Spent a wonderful 9 days at the Matava Eco Resort http://www.matava.com on Kadavu island in Fiji http://matava.com/kadavu-island/ diving some spectacular reefs. Kadavu is the 4th largest island in Fiji and it refreshingly remains basically undeveloped with few roads and not much besides villages connected by paths. Much of the island is surrounded by the Great Astrolabe Reef the 4th largest fringing reef in the world. http://scuba-diving-fiji.com/fiji-scuba-dive-centre/great-astrolabe-reef .
Spent a wonderful 9 days at the Matava Eco Resort http://www.matava.com on Kadavu island in Fiji http://matava.com/kadavu-island/ diving some spectacular reefs. Kadavu is the 4th largest island in Fiji and it refreshingly remains basically undeveloped with few roads and not much besides villages connected by paths. Much of the island is surrounded by the Great Astrolabe Reef the 4th largest fringing reef in the world. http://scuba-diving-fiji.com/fiji-scuba-dive-centre/great-astrolabe-reef .
The resort itself is nestled along the southeast side of the island and can barely been seen from the water blending in so well with the lush natural beauty of the island. The owners have carefully built the resort to have as little impact on the land and sea as possible. Most of the electricity is created by the abundant solar energy of the tropics, which also provides the hot water for showers in your private and very comfortable bure. With no roads to the resort EVERYTHING is brought in by boat. That in itself would be a challenge, but additionally everything needs to be timed by the tides because of the shallowness of the inside areas of the reef where it connects to the island. At low tide boats are sitting in the sand and us divers are walking to or from the transfer boats across sand and sea grass flats.
Don’t think for a minute this is a “rustic” basic resort. Far from it. Despite the logistics of supplying the resort, the staff goes beyond being friendly and caring and don’t ask me how such amazing and varied meals came out of that kitchen. A large garden supplies the majority of veggies served at the resort with the rest coming from the local village. What a treat that was.
The beautifully landscaped grounds are filled with flowers that are used fresh daily all over the resort. The individual buries are comfortable with nice beds and linens and cooling provided by the tropical breezes. A ceiling fan would have been nice as well, however with limited electricity I understand why they did not have them in each bure. There are mosquitos about in the evenings so if you are bothered by them come prepared with long sleeves and pants and some bug repellent. I did not have a problem but my traveling companion did. You sleep under a mosquito net so once in bed it is not an issue.
Because that area of Fiji is also world renowned for its deep sea fishing, the resort has a sports fishing operation as well and about a third of the guests were serious fishermen. This resulted in fresh wahoo and other deep sea fish on the menu multiple days along with amazing plates of sashimi two nights in a row.
Although we did not do much besides diving, read through the Matava website for some of the other activities you can do there. Coming soon yoga retreats! As it was they provided mats, straps and blocks upon request and doing yoga every morning at sunrise became the norm. A yoga retreat with diving now that gets my attention! Or maybe the order is wrong there, great diving with inspiring yoga also included.
Enjoy the galleries that tell the rest of the story including the wedding! Yep a wedding. That was an unexpected surprise and a wonderful way to wrap up our trip, with a big part the last night.
Spent a wonderful 9 days at the Matava Eco Resort http://www.matava.com on Kadavu island in Fiji http://matava.com/kadavu-island/ diving some spectacular reefs. Kadavu is the 4th largest island in Fiji and it refreshingly remains basically undeveloped with few roads and not much besides villages connected by paths. Much of the island is surrounded by the Great Astrolabe Reef the 4th largest fringing reef in the world. http://scuba-diving-fiji.com/fiji-scuba-dive-centre/great-astrolabe-reef .
The resort itself is nestled along the southeast side of the island and can barely been seen from the water blending in so well with the lush natural beauty of the island. The owners have carefully built the resort to have as little impact on the land and sea as possible. Most of the electricity is created by the abundant solar energy of the tropics, which also provides the hot water for showers in your private and very comfortable bure. With no roads to the resort EVERYTHING is brought in by boat. That in itself would be a challenge, but additionally everything needs to be timed by the tides because of the shallowness of the inside areas of the reef where it connects to the island. At low tide boats are sitting in the sand and us divers are walking to or from the transfer boats across sand and sea grass flats.
Don’t think for a minute this is a “rustic” basic resort. Far from it. Despite the logistics of supplying the resort, the staff goes beyond being friendly and caring and don’t ask me how such amazing and varied meals came out of that kitchen. A large garden supplies the majority of veggies served at the resort with the rest coming from the local village. What a treat that was.
The beautifully landscaped grounds are filled with flowers that are used fresh daily all over the resort. The individual buries are comfortable with nice beds and linens and cooling provided by the tropical breezes. A ceiling fan would have been nice as well, however with limited electricity I understand why they did not have them in each bure. There are mosquitos about in the evenings so if you are bothered by them come prepared with long sleeves and pants and some bug repellent. I did not have a problem but my traveling companion did. You sleep under a mosquito net so once in bed it is not an issue.
Because that area of Fiji is also world renowned for its deep sea fishing, the resort has a sports fishing operation as well and about a third of the guests were serious fishermen. This resulted in fresh wahoo and other deep sea fish on the menu multiple days along with amazing plates of sashimi two nights in a row.
Although we did not do much besides diving, read through the Matava website for some of the other activities you can do there. Coming soon yoga retreats! As it was they provided mats, straps and blocks upon request and doing yoga every morning at sunrise became the norm. A yoga retreat with diving now that gets my attention! Or maybe the order is wrong there, great diving with inspiring yoga also included.
Enjoy the galleries that tell the rest of the story including the wedding! Yep a wedding. That was an unexpected surprise and a wonderful way to wrap up our trip, with a big part the last night.
Galleries
Spent a wonderful 9 days at the Matava Eco Resort www.matava.com on Ka ...
And then there was a wedding. Yep a wedding. A wonderful couple from t ...
Gayle - Fiji, Kadavu Island, Matava Resort June 2011
