萬竹可海灣度假酒店(Waidroka Bay Resort)

Our stay at Waidroka Bay Resort was excellent. The staff are warm and welcoming, the resort facilities comfortable, and the diving is outstanding. The shark dive is a ‘must do’ but the rest of the dive sites are equally as interesting, with a great mix of hard and soft corals, wall dives, a local wreck, and varying currents—not to mention the great visibility (June). The resort is nestled between the Coral Coast barrier reef and the lush rainforest of Viti Levu. It is a world away from the hustle and bustle of Nadi’s tourist ***** and provides a genuine escape for those who want to immerse themselves in the area’s pristine scuba diving and reputedly world class surf breaks (diver, not a surfer). Over the last 19 years, the resort’s owner, Boris, has cultivated a delightful eden amidst the rainforest. The resort blends in beautifully to its surrounds and provides a comfortable and relaxing base for days of adventure. The main building is home to the restaurant, bar and reception, and perches over the pool and relaxing open air bures. The accommodation is a blend of beach front bures dotted amongst the gardens and palm trees with additional rooms available up the hill with panoramic views over the coastline. The dive shop is a well run, clean and organised affair. Gary and Ciara run a tight ship and are exceptionally professional, experienced and passionate. The rental equipment is in excellent condition (if not brand new) and the dive boat is spacious—quite useful noting most dive days will be 2-3 dives out on the reef with surface intervals done on the boat (or on some occasions, nearby island). Ciara is an excellent instructor, having taken one of us through the PADI Advanced Open Water course, and quickly adapted her style to the student’s capabilities. Gary, also an instructor, was a fantastic and knowledgeable guide. His demeanour underwater is calm and he led the small group at a very balanced pace, regardless of conditions. The restaurant food is top notch. Fresh, delicious meals with an uncommon attention to presentation. One of the evenings we had the pleasure of having a local fish stew, which was a stand out amongst many great meals.

Our family of 6 - kids 16, 14, 13, 11 - had a fantastic 5 day stay. Up to two daily boat trips out to the reef to surf kept the teenagers happy. Thoroughly enjoyed a day trip along the river to a remote village and swim in a pristine waterfall followed by river tubing. The ultimate winner hands down was the diving - Ciara and Gary headed up the PADI team - their calm and supportive presence and reassuring planning was welcomed by the younger kids (and us parents). Diving is well catered for all levels and ability - and daring. Everyone was thoroughly satisfied. A great diving resort our family will definitely be returning to in the future.

Quaint resort at the southern edge of the island with scuba dive shop and dive instructors on site. Our group of 24 took up the entire resort for a week of diving which included 13 dives (2-3 per day for 5 days) included 2 shark dives day Beqa Lagoon. The dive shop had rental equipment if you needed and did dive certifications if needed. 3-meals a day were included with made-to-order breakfasts and lunches (unless you ate on dive days - it was packed for the boat) and a 3-course meal for dinner. Staff was very friendly and a local tribe came in 1 evening to perform a Kava ceremony (Sorry but it tasted like dirt water to me). Rooms were sufficient but half of them were way up on a hill requiring you to walk up 62 steps to get there. I was expecting to see surfers based on the website saying it was a surf & dive resort but the surfing is way far out and you had to get there by boat. There weren't big waves in the May timeframe so no surfers.

The diving was fantastic, well because it is Fiji! But what made our diving experience above and beyond was the dive crew. Sem, Gary, Ciara, and Captains Jaro and Jim were not just skilled but they were funny, friendly, and always happy even when lugging our heavy dive equipment around. And the food! Ample choices for breakfast and lunch and a 3 course dinner every night. We dove, swam, relaxed, had massages, met every evening for a new drink of the day at happy hour and even participated in a Cava ceremony. For the 4 of us it was a dream vacation come true...

The dive team was excellent . It was my 1st open water in the ocean and Gary the dive master was very helpful . The staff at the resort were very service oriented 😃 Food was excellent and the cabins were roomy and comfortable .I would recommend this to any one who wants to dive in Fiji . Ps : the shark dive was incredible !

Waidroka resort had it all: House Reef (not the best in the world, but great for snorkeling; and for a nominal fee, they can take you out to much better reefs in one of their small boats), on site dive boats, trips to the outside reef for surfing, good connections to Shark Dives on the Beqa reef and other local trips. Chose one of the cabins surrounding the Common Area with the Dining hall; just easier and more fun. The resort is a little isolated, but make a push to take a dinner at one of the local restaurants, even if it takes ~30 min with taxi to get there. The staff is really friendly, helpful and great. Great place to visit.

Room and main facilities need a little tender loving care presently. That is understandable since the resort has had basically no income for 2+ years due to covid lockdown. Pool is well maintained (and a nice place to relax after a day of surfing or diving). Meals in the main lodge (typically breakfast and dinner) were at one large table that seats all of the guests. This provided opportunity for guests to start conversations while breaking bread together. Food was flavorful and ample in quantity. Virtually all of the lunches that I had were on a dive boat. The kitchen provided a 'one box' meal daily for each diver. There were also an assortment of baked goods and some fruits on the dive boat to snack on during surface interval. Some divers had special dietary requests and the kitchen accommodated them well. The location is interesting. It is about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive from the Nadi airport (NAN). The resort property is located across a high ridge a few miles by rustic road from the highway. This isolation results in the resort being quiet. Pace is low key. Dive boats were okay. They had two large outboard motors extending from the stern. Which meant that the diver to get back onto the boat between the two large motors. In calm seas this isn't a concern. In rough seas the diver has to exercise additional caution. I prefer dive boats with inboard motor but I'm not sure those would work here due to the shallow draft needed for the boats to cross the channel to the open sea during low tide. Dive sites were good. The colorful hard corals were amazing - looked almost like a flower garden - we don't get that in the Caribbean. The resort and dive staff were excellent. They went out of their way to make our stay and diving experience great. Hence, the 4 stars rating as follows: 3 stars for facilities (that I'm sure will likely be improved once a steady income has been restored), 5 stars for resort and dive staff. That averages to 4 stars.

What a beauty! Home away from home vibe! Tons of activities and really great food. Thank you guys! Boris, Lorna the Queen of everything, Andy best dive instructor, Ilaisa, D, Ame, Mark and everyone in Waidroka for creating such unforgettable experience and stay! We'll be back!

I spent a week diving with the team at Waidroka Bay Resort. All of the team members at the resort were friendly and helpful. The resort is located in the southern part of the main island. It’s about a 2-hour drive from the international airport to the resort. My room was well maintained and spacious. The food at the restaurants was very good. Plenty of options for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is served family style which is pretty cool. The dive team executed dives efficiently. The resort operates several boats to accommodate both divers and surfers. The dive team offered daily 2- and 3-tank dives plus the organized the shark dives. On 3-tank dive days lunch was provided on the boat. The reefs appeared to be quite healthy with lots of marine life. During the week, we observed tiger shark to tiny nudibranchs. I would definitely return to dive the region again.