Hiapo & Mary - FIJI 09
In Heaven, the word “Fijian” must translate as “beloved family”. Any absence from them takes a little something from your soul, and yet, when you are reunited, you are more than whole again. The Fijian people have always been known for their friendliness beyond their terrific service, but when 2 different Fijians approach me and say they remember me from the last time I visited. This is more remarkable as they remember my name and how to pronounce it (not easy), AND they both worked at different resorts, AND I had not been to either resort in over 5 years!
Likuliku Lagoon Resort:
Likuliku is my first stop and to a potential customer, I must say this: Don’t be afraid of leaving the big city and going to a 3rd world country on a small island disconnected from the rest of the world. You will find comfort in the modern design of the bures, luxurious beds and linens, large polished stone sinks, TV’s (DVD’s only, no cable), iPod docks, phones (for service calls only), powerful air conditioning (most Fiji resorts seem to suffer weak A/C), and every detail seems brand new. This new concept may clash with those who have traveled frequently through Fiji, but for the first-timer, the average American traveler, and those seeking superb luxury service without sacrificing a contemporary design, this is your new little piece of Heaven on earth.
The beach is long and beautiful; the water is as calm as an unoccupied swimming pool. The small spa has 2 treatment rooms currently (more to be built soon), so book early and often. They have 2 bars, one adjacent to the only dinning room and another on a small island connected by a bridge to shore. We were here when all but one of the almost 50 rooms were full and there was never a crowd. The horizon edge pool faces the ocean and has several nooks and crannies than one can feel a little more private, but if you want more privacy, book a Deluxe Beachfront Bure (like mine!) which has it’s own private (deep) plunge pool on a deck with a GINORMOUS day bed under it’s own thatched roof.
Besides the friendliness of the Fijians, the dining experience deserves special notice. Many new resorts get fresh training from fantastic chefs, but often suffer within a year or so requiring repeated refresher courses. Likuliku has been open nearly 2 years and I am happy to report no such problems. Not only is everything amazingly fresh, but also each meal seemed to be better than the last with amazing creativity and presentation to match the best restaurants in the world. Augmenting your meal, dinner also features 3 or 4 musicians singing with the familiar lilting Fijian voices. If you listen carefully, you will hear not only the Fijian local songs, but a few of your favorites from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s sung in a new way! Pay particular attention to the “percussion section”: one singer pounding on a square box with a fist and a water bottle filled with course sand, all emulating a small drum set. During one of our dinners, about two dozen of the staff came together and sang several local songs. This, I promise, will be one of the highlights of your trip as they are renown for their singing voices, singing practically from birth, all in 3 or 4 part harmony, all to stir something special deep within your being.
Vatulele Island Resort:
I know Vatulele has a meaning in Fijian, but I believe in my heart that the correct definition is “big”, make that “HUGE”. Everything about this place is big. The villas are 2000 square feet including the patio. If you have one of the villas with a plunge (like mine!) you have a 25+ foot long, 5+ foot deep, horizon edge pool. Surrounding your villa is a huge jungle with a huge variety of jungle birds (more songs, coos, trills, and whistles than anywhere this side of an Amazon jungle). If you walk your private sand path towards the water, you will find a huge, white, sandy beach (shared by less than 20 villas) stretching over a quarter of a mile. Fronting the beach is a turquoise, barrier reef protected lagoon so huge that seaplanes can land right along the beach.
Then you get inside your villa. Your bathroom has a shower huge enough for you and maybe seven of your closest friends, two showerheads, towels that are AT LEAST 6 ½ feet long (well over my 6’ 3” head). In the sunken seating area you will find a build-in sofa and love seat, coffee tables made of huge chunks of tamarind wood (DON’T try to move them, they weigh enough to throw your back out!), a wine fridge, LCD TV (DVD player only), TV reception is very rare in Fiji.
In your boudoir area, you will find a huge king size, elevated bed with a romantic netting underneath which is some of the most comfortable, soft, breathable linens available. Behind the bed (and under the new hidden air conditioning unit) is a very well appointed wet bar stocked with an assortment of sodas, water, milk and coffee and tea making equipment (check out the cute little individual chromed kettles for making tea).
