Fiji/ Jean/Michel or Marlin bay? Koro Sun or Taveuni Island Resort? Motangi?

[Sonia]

Hi everyone;

I am going on a group trip to Fiji in the fall and would like to know if you could please comment, negative or positive, about the following resorts. We have different levels of divers going. We also are concerned about accomodations. Thanks so much for your time.

Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Resort
Marlin Bay Resort
Koro Sun Resort
Taveuni Island Resort
Motangi Island Resort

[g2]

Hi Sonia,

I haven't stayed at those resorts, but I dove some of the areas around them last year. (All the resorts listed had good reputations -- I just couldn't afford them so I stayed at cheaper places nearby.)

The diving around Savu Savu (Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Resort) was disappointing.

The diving in Beqa Lagoon (Marlin Bay Resort) was pretty good, a nice variety of stuff. A good mix for divers at various skill levels.

The diving in the Somo Somo Straits (Taveuni Island Resort) was excellent. High currents but lots of soft corals. Somewhat advanced diving, but beginners can do it if their buoyancy control is good and they're comfortable in the water.

I didn't do any diving around Matangi Island, but I hear it's also excellent.

The Fijian people will be wonderful no matter where you go.

Enjoy!

g2

[dolphin adventures]

Hi Sonia:

I have stayed at all the resorts on your list. Here's my comments:

Jean Micheal Cousteau Resort - Great resort, great food, great dive operation, love Savusavu. Only negative is that there are a lot of children at the property....they have their own kids club so they are usually busy during the day....but in the evenings just before dinner you can get a bit of "kid noise".

Marlin Bay - (Now is named Beqa Lagoon Resort) - Great resort....just added plunge pools to it's beachfront rooms and enlarged pool. Wonderful food and great diving. We usually meet a lot of other divers there which is nice to come back with new friends. I highly recomend this resort. I have a DVD of this property if you would like me to send it to you just send me your address.

Koro Sun Resort - Great resort...not as nice rooms as the 2 resorts above....but the pricing is good and the diving I think is slightly better than Beqa. The resort doesn't have much of a beach....but it does have an island off shore, free golf, free kayaks, free mountain bikes. I also have a DVD of this property.

Taveuni Island Resort - Very elegant, very private and great for honeymoons. Diving is next door at Swiss divers. Wonderful sites like the White Wall, Rainbow Reef etc.

Matangi Island Resort - One of my absolute favorites! Great beachfront bures, wonderful food.....and incredible diving. You get to dive the great dive sites of Taveuni plus some dive sites only Matangi dives....like the golden wall. A lot of the activities are included, (Boma Waterfalls, village visit). They also take you for private picnics to Horseshoe Bay - one of the most beautiful bays in the world.

I can send you lots of information. Just email: dolphinadventures2004@yahoo.com or call: 1-877 U GO DIVE or 1-530-271-7082.
Mary Jane

Hi everyone;

I am going on a group trip to Fiji in the fall and would like to know if you could please comment, negative or positive, about the following resorts. We have different levels of divers going. We also are concerned about accomodations. Thanks so much for your time.

Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Resort
Marlin Bay Resort
Koro Sun Resort
Taveuni Island Resort
Motangi Island Resort

[drbill]

Only dove at Cousteau, and that was several years ago as his guest. I didn't stay at the resort because they were booked solid, but did all my diving there. I thoroughly enjoyed it and spent a fair bit of time at the resort after the diving.

Fijian people are wonderful wherever they are. The Cousteau DM turned out to be the cousin of a DM I dove with in the Nadi area.

I find every dive fascinating (assuming I return from it). There is always something new to see. I don't remember being disappointed with any of the sights around Savesavu or Nadi. I did get a very lousy dive buddy on one, but I told the DM to go with him (he had already descended to 150' when I broke the buddy relationship) and I returned to 100' with the rest of the group. That could happen anywhere you get paired with an idiot!

Dr. Bill

[jakubson]

Hi everyone;

I am going on a group trip to Fiji in the fall and would like to know if you could please comment, negative or positive, about the following resorts. We have different levels of divers going. We also are concerned about accomodations. Thanks so much for your time.

Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Resort
Marlin Bay Resort
Koro Sun Resort
Taveuni Island Resort
Motangi Island Resort

I LOVED Matangi. Here is a trip report from someone who just returned:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Here is a thread where I talked about my experience there:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=78408

Good luck!

[stisso]

Hi everyone;

I am going on a group trip to Fiji in the fall and would like to know if you could please comment, negative or positive, about the following resorts. We have different levels of divers going. We also are concerned about accomodations. Thanks so much for your time.

Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Resort
Marlin Bay Resort
Koro Sun Resort
Taveuni Island Resort
Motangi Island Resort

We just got back from Taveuni; we didn't stay at the Taveuni Island Resort; we stayed at Matei Point, just down the street. The people of Taveuni are amazing; we made many friends and were horribly sad to leave.

There are two dive shops just down the road from Taveuni Island Resort (and Matei Point; they're all within walking distance of each other, pretty much). Swiss Divers are supposed to have newer equipment, but it's more expensive to dive with them. We went with Aquaventure instead. The two days of diving we did were amazing. We're both new divers, but there were people on our boat who were much more advanced. The first three dives we did had fairly strong currents, and we were told by the other divers that they weren't beginner dives, but we did just fine, and had an amazing time. As the previous poster said, though, we have pretty good buoyancy control, and we're both pretty comfortable in the water. The coral and marine life were spectacular. Our guides were awesome too.

Have fun in Fiji!

[xepi33]

Hi,

My husband and I are planning a trip to Fiji for October 2006. We already have the Aggressor booked for a week (the Nai'a was not available). Now, we are debating on what to do for the second week. Looked at Cousteau - however the web site is showing rates of 600$ per night excluding diving which is over what we want to pay.

I was looking at Lalati Resort and was wondering if you had been there? What would you recommend for our second week? This is a diving trip so the diving must be spectacular and the dive operator has to be excellent. We want a nice resort in the middle price range. We also would like to have the chance of meeting some locals - so I am not looking for a completly remote resort. Any ideas for me? Looked at Wananavu resort but I am not convinced that it is the best place.

Thanks for your help

[Diana5531]

Sonya,

We just got back from Fiji late last night, and I will be posting a detailed trip report on it within the next week. Our trip was Yasawas (Blue Lagoon Cruises), Bega (Bega Lagoon Resort), and Kadava (Papageno). In summary, Fiji is great, and we had a good time. But there were some negatives that could have been easily avoided, and a few things that would have made it a perfect vacation.

Net, net: we will be going back.

Diana

[scubajane]

Consider Garden Isle Resort with Aqua Trec...
Awesome resort,not upscale but very recommeded if you want to experience Fiji like Fiji should be experienced. I loved Taveuni!

[saildiver]

Sonya,

We just got back from Fiji late last night, and I will be posting a detailed trip report on it within the next week. Our trip was Yasawas (Blue Lagoon Cruises), Bega (Bega Lagoon Resort), and Kadava (Papageno). In summary, Fiji is great, and we had a good time. But there were some negatives that could have been easily avoided, and a few things that would have made it a perfect vacation.

Net, net: we will be going back.

Diana

We are going to Fiji on Feb 4 for 2 weeks-any new news on the politics going on there,ie,news here of travel cautions due to a threat of a coup a couple weeks ago...I haven't heard any thing recently...I suspect the media made more of it than it really was but...Thanks for any insights...Peace...Saildivers.