Well, guys, I'm back from Lalati.
Where to start? Maybe from the end... I'm definitely disappointed.
After reading some rewievs, especially from seaduced (BTW, I saw your DesertDolphins red stickers inside the diving boat..) I did expect something really different.
I'll go by steps, maybe it's better.
- the resort: "luxury accomodations", every webpage says. Well, maybe one year ago it was a luxury accomodation. Now it's a decent accomodation which all the staff people (really, really friendly and helpful, this I have to say -with some exception as I'll say later) trying to mantain at their best. Common spaces are clean, gardens are tidy. But our cottage (a seaview, not Honeymoon) was really dirty, it was dirty when we arrived and it remained dirty until we leaved, bathroom more than the rest, with furniture which needed maintenance, window with broken glass, housekeeping whose best-cleaning-possibilities-concept is give a rapid sweep to the floor around everithing which rest on it.. Guys, I've traveled a little bit around the world, I've been in a lot of different accomodations, from a backpackers' room with one wc for 4 floor, to a 5 star plus spa resort, I'm experienced in that.. This is NOT a luxury accomodation at all, and as accomodation is less confortable and clean than some other similar jungle-like-resort really cheaper I've been (for example in Philippines);
- the resort staff: as I said, with the only exception of the housekeeping of our cottage (maybe we've been unlucky? who knows.. but other guest who travelled with us on our way back to Nadi, seemed to think the same), all the others were really friendly, helpful and efficient;
- the managers: helpful and efficient the girl (sorry, I forgot her name); only seen but never heard a word from Paul; friendly the dog;
- restaurant: the best thing in the resort, really tasteful;
- the diving center: poor logistic (no showers, rinse basin always dirty, centre often closed with nobody around), poor diving equipment (I had my own wetsuit and fins, but my wife not: there were only two or three 3mm suit, in poor conditions, really difficult to wear for a woman as they were man's fitted; only a pair of fins of her size, which seemed to came from the WW II; no bcd for her size, an S like 99% of woman, only 1 bcd of my size, M like 50% of man; regulators which have seen better days);
- the diving staff: the first day, when we try to choose the equipment we needed, the onyl man in the diving center was a staff boy, friendly but zero capable to give answer different than "no" (I asked to change my mouthpiece 'cause I got my own.. "no", he said. "why?" I asked. "bacause it is already assembled", the answer). The second day, a real guide (or she was the diving manager? nobody told us) arrived (Sarah). A good guide, a good divemaster. We had two or three dives with her, in the lagoon (bad weather, bad sea, impossibile to go outside). The visibility, obviously, was terrible, and the dives were nothing more than a way to accomplish our diving will. The day after finally! the weather was getting better so we arranged for a two tank dive outside the lagoon: finally the guide was sick and the plan changed, so no two tank dive and only a single tank dive guided by the stuff guy I mentioned before.. Nice, but nothing memorable. I asked for almost a week to arrange a shark dive, but It was impossibile to do. The first days, because of the weather (also when there were no wind they told that the weather did not permit to exit the lagoon.. this point is not possibile to confute, since we have no idea of the sea condition outside the lagoon). Two days before our departure because the guide was sick. The day before our departure, because shark dive is impossible to arrange on Tuesday. And in my opinion, this attitude well describe the habit of the diving.. they were not really upset when we asked to arrange a dive for the next day, but neither happy to do that, just like it was a difficult they prefere not not have. Surreal, in some ways. I've been diving for more than 10 years, in many different country, with more then 50 different diving center with different managers and maybe 1hundred different divemaster. Well, this is the first time in all my life I had this sense I described: not to be a coustomer longing to dive as much as possible, with all the staff longing to bring me to dive, but to be a difficult the diving preferred not to have.
Before the final considerations, to be honest I have to say that the weather did not help, with a lot of wind almost all days. But, for the last time: I experienced bad weather conditions before, and in all other occasions I always had the best dives for that possibilities, with all the staff making their best to dive as much as possibile. And not because I claim to dive at all costs, but because the staff did all that was possibile (and sometimes impossible) to make it happen. And only for the good reason (not money, I'm not a supermillionaire, not fame, I'm not a writer): passion, to dive and to share diving experience. This is what i think.
One positive thing to say: the bill was really honest, they made us a rich discount.
Anyway: at last, during our diving vacation we had 7 dives in total (4 for me and 3 for my wife).
If we were interested in saving money (for the dives, because the rest of the stay was not cheap at all), this would be a quite good week.
But our first goal was to dive, and about diving I have to say this is one of the worst overall experience I ever had.
Only unlucky-times? Maybe. This is our experience: I hope who will be there after us will be more lucky.
About that, I'm so curious to hear yudi experience..
Well, guys, ,sorry for this long & bothering report, but this is all I had to say.