Then, if this is not enough for you, they have what is consistently voted “the sexiest accommodation in the Pacific”: The Point. A twisting path takes you through some of the thickest jungle on the resort; a wavering, patterned stone inlaid path leads you to a huge double doorway with a stone Buddha head witnessing your entry into your own personal piece of paradise. Perched on the vertical lava cliffs, overlooking the aforementioned lagoon is a two story, pristine white villa. Separated by the rest of the resort by it’s location, The Point has it’s own private, horizon edge plunge pool (overlooking the lagoon), ANOTHER separate pool with waterfall, surrounded by thick, verdant jungle on one side and the shear lava cliff. In the bathroom, besides a multi-headed shower, is a pristine white tub for two, AGAIN with a view of the lagoon. With such an accommodation a personal butler is, of course, included (with his own residence connected just outside your door).
With all this “huge”, you may find it surprising that the thing you will take from Vatulele is a restored soul. The very air around you breathes relaxation into your body. You will feel your blood pressure drop, you will stop looking at your watch, you will forget your shoes in your room, and all of your cares will disappear like a whisper in a forest.
Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort:
In the entire world, there are few people who truly love children the way the Fijian people do. And in all of Fiji, the one place that has the best reputation for children is Jean Michel Cousteau. Not only do kids stay and eat free (up to 2 before an extra charge applies), but their enormous varieties of activities are mostly included without additional charge. Now when I say they love children, I do not mean in a passive-aggressive way where some caregiver smiles until you turn your back, there is love to be seen in every gesture and smile of the Fijians. This morning during breakfast I saw a child of perhaps 2 years collecting plumeria flowers from the ground, she clearly needed one more, but she had cleared the ground of all flowers. Along comes a Fijian, not one who was assigned as nanny, but just one of the crew cleaning around the deck, and she reaches up into the plumeria tree and plucks another flower for the little girl.
For the children, there is a “Bula Club” full of activities ranging from arts and crafts to “edutainment” teaching them about the native plants and their uses. They have a family pool (separate from the adults-only, aptly named “tranquility pool”), which has a water slide.
For the adults, they have snorkeling and diving trips led by their own live in marine biologist, who was our personal snorkel guide, pointing out the unbelievable variety of fish and coral.
Here is the conundrum. When most people think of the term “family resort”, they think of a family Club Med, perhaps a Beaches Resort (nothing wrong with either of them), or (if more upscale) one of the better Disney resorts. Sadly, this conjures visions of screaming, ankle biting, rug-rats, dragging their exhausted parents around by the arm. Nothing could be further from that image here and Jean Michel Cousteau. Here, the family dining hours are (slightly) separated from couples dining hours, and the family dining area is on the far side of the main dining room, so even during breakfast, you do not have couples with the families, AND if mom and dad need a little “us time”, the loving Fijians take the kids and give mom and dad a much needed inoculation of love. And OH IS IT ROMANTIC! The “tranquility pool” is lined with brightly colored daybeds, each with it’s own individual ceiling fan above it, at night, the pool transforms into the romantic dining area of your dreams: surrounding the pool are kerosene lanterns, the lighting in the rest of the room is subdued, allowing each table’s candlelight (candle lanterns with a collection of local tropical flowers) to become the focus point.
And when it comes to dining, WOW! You typically have “dinner specials”, how about “breakfast specials”? Well presented, every meal is a delight to the palate, where fresh local ingredients are combined by some of the best chefs in the Pacific. Every night, the “Bula Boys” sit around their Kava bowl and sing, not only the local Fijian folk songs, but also some of your favorite covers (I heard some Clapton, U2 and even a Bob Marley song).
The rooms follow the color themes of the pools with bright linens, open airy spaces, large dark wood cupboards, and standard bedding for 3 in the entry level rooms (roll away beds supplied for a second child). Their ocean front rooms come with 2 person hammocks and several of those also come with a second room raising the occupancy up to 5 (6 with a roll away bed).
Their Point Reef Villas have the best views on the resort and are quite a bit larger coming standard with a king bed and 2 single beds and a wet bar. One of them even has a private Jacuzzi on the deck overlooking the ocean.
At the end of the resort, with the best view is “The Villa”. This is arguably one of the nicest rooms in the Pacific and has their ultimate luxury appointments: two rooms, one is a seating area with convertible sofa (perfect for traveling families), besides a bathroom with a stone shower and dark polished wood everywhere, it has a small kitchen with refrigerator (stocked with soda, milk, water, fruit, candies, beer and wine), it even has a washing machine and dishwasher built into the sink (not that you would be expected to use them). Between this room and the master suite, there is an open atrium with a dining area, several lounges, a huge day bed under a thatched roof and ceiling fans over everything. There is also a hot shower at the edge of your deck, just so you do not have to rinse the salt water off with cold water. The centerpiece to this area is a large, horizon edge plunge pool overlooking your own chunk of beach with chairs and a hammock. This is a great place to hang out and enjoy a sunset cocktail with snacks (complementary every evening) and watch not only a perfect tropical sunset, but also the cute little toads and land crabs that scurry about at that time.
