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We're also in need of a family holiday on a Pacific island somewhere. Can anyone recommend a decent family-friendly resort? We don't particularly want one with a kids club as we don't like packing them off for the day - just somewhere they'll be accepted as the norm.
Senior Member
i'm flying to raro today so i'll post my findings upon my return in 10 days
Member
Hi TiaOriginally Posted by Tia Maria
Where did you stay and would you recommend it? Thanks, Norma.
Ronaldinho Rocks!
We stayed at Plantation Island Resort:
www.plantationisland.com
I would say it was a 3 start resort in a 5 star location, so everything is a bit tired/tatty but the island is gorgeous.
Overall it is a very family orientated resort, I wouldn't go there as a couple but I found it quite nice that my kids could just be kids without worrying what everyone thought.Likes
Lots of free activities - kayaks, snorkelling gear, mini golf, wind surfers, 3 pools
Free Kids club - more of a drop-in centre, with activities going on, so any supervision is casual at best. But the activities were great - they went out on a boat fish feeding, collected crabs for crab races, treasure hunts, traditional fijian crafts, learning dances for evening shows etc etc. You could also sign the kids in and out when you liked, so it was super flexible.
Lomani Resort - 5/10 mins away - an adult only resort which you can use for free, so you can drop the kids in the kids club, walk down to here and sit by a child free pool:
www.beautifulfiji.com/lomani-resort/index.html
Kids Dinner - Very casual early dinner for the kids, then they can go to the kids club while you guys can eat alone. Kids can also join you at the main meal too
Beaches - to die for, lovely bath like, shallow water with fish swimming around your toes. On the days the tide goes out the kids can walk out to small bits of reef and put their mask into the water and look at all the fish/starfish etc So even if your kids aren't strong swimmers they can still pretend to snorkel
Fire Lighting Ceremony - the kids from the kids club get to run along the beach after the sun has gone down and help light the torches while the drums are playing - they love it.
So-so
Food - was OK but nothing special and limited, service was slow but in the heat you can't blame them. We got round it by me going first and ordering breakfast while the kids played on the beach, then they cam by when it was ready.
Babysitting - although very good value, some sitters were clearly better than others.
Dislikes
Supermarkets - stocked very little and what they did was super pricey, so stock up on the mainland before arrival
Bures - everything a bit run down but probably representative of the price we paid. There are also bures which are much better located than others and this can make a big difference to your experience. I think some may have been done up to....so might be worth asking on a trip advisor forum
When we first arrived we were a bit disappointed that the bure was tatty but after a couple of days we didn't care as we frequently got the stunning beach to ourselves and my OH would bring a kayak around in the morning to our part of the beach and the kids could muck about in it. It really was a stunning location, with plenty to do for those interested.
Cheers
Tia
Senior Member
Was it clean Tia? Sounds like you had a great time. Also how were the transfers? Would like to go in the future, also how was the weather?
Ronaldinho Rocks!
Yes it was clean and our Bure was serviced daily and they did a good job of keeping on top of all the sand the boys trod in.
On the way there, we had to spend an intial hour or so in a sister hotel opposite the airport, so that the timings were right for the ferry, which would have been fine, as you could get snacks and use the pool - but we weren't prepared for this, so it was a pain with tired grumpy kids.
However, we had come over on an early morning flight and you can come over on a night flight and spend a night in a hotel on the mainland instead, (I'd chose to do the night in Port Denerau if I was doing this as this is where the boat leaves from and there is a supermarket and cafes there too). In retrospect I wish we'd done the night flight as the kids found the whole day travelling quite exhausting.
On the way out we ended up with a slightly old bus and boat but on the way back we got more modern, comfortable versions, so I'm guessing it's just luck.
On the whole we had to check in at something silly like 5.30am and arrived at the resort for about 3.30pm, with a long wait between plane and bus and shorter wait between bus and boat - but enough time to rush into the supermarket and buy a few things.
If you are going to buy food at the supermarket, then you'll also need to take plastic plates etc as it is not meant to be self catering on the island and they only provide a fridge and tea & coffee making facilities.
Also take a torch for walking about at night and for the kids to do frog and lizard spotting. Which reminds me, I imagine it's a common Fijian thing but we shared our Bure with small lizard type things....they kept away from us so weren't a problem, in fact the kids enjoyed spotting them on the ceiling - but it might freak some people out.
Weather was fab, it rarely rained and when it did it was at night. One of the advantages of being on the islands is that the rain clouds pass over very quickly.
The other places I've heard good things about for families:
Treasure Island
www.treasureisland-fiji.com
And the Radisson on Denerau if you want to stay on the mainland:
www.radisson.com/fiji
However, these weren't very affordable for us as they didn't have accommodation options for larger families in the same way Plantation did and we'd have had to book two rooms/bures.
Cheers
Tia
Member
Thanks for all the info Tia.
Senior Member
Yes thanks it's great to know this before you travel somewhere
Out of interest would you go back?
Ronaldinho Rocks!
We were having this discussion the other night, with the cost of the other resorts being higher for a family of 5, would we wait two years to go to a different resort, or would we rather go back to Plantation Island next year?
TBH we didn't reach a conclusion but I think it's quite likely that once the weather started to get cold again we'd probably happily hop on a plane to Plantation again. However, if we came into a bit of money it would be nice to try somewhere else, to see if it was a lot nicer and worth the extra cash.
I'm sure there are other resorts that are smarter and more swish but it really is the affordability of Plantation that works in it's favour, not just on intial costs but due to so many of the activities and kids club being free.
I found the people on the Fiji tripadvisor forums very helpful and do shop around at different agents - there was $1500 difference between our highest and lowest quotes for exactly the same holiday.
Cheers
Tia
Member
Despite my rather negative post above, we found the Kid's Club on Castaway Island/Resort great, they did fun, different activities, and likewise we used it as a "drop in" service. The Bure was not run down at all, I found it gorgeous, and for me, used to hotels, it was wonderful to have a little bungalow all to ourselves, to have a little "patio" and although we couldn't afford a beach front one, it was so close as to be practically beach front anyway. I loved the idea of an island all to ourselves. I loved the little hill you could climb and the fact that there were kayaks for everyone and hammocks and the water was shallow. We had very overcast weather except for the first day.
But, I do second all the other comments (slow service, long boat ride, etc) above.
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