Sabeto/Tifajek Mud Pool and Hot Spring

Sabeto, Viti Levu, Fiji

Visiting the mud bath and hot springs was one of the best experiences I had in Fiji. Let me describe the process to you: First you strip down to your bathers in a little open shelter. Then you wander over to a bucket filled with mud and coat yourself all over. Left: One of the buckets of mud      Right: Smeared, dried and ready to enter the mud pool (Order this image)

As someone who has played on sports fields throughout many a winter, covered in either gritty, gluey or sticky mud, this was an entirely unexpected sensation for me. This mud is silky smooth to the touch, without any earthy odours, and the sensation of spreading it over your body is unusually pleasurable. Don't get too carried away though, as apparently the trick is to spread the mud reasonably thin, so that it doesn't take too long to dry and form a crust.

Once coated, there is about fifteen minutes to spend out in the open air until the mud has had enough time to seep into your skin and dry out on the surface. Then it's time to recycle your mud by slipping into the mud pool to wash it off. The steps are a bit tricky because you can't see your feet and the weight of your body causes you to sink up to your ankles, with the mud squishing up between your toes. The best course of action is to stand on the step below the water line and push off into the pool. You can swim back and forth across this warm pool, which is about 10 metres long and 10 metres wide. Above: The slightly turbid second pool (Order this image)

After washing off most of the mud, it's on to the next three hot pools. All of the pools, including the mud pool, are heated from a natural hot spring. The hot spring source is off limits in a little well, because the temperature is a scalding 70 degrees celcius (160 degrees fahrenheit).

I couldn't get a precise answer out of the guides about how hot the water in the pools was, but based on what I know of other hot springs, the water felt like it was in the mid to high 30 degrees celcius (around 100 degrees fahrenheit) by the time it reached the pools. All of the pools are similar in size at around 10-15 metres in length, with enough room to swim half a dozen strokes at a time. The water in the last two pools is quite clear and they both have a concrete floor and walls. Above: The clear fourth pool (Order this image)

There are two hot spring businesses operating right next to each other at this location. The experience that I described above is based on visiting the Sabeto Mud Pool Hot Spring, which is the one you will encounter first when driving along the road. Next door is the Tifajek Mud Pool and Hot Spring, which offers a similar experience. Tifajek tends to cater more for the tour groups (book tours here) because its main pool is larger (at around 25 metres long), but it has fewer pools. You can still visit Tifajek if you are not part of a tour group. Both sites are very popular, so I'm sure you'll have a great time regardless of which one you choose - or better still, visit both! The experience at Sabeto Mud Pool Hot Spring felt very personalised, with a cheerful guide who escorts you around and holds onto your cameras to take all of the photos that you otherwise never could, because your hands are covered in mud. For a small extra fee you can also get a massage. I don't know whether it was the mud or just my elevated mood, but I definitely felt lighter after the visit, and possibly even a few years younger. Before you head out, make sure to read the swimming safety information and check with the managing authority for any current change of conditions. The marker indicates the approximate location of the car park for the pool. If the map is not zoomed in locally, as can sometimes occur when loading, simply click or tap on "View Larger Map" below.
View Larger Map Here is one query I have received about visiting the hot springs and mud pool:

Comment: "Hi, I am coming to Fiji in December. Could I just do the thermal springs? Not the mud pool. Thanks so much" - Toni from Newcastle, Australia 14/10/2022.

My reply: The staff may try and usher you into the mud pool first, particularly if you are looking a little lost. Just ask them to direct you to the sequence of pools to go into after the mud baths and you should be fine. The second pool is where the mud gets washed off, so if you really do not like mud, you might want to skip that one too.

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