Then comes the real “wow factor”. The master suite is entered through sliding louvered doors. The first thing that meets you are the twin, large, glass bowl sinks separated by a stone staircase. On the far side of the room is another stone shower, this one with two showerheads. The centerpiece of this room is a large stone Jacuzzi with room for two to lie down side by side. Both the shower and Jacuzzi face one wall of the suite composed entirely of floor to ceiling glass, this faces your own private courtyard. In your courtyard is a waterfall supplying a perfect sound to carry you off to sleep. Also in the courtyard is ANOTHER shower, again with 2 showerheads (were they worried I might ever get dirty?). Another dining area rounds out the courtyard. Ascending the stairs brings you into the boudoir, complete with a four-poster, curtained bed with it’s own ceiling fan, twin walk in closets (with automatic lights), and an iPod dock, and CD player that supplies hidden speakers throughout the villa.
If you can’t find your own “happy place” at Jean Michel Cousteau, you just aren’t trying!
Savasi Island:
If you ever wanted to say you rented your own island, but don’t have the kind of money to do so, maybe you should consider a “semi-private island”.
Savasi Island is near the town of Savusavu on a small island connected to the main island by a small bridge built from the coral that is abundant in the Fijian North. Rich with natural tropical trees, shrubbery, fruits, and flowers galore, Savasi Island is a 3 star alternative to the ultimate privacy of having your own island. There are only 2 villas, each with 3 rooms: 2 master suites with a living room in between complete with a kitchen. Each room has sweeping views of the Koro Sea, with decks extending to the cliff edge. Below each deck are either: a coral flat (common through much of Fiji), or a small coarse beach, both affords complete privacy. Your host, Ma, handles your day to day needs, while her husband (a former chef at a few of the finest Fijian resorts) handles your meals, cooked to your time schedule, using the native flora and fauna as abundant sources to tempt your palate all with the skill you would expect to find in a MUCH more expensive resort.
The rooms are casual in design with lots of Fijian cultural décor: clamshell lamps, tapa cloth murals, giant headboards and tables made from the local Fijian timbers. Savasi Island: Champagne dreams on a beer budget.
Namale Resort and Spa:
Namale holds a very special place in my heart. I was raised in Southern California and that side of me is prone to this little devil that sits on my shoulder and screams “GO-GO-GO, aren’t you bored with ANOTHER perfect sunset, ANOTHER perfect meal, ANOTHER beautiful location?” I have since learned that he is completely insane. If you believe you have an undocumented case of ADHD, Namale is your tropical cure. Less than 20 bures and villas comprise the resort, sitting on 500 acres of cliff top ocean front views, this piece of Heaven has more activities than any of the other resorts in Fiji. They have an 18 hole golf course (9 holes with 2 approaches per hole), horseback riding, their own waterfall, 2 pools, 2 Jacuzzis (one overlooking an ocean blowhole), a putting course, volleyball, an indoor basketball court, tennis court, ping pong, mountain biking, kayaks, sailboats, water skiing/wakeboarding, water trampoline, banana boat, and air conditioned gym, and my personal favorite: “the Kava bowl”. Here is a 2 lane bowling alley, a virtual golf room, self serve bar, internet café, pool table, air hockey, foosball, darts, even a video game machine, and a projection screen theatre supplied by an Apple TV loaded with what seems to be hundreds of movies.
The most important feature is, of course, the Spa. Sitting on an ocean cliff overlooking their own ocean blowhole, 4 treatment rooms flank their hydrotherapy room. This piece of Nirvana is a large room with a glass wall (so as not to obscure your perfect view of the ocean), 4 different aromatherapy tubs, a HUGE Jacuzzi tub (for you and about 10 of your friends, maybe 20 if intimate!), a refrigerated plunge pool, sauna, and an indoor waterfall to take care of those tension filled shoulders and neck.
