Suva Municipal Market

Suva's municipal market runs over several floors beside the bus station and is generally described as the largest produce market in the South Pacific. The ground floor is root crops, dalo and cassava in heaps, with vegetables, fruit and chillies; upstairs is the kava section, where bundles of dried yaqona root and bags of pounded powder are sold by weight and the smell is unmistakable. The fish market is alongside, working from early morning with the night's reef catch.

What you actually see

• The root crop floor - dalo, cassava and yams in quantity, the staple of the Fijian diet.
• The kava section - dried yaqona root and pounded powder sold by weight.
• The fish market - reef and deep-water catch alongside the main building.
• The produce - tropical fruit, vegetables and chillies from across Viti Levu.

When to go

Year round. Saturday morning is the biggest day by far and the market is at its fullest. Mornings generally are best for fish and for the crowd.

Honest expectations

It is crowded, hot and wet underfoot in the fish section. Photographing sellers should be asked for. Buying kava as a gift means understanding it is a serious cultural item, not a souvenir; the sellers will explain.

Nearby

Thurston Gardens and the museum are south, and the Suva waterfront is west.