sandunes National Park.

Colo-i-Suva Forest National Park is pronounced as 'tholo-ee-soo-va' and is managed by the National Trust of Fiji.

Established in 1872, Colo-i-Suva is a two and a half square kilometres of verdant rain-forests renowned for tropical flora and birds. There are about four and a half kilometres of natural trails ploughing through the forests and natural water bodies to swim in.

Colo-i-Suva Forest National Park where you can picnic and swim to your heart’s content

The Waisila Creek flows through the park making its way to Waimanu River and is the water catchment for Nausori and Nasinu creek.

African mahogany, planted in the 1940s and 1950s, stands apart from the older, more attractive vegetation. The park is open to visitors from 8 am to 4 pm.

Colo-I-Suva Forest Park was once a true tropical lowland rainforest, which has been interplanted with mahogany. It is in the upper drainage area of Waisila catchment alongside Princes Road and is managed by the Department of Forestry.

For those of a more contemplative nature, the lookout is the ideal place to finish that book you’ve been meaning to read, write in your traveller’s diary or simply relax.

This is a great place to bring the kids for a blow out after they are completely 'citied-out'. Big kids love the rope swing as well

Visitor Information

The visitor information centre located at the Forestry Station can give you useful information and it is recommended that you start your tour here. You will find three pools developed as swimming areas: the ever-popular Main Pool with its rope swing and the two Upper Pools. All other pools remain in their natural state and many are shallow enough for a child.

While there are picnic tables near the Main Pool, most facilities have been built near the Upper Pools where it was possible to provide adequate parking. Both these areas have toilets. Groups of up to 40 can be accommodated at the Steep Hill Group Area.

All Picnic Tables have shelters and all have fire grates and a sufficient quantity of wood.

A 5km nature trail has been built. This one-way loop begins a short distance from the Upper Pool Parking Area and interprets many interesting facets of the natural environment. If you wish to stretch your legs, hike some of the over 6.5km of trails of the area.

The Forest Park is between 122 to 183m (400-600ft) above sea level and is therefore both cooler and slightly wetter than Suva. It gets about 424cm (167in) of rain a year with some falling on average of 4 days a week. November – March are the wet months, while May – August is considered the dry season.

The mean annual temperature is a comfortable 24 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit) between February and July, the warmest and coolest months.

The streams rise slowly but surely during very heavy rains. Do not attempt to cross the streams in their flooded stage. Wear adequate shoes and be careful when using the rope swing and diving in the pools.
Valuables can be kept at Raintree Lodge or at the Forestry office for safekeeping.

Colo-I-Suva Forest Park is a delight. The early morning observer may well be the first to greet the unafraid Scarlet Robin and be scolded by the Spotted Fantail. The sounds of civilization fade as the bush deepens, and soon the twitter of the mixed flocks of Golden whistlers, Blue-Crested Broadbills, Slaty Flycatchers and Spotted Fantails take over, punctuated occasionally by the raucous screech of the Sulphur-Breasted Musk Parrot or the Resounding “woof” of a barking Pigeon.

Observe the Fiji Goshawk glide majestically – a bird you only find in Fiji, or the Blue-Crested Broadbill, found only in the Viti Levu rainforest; or you may hear the deep hollow call of the Barking Pigeon – a bird widely hunted, but safe here. Pick up a Colo-I-Suva Bird Guide from our reception area.

Fiji white-eyes, Vanikoro Broadbills, Orange-Breasted Honeyeaters, Lesser Shrikebills, and other Small birds make their way noisily through the bush. Only the experienced twitcher will catch the glimpse of the shy Fiji Warbler in the undergrowth but all can hear their melodious duet. Golden doves too, are more often heard than seen as their abrupt ‘yap’ is delivered with the skill of a professional ventriloquist.

Visitors from north America will find their American "Robin" has a relative in the Fiji bush, the island thrush. There are several races of island thrush found in Fiji, all of which vary greatly in their plumage.

The Bird known as "Robin" in Fiji is an unrelated insect eater whose bright red breast will surprise New Zealanders who are used to seeing only Grey or Black Robins of the same family. The Golden Dove, Sulphur-Breasted Musk Parrot, Orange - Breasted Honeyeaters, Fijian Collared Lory and Blue-Crested Broadbill, all endemic to be found in the park, will impress Australians accustomed to brightly coloured birds.