To begin your trip to massage heaven, each treatment is begun by giving your feet and calves a hand wash and scrub, finishing off with a wonderful coconut lotion rub. The treatment we had was the couples “Ultimate Fusion Treatment” (ask for it by name!). Hot (and I do mean HOT) oil is poured generously all over you and massaged, accupressured, deep-tissued, and even rubbed in with hot smooth stones! I reached another plane of existence repeatedly (my wife, on the other hand, said I drifted off several times).
All of their bures offer traditional Fijian thatched roofs, lots of ventilation, Asian themed décor, indoor and outdoor showers, and the fluffiest towels in all of creation. Their Honeymoon Bures offer oceanfront views, and Jacuzzi tubs as well as being larger with more private locations. For those of you with a bit more in your budget, you need to pick one of the villas. Listed as “the Sexiest rooms in the South Pacific” they feature air conditioning, 2 person Jacuzzi tubs, private plunge pools, projector TVs supplied with hundreds of movies on an Apple TV, WiFi, and several other features. Each unit is unique but our unit “Civa” (pronounced THEE-va, meaning “pearl” in Fijian) was hidden in it’s own magical piece of forest near the Spa. The bedroom had A/C, a comfy seating area, projector TV with Apple TV, WiFi and a Bose CD player with hidden speakers throughout the room. Opposite from the entryway was a formal dining room with wet-bar and it’s own open air, private bathroom with outdoor shower. On the other side of the bedroom, separated by a protected, open-air walkway was a walk-THROUGH closet with powder room. Another walkway takes you to the master bath: Large open shower with ginormous showerhead, Jacuzzi tub for 2 with an ocean view, large bowl twin sinks, a double seating deck overlooking a sweeping view, and another outdoor shower. There are few private decks to compare with the one we experienced at Namale: a free form pool swept about 40 feet from one side to the other, horizon edged on the cliff’s edge, lit a magical blue at night, with 3 sets of lounges, just in case you need to invite a bunch of new friends to your room, and another lounge in an elevated lover’s lookout, like your own personal tree house of romance.
The people are the special treat and the true heart of Namale. This is a place where everybody knows your name within a day or two of arrival. From the wait-staff at the restaurant to the “bula cart” driver (how else do you expect to get around a resort where the main grounds are over 300 acres, but by golf cart!) everyone shows a level of caring you would only find at a family reunion. Even the “bula boys” (the nightly entertainment band) do more than just sing and supply kava, they joke, they chat, they bring a level of joy beyond what can be reasonably expected from a house band. Our first night we were surprised to find that TWO HOURS had passed chatting and laughing, exchanging stories, sing-along songs, and meeting other guests. They have mastered the art of infectious happiness.
Taveuni Island Resort:
There are some people that want to go to an exotic locale and “live local”, and then there are those of us that like to have familiar contemporary designs IN a local tropical garden setting. If there were a contest for most beautiful resort, Taveuni Island resort would have to be the top contender. Taveuni is known as the Garden Island. It earns this name by being one of the lushest places in Fiji. It is also know for its amazing bird watching opportunities: multicolored parrots, mynas, boobies, and songbirds of every assortment.
In the midst of this tropical splendor, atop a cliff overlooking the most amazing view of the ocean and islands of Fiji in all of Fiji sits Taveuni Island Resort. There are less than a dozen bures, most near the cliff’s edge (Deluxe Ocean Front), with a few sitting elevated behind them (Deluxe Ocean View). A dining area affords the same amazing view over the ocean and to the surrounding islands in the distance. Even the cliff-side horizon edge saltwater swimming pool does not skimp on the vistas. If you are one to sit and absorb the majesty of an amazing sunset, you have found your Nirvana.
The rooms differ from most of the Fijian resorts in several ways: natural colored and lacquered wood poles, slightly flattened, give the visage of being in a wood cabin, albeit a very luxurious one. In Fiji, it is common to use very dark polished wood. Where typically you find a lot of florescent lighting, here you find soft decorative sconces influenced by the native fauna. An opaque bed canopy, with a Balinese design, covers the bedding, making you feel like you are in an Arabian Nights based movie. The bathroom continues the elegance with large, hand-blown glass bowls with concentric ocean wave patterns in the ridges of glass. The shower has a glass door that opens to a tiled outdoor shower with a giant showerhead. The crime would be to use the indoor shower at all, because the privacy and view from the shower is as amazing as the view from anywhere else in the resort. All of the rooms are suites with the living area enclosed by two sets of sliding, accordion glass doors, each designed to afford you the best possible view.