Happy bubbles.
Where to start? Maybe from the end... I'm definitely disappointed.
After reading some rewievs, especially from seaduced (BTW, I saw your DesertDolphins red stickers inside the diving boat..) I did expect something really different.
I'll go by steps, maybe it's better.
- the resort: "luxury accomodations", every webpage says. Well, maybe one year ago it was a luxury accomodation. Now it's a decent accomodation which all the staff people (really, really friendly and helpful, this I have to say -with some exception as I'll say later) trying to mantain at their best. Common spaces are clean, gardens are tidy. But our cottage (a seaview, not Honeymoon) was really dirty, it was dirty when we arrived and it remained dirty until we leaved, bathroom more than the rest, with furniture which needed maintenance, window with broken glass, housekeeping whose best-cleaning-possibilities-concept is give a rapid sweep to the floor around everithing which rest on it.. Guys, I've traveled a little bit around the world, I've been in a lot of different accomodations, from a backpackers' room with one wc for 4 floor, to a 5 star plus spa resort, I'm experienced in that.. This is NOT a luxury accomodation at all, and as accomodation is less confortable and clean than some other similar jungle-like-resort really cheaper I've been (for example in Philippines);
- the resort staff: as I said, with the only exception of the housekeeping of our cottage (maybe we've been unlucky? who knows.. but other guest who travelled with us on our way back to Nadi, seemed to think the same), all the others were really friendly, helpful and efficient;
- the managers: helpful and efficient the girl (sorry, I forgot her name); only seen but never heard a word from Paul; friendly the dog;
- restaurant: the best thing in the resort, really tasteful;
- the diving center: poor logistic (no showers, rinse basin always dirty, centre often closed with nobody around), poor diving equipment (I had my own wetsuit and fins, but my wife not: there were only two or three 3mm suit, in poor conditions, really difficult to wear for a woman as they were man's fitted; only a pair of fins of her size, which seemed to came from the WW II; no bcd for her size, an S like 99% of woman, only 1 bcd of my size, M like 50% of man; regulators which have seen better days);
- the diving staff: the first day, when we try to choose the equipment we needed, the onyl man in the diving center was a staff boy, friendly but zero capable to give answer different than "no" (I asked to change my mouthpiece 'cause I got my own.. "no", he said. "why?" I asked. "bacause it is already assembled", the answer). The second day, a real guide (or she was the diving manager? nobody told us) arrived (Sarah). A good guide, a good divemaster. We had two or three dives with her, in the lagoon (bad weather, bad sea, impossibile to go outside). The visibility, obviously, was terrible, and the dives were nothing more than a way to accomplish our diving will. The day after finally! the weather was getting better so we arranged for a two tank dive outside the lagoon: finally the guide was sick and the plan changed, so no two tank dive and only a single tank dive guided by the stuff guy I mentioned before.. Nice, but nothing memorable. I asked for almost a week to arrange a shark dive, but It was impossibile to do. The first days, because of the weather (also when there were no wind they told that the weather did not permit to exit the lagoon.. this point is not possibile to confute, since we have no idea of the sea condition outside the lagoon). Two days before our departure because the guide was sick. The day before our departure, because shark dive is impossible to arrange on Tuesday. And in my opinion, this attitude well describe the habit of the diving.. they were not really upset when we asked to arrange a dive for the next day, but neither happy to do that, just like it was a difficult they prefere not not have. Surreal, in some ways. I've been diving for more than 10 years, in many different country, with more then 50 different diving center with different managers and maybe 1hundred different divemaster. Well, this is the first time in all my life I had this sense I described: not to be a coustomer longing to dive as much as possible, with all the staff longing to bring me to dive, but to be a difficult the diving preferred not to have.
Before the final considerations, to be honest I have to say that the weather did not help, with a lot of wind almost all days. But, for the last time: I experienced bad weather conditions before, and in all other occasions I always had the best dives for that possibilities, with all the staff making their best to dive as much as possibile. And not because I claim to dive at all costs, but because the staff did all that was possibile (and sometimes impossible) to make it happen. And only for the good reason (not money, I'm not a supermillionaire, not fame, I'm not a writer): passion, to dive and to share diving experience. This is what i think.
One positive thing to say: the bill was really honest, they made us a rich discount.
Anyway: at last, during our diving vacation we had 7 dives in total (4 for me and 3 for my wife).
If we were interested in saving money (for the dives, because the rest of the stay was not cheap at all), this would be a quite good week.
But our first goal was to dive, and about diving I have to say this is one of the worst overall experience I ever had.
Only unlucky-times? Maybe. This is our experience: I hope who will be there after us will be more lucky.
About that, I'm so curious to hear yudi experience..
Well, guys, ,sorry for this long & bothering report, but this is all I had to say.
Happy bubbles.
