Curio & Handicraft Centre, Suva

The Curio and Handicraft Centre (sometimes called the Municipal Handicrafts Centre) is located next to the modern multi story car park on the corner of Edward Street and Stinson Parade. It’s a long cinderblock building populated by carvers and other craftspeople.

There is a plethora of stalls stuffed with carvings, shell necklaces, mats, handbags, and other items. Here you can learn to distinguish between the dark, finely patterned Fiji “masi” — tapa, or bark cloth — and the light brown Tongan “ngatu,” with its freer design. Or choose between the round or turtle-shaped “tānoa,” the bowls used for preparing and serving kava.

As you round the corner on Stinson Parade from the Curio Centre, you’ll have a wonderful vista of Suva Harbor and Joske’s Thumb (a bluff on the distant side of the harbor) which is featured on Fiji’s $10 banknote.