The whole resort is intimate in size and feel, with a quiet you will find nowhere else. In fact, you are likely to notice nothing but the sounds of the birds and the breezes lofting their flights. Add to all of this a beach that, while small in length, is so beautiful and soft as to make most other Fijian resorts green with envy.
Taveuni Island Resorts defines the phrase “little slice of paradise”.
Qamea Resort and Spa:
What would possess a sane person to do the following: travel 10 ½ hours from LA (hours more from most US cities), fly another hour and a half on a third-world country, 20 passenger prop plane, then take a 30+ minute drive down a dirt road that was last graded decades ago, and finally take a 20-30 minute ride across an open ocean channel in a small, aluminum, and open air boat. Those that have taken the trip to Qamea know the destination is the reason for the journey.
The sole resort on a large island, this resort has less than 20 bures, no kids, an amazing little beach running the length of the resort, and more Fijian smiles than should be legally allowed. Meandering though the resort is a new sand path lined with little stone bures that are your nightlights (complimented by tiki torches). This path is a great way to explore the resort’s jungle, wetlands, river stone swimming pool, gigantic chess set, and their greatest addition, their jungle spa.
Built deep in the Qamea jungle, set into a hillside, is their Jungle Spa. Comprised of several mini bures, every type of spa treatment from facials, to scrubs, to waxing, to massages to their ultimate treatment: the “Qamea Night of Decadence”. This over the top experience starts with a Fijian warrior in full battle dress, complete with war clubs, who then escorts you to the spa, which had been emptied of all other guests. There you are first introduced to your Guinot, Paris trained therapist, given a treat of fruit and champagne, then given a full body scrub, followed by a candlelit outdoor shower, and topping it all off with a 75 minute couples massage (or facial). Normally, this would be enough to send you to heaven, but this is not just another 4 star tropical resort, this is Qamea. Your Warrior escorts return to guide you back “unharmed” to your bure where you are greeted by your own Fijian Band (voices gifted by God), a lobster dinner (or one of several other choices), more champagne and candlelight to set a mood that will live in your memories forever.
I can go on and on about the contemporary and artistic décor, the superb owners Ron and Bryce (who are often at the resort), and a staff that makes most other Fijian staff seem a little rude by comparison (if that is possible). The biggest testament you will find is “cocktail hour” when staff and guests gather by the bar and share the day’s stories. The gigantic grins, the coy giggles, and the infectious joy coming from what were yesterday’s strangers, give pure pleasure to be shared with your new friends.
The Wakaya Club:
There are people in the world who think that $2000+++/night is a ridiculous sum of money to pay for a vacation (especially considering there is a 4 night minimum, no specials AND that does not include your international airfare OR the ~$1000 inter-island flights for 2). I was one of those people; likely you are one of those people. All those opinions change once you have been to Wakaya.
Formed by an ancient volcano, Wakaya Island stands at a distance from neighboring islands, is surrounded by a barrier reef and is a marine and wildlife sanctuary. Wild horses (with a 3 day old foal making his appearance for our visit!), dark furred deer, wild pigs, brilliantly colored parrots, kingfishers, mynas, tropical doves, large fruit bats, and a myriad of other creatures form the background against the well developed, but neatly kept, tropical grounds.
They say that God is in the details, if so, then this is where God rested on the 7th day. Every detail is well thought out and executed by the 6 staff members for every guest. Every detail of your bure is refined: well lit and framed artwork, the timeless design of the furnishings (I remember the same sofas, but the cushions seemed to be brand new), a mini-bar that seems to replenish itself automatically, a dirty laundry bin that magically empties itself and softens, cleans, folds, presses, and hangs (as appropriate) all of your laundry (usually by your next meal), his and her vanities stocked with everything you could need from toiletries to a first aid kit, THE softest towels, labeled light switches (so you don’t have to play the “what does this switch do?” game), a music player connected to hidden Bose speakers, an outdoor shower with perfectly matching smooth lava rock walls, a fruit bowl and cookie jar (THE BEST IN-THE-ROOM COOKIES EVER!) that also refill themselves magically, his and her foot showers on the entry steps, hand woven bamboo ceilings and so-clean-you-can-eat-off-them- floors. This is the standard in the most basic accommodation at Wakaya.
If you can afford better, my favorite of all rooms (ANYWHERE) is the Ambassador’s bure. If you take the details of the other rooms, add a HUGE, two story tall living area, a formal dining area and a state of the art kitchen (not that you would cook for yourself, but for the chef to come to you), and make it a two bedroom unit (each bedroom alone is about 2/3rds the size of the “regular” 1650 square foot suites), make each of the 2 showers large enough to hold 10 of your intimate football-player-sized friends, add a tiled bathtub large enough for two of those football players to lie side-by-side while admiring the little garden solarium, (but wait, there’s more!), then you add your own spa, equal if not larger than the resort spa, complete with two adjoining massage parlors connecting to a ~10’X10’ watsu pool (body temperature pool for relaxing or to have a floating massage performed therein) complete with 2 canopied lounges and a reclining Buddha to complete the theme. Step outside of your personal spa, and you find your personal golf cart. Did I mention the bure faces the ocean and fronts one of the nicest (but small) patches of sand in Fiji? And this is just your accommodation.
Your activity list is as long and as well serviced as your bure. Do you want something active? Snorkeling trips (with your personal boat), 2 tanks of diving included/day to those who are certified, kayaking, golf (with optional golf pro), croquet on a professional field, tennis (again with optional pro), gym with great equipment (well chilled and with optional personal trainer), hikes with historical guide, Boulez (bocce ball), and sport fishing (additional cost). Feel like a little relaxation? A spa, absolutely ocean front, with twin treatment rooms, and a watsu pool/lounge area is ready to take away all of your worries and your pains. What is my personal favorite? A private beach picnic to beat all others: padded wooden lounges under a thatched palapa, a hammock, table and lounge under a shady tree, all overlooking an amazing beach and amazing ocean without another soul within view. You supply the intimacy, and Wakaya supplies the rest. Did I mention the best picnic lunch ever? Start with your favorite beverage, whether that is soda, beer or a bottle of Taittinger Reserve Brut, add roasted lobster, barbequed prawns, grilled tuna (or whatever was caught that day), an amazing pesto pasta salad, and you start to get a feeling of what Heaven holds in store.
When it comes to food, there is no equal to Wakaya. Trained by celebrity chefs, the creativity, preparation, presentation, service, and quality of your meals will make every subsequent meal elsewhere suffer by comparison. Starting with breakfast, one of the best lattes I have ever had is just one drink option. First comes your continental breakfast (not a self-service buffet like all the rest, but table service): a fruit platter of THE ripest, none-of-that-pesky-rind, no bruises, and THE juiciest morsels presented from a plant. Follow this with a basket of different breads, all just out of the oven, always different, always tasty. Then you get to your hot items: an omelet without crust, yet not undercooked, fluffy, and not greasy. Perhaps you want something sweet? How about French toast, stuffed with bananas whipped to a butter-like consistency, all coated with a cinnamon and sugar crust. My new favorite was a lemon soufflé, sliced into little disks, and fried up like pancakes (paradise on a plate!). Lunches of caught-hours-ago Kokoda (walu chunks marinated in freshly made coconut cream and lime juice) and fried chicken that is juicy as a great orange, but perfectly cooked, coated with a crisp crumb coating that will disintegrate once it hits your tongue. Dinners of delightful curries, fresh mahi-mahi with sun-dried tomatoes over salt and vinegar potatoes topped with lemon garlic aioli are only samples of the ever changing options. If you want something else just ask. The word “no” does not seem to exist here. Desserts will haunt your dreams: lemon and almond tart, topped with tiny peaks of meringue, each peak topped with a blanched almond and garnished with sugar coated and roasted zest of lemons and oranges, or a “bananarama”: bananas in caramel sauce, stacked between layer upon layer of crisp filo dough, topped with a dollop of creamy vanilla ice cream.
I have made it my life’s work to find equal to the Wakaya Club. My wife and I have even made a game called “At Wakaya”. It goes like this: “At Wakaya, (and then we point out how Wakaya is superior)”. It is an easy game as I have (happily) failed to find anywhere we could not play the game. My search will continue (it’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it), and I expect to never find an equal.
Intercontinental Fiji:
Let’s pretend that you don’t like the little intimate feel, you want to do the “big resort” thing in Fiji: golf, spa, multiple restaurants, multiple swimming pools, in-town shopping, people watching, multiple bars, see a luau, you need a kids club because the little ones are coming along, you want a TV, a phone, and a radio (uncommon in Fiji resorts). Previously you had a number of choices, popular with the New Zealand and Australia crowd, BUT, now you want a great beach also, and you were thinking about getting married in Fiji so it needs a chapel (ideally one that will web cast your ceremony so those who cannot attend may see it live), AND you want something with terrific service (4+ stars). Until a few months ago, I would be trying to send you to Hawaii. Now there is a resort that has all of this and more: The Intercontinental Golf Resort and Spa.
Sitting by itself on a mile and a quarter long white sandy beach, the Intercontinental is spread over 30 acres, has less than 300 rooms, a kids club for 3 age groups, a family pool with water jets, fountains, and beautiful night lighting, a dive pool, and a third horizon edge, ocean view adults only pool with clamshell cloth covered couples “love pods”, a vodka specialty/tapas bar with adults only lounge, a bar and grill with pizza oven, a casual dining restaurant, a fine dining restaurant with show kitchen, and room service (of course).
The rooms are light and very contemporary with flat screen TV’s, Bose sound system with extra speakers in the bathroom, showers with handheld and rain-shower heads, twin vanities, ample closet space, and unique patios: a heavy privacy curtain can be used to seal off a daybed, a chair and a 2 person “Cleopatra” soaking tub with romantic seashell votives to light your mood.
The whole resort consists of 8 rooms clustered into “bures”, all two stories, spread out over the grounds. As there are no other resorts on this beach, so even a place this large is dwarfed by its surroundings.
Service is unusually good for a large resort, especially considering they have been open for less than a year. Smiling wait-staff, the groundskeepers share a friendly “BULA!” greeting; even the porters announce the arrival of new guests with the beating of the lali (Fijian log drum).
Beware large Fiji resorts, you have a new standard bearer and they mean business.
Yasawa Island Resort:
OK, you are a discerning traveler, you heard great things about Fiji (all true), but you’ve heard about Fiji beaches and how they tend to have a lot of shells, coral bits, lava rock or how the first 10 or 20 yards into the water are “coral flats”, and while many of them are gorgeous, you want it all. There are plenty of soft sandy beaches at several of the resorts, but they do not have it all. Either they are small, or they have the exposed coral at low tide, or THEY JUST AREN’T PERFECT AND DAMMIT, I DESERVE A PERFECT BEACH! Welcome to your dreams at Yasawa Island resort.
Yes, Yasawa Island Resorts has more soft, sandy, and golden white beaches than most the others combined. The beach in front of the resort is over 1 kilometer of perfect, soft-like-butter, sink up to your calves sand. But on either side of the island, extending for a 45 minute boat ride in either direction is beach upon beach upon beach of golden deliciousness. And that is just the setting.
Comprising of 18 bures total, the resort has everything you could ask for in a secluded boutique style resort: Tennis, scuba diving (more unmapped dive sights than virtually any resorts has identified ones), kayaking, sailing, snorkeling, soaking in the beachfront horizon edge pool, visits to an underground collection of sea caves (where they shot scenes from the movie “The Blue Lagoon”, and their specialty: private beach picnics. Yasawa Island is home to about a dozen private beached, each with amazing views of the neighboring islands, each with superb snorkeling, and each with so much privacy that you feel like the only couple in the world bures.
The bures are spread along the beach, each well over 1000 square feet, come with large decks with daybeds, hammock, and palapa covered lounges out front. The insides welcome you with a separate sitting area and one of the more fun bathrooms: twin vanities, a dark stone slate shower with twin shower heads (so she can’t hog all the hot water!), and a hot and cold outdoor shower built into a tree.
The newest addition to Yasawa is their beachfront spa. In addition to two indoor treatment rooms, it also has an outdoor massage area where you can enjoy the breeze, accompanied by the gentle crashing of the surf. On the far end of the spa is a large Jacuzzi enclosed by a wall that opens to reveal the ocean, and beyond that is an outdoor plunge pool for those balmy days.
Service, especially at meal time, is exemplary. Meals are presented with extraordinary attention to presentation as well as taste. Even breakfast is a treat with their famous crab scramble and lobster omelets. Oenophiles have special reasons to celebrate as there are few Fijian resorts with better wine lists.
Yasawa, perfection on a beach.
Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hou'oli Makahiki Hou,
Hiapo
Hiapo Cockett ,
Toll Free 1-800-588-3454 x102
Local 213-784-4910
Click here to call me on our dime I'm ext.102.
Wow! It's that time again... I hope you have had a good year and are healthy, happy and anticipating a joyful holiday season.
In September, I returned to my beloved Fiji with my good friend and fellow dive pal, Rachel, from Maui Dreams Dive Co. Being avid divers as well as gals who appreciate luxury and pampering, we enjoyed 3 glorious nights at Namale Resort and Spa, residing in the breathtaking Duavata Villa. Our last 4 nights were truly heavenly spent at Qamea Resort and Spa. Fiji's underwater world is like watching the movie Finding Nemo. Maui's has great sealife to behold also, but it's tough to compete with sites in Fiji like Rainbow Reef, or the Great White Wall in Taveuni. We came home with huge smiles on our faces!
It has been nice to hear from many of you this past year to assist in planning your vacations. I have been busy working with many Fiji Resorts working up new deals to give you more value and choice than ever before and will be visiting many of the properties next month.
Zoetry Paraiso De La Bonita 
On arrival at the resort, we were given a brief tour property and then driven to our room where the check-in was completed. For those of you unfamiliar with the property, all of the 90-ish rooms are beachfront, steps from some of the finest, whitest, softest sand imaginable. All of the rooms are generous suites with Mexican marble everywhere, décor touches based on the name of your suite (our suite “Bangkok” has Thailand figures displayed in prominent locations). Standard amenities include early check-in and late check-out (based on availability during busy season) a fully stocked mini bar, a bottle of Tequila served on a marble platter with lime slices, salt and shot glasses, a decorative fruit platter (refreshed daily) with chilled champagne on demand. They also have one of my favorite bathrooms: Marble showers with 3 showerheads, a tub for 2 (lying side by side!), separate water closet with bidet, all well stocked with Bvlgari bath products, Frette linens, 24 hour in-room dining AND laundry, and more. New to the property are LCD TVs in the living room and bedroom, complimentary WiFi internet in all rooms, cordless phones with complimentary worldwide calling, ipod docks, and aromatherapy turndown service. 
Typically when a resort goes all-inclusive, service and food are some of the first things to suffer. Rest assured that the meals and the dining service are up to the standards of the finest restaurants worldwide. The first thing served to us was an amuse-bouche (like a pre-appetizer) of a baked cherry tomato, served with a Gorgonzola sauce, pesto and micro-herbs on top. It was like an explosion of flavor went off in my mouth. Next was a still-warm-from-the-oven selection of rolls. They are served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar poured into a small smooth stone circular dish, the size of a small sushi shoyu dish. Our choice of appetizer was yellow fin tuna Carpaccio served in 3 different incarnations, each one better than the last (and frankly the best I have ever had), next my wife and I had 2 different “salads”, mine was a spicy soft shelled crab, served with small cubed pieces of kiwi, and jicama, the combination attacked every taste bud on my tongue from multiple angles. For my entrée, I had a petite Angus filet mignon served with three types of mushrooms reduced to an amazing pate that amplified every essence of flavor contained in such a morsel. After this, a mango sorbet was served to cleanse the palate in preparation for dessert: chocolate and coffee filled ravioli served with a raspberry sauce and topped with “vanilla foam”. Then, the “after dessert”: a small marble canoe topped with a selection of chocolates and macaroons. 
Lunch makes a fine breakfast. Fresh mango margaritas are better than OJ any day! The casual restaurant, Kaax, serves a 4 course lunch that turned into a 7 course lunch (they saw that Mary and I share our selections, so they brought our appetizers, salads, and my pasta separately, only bringing our entrees together, so we could savor each unique flavor fiesta in its own glory. Try the chicken breast: broiled with a very thin, light, crispy breading, it is stuffed with goat cheese and apple slices that have been simmered in red wine, bringing out their natural sweetness to a candy-like delight. 
On Sundays, their fine dining restaurant was closed but a fine dining experience was to be had again at Kaax. Sunday is their prime rib and seafood night. Starting with a lovely little Argentinean merlot, and a basket of a variety of still warm rolls, we ordered a beef Carpaccio sliced impossibly thin, and topped with the smoothest of guacamoles. A dollop of the most amazing garlic “smashed” potatoes, strips of mushrooms and asparagus bring out the savory-ness of their wonderful roast beef. During the meal, a strolling trio of guitar players gave Spanish versions of 50’s songs like “Peg o my heart”. Then, to the delight of all, the chef came out and sang an operatic version of “I did it my way” in Spanish of course, and brought the house down! 
