Paradise Taveuni Fiji

We stayed at Paradise Resort in Taveuni. This is an amazing scuba diving resort. The staff is extremely nice. We had gorgeous dives such as: rainbow reef with purple soft corals and some scenery was like pieces of art. between all the soft corals colors and little blue or yellow fish. It was absolutely like a beautiful painting. We also were lucky to dive the great white wall with so many white colors a very unique experience. I have discovered so many nudi branch and new fish; like the sweet big lips, and the manta shrimp. Sooo funny creature. We saw a leaf scorpion fish and a skeleton shrimp. Our guide was a rockstar in finding so many new little creatures like the spaghetti worms and so much more nuditbranchs. The best walls ever, the most beautiful landscape ever and of course a reef shark, tootle, eel and the Spanish mackerel. We had the most amazing night dive with a great show of an octopus for 20 minutes. We also saw a Japanese Flathead and a scorpion fish. The Paradise Taveuni staff were sooo welcoming and wanted to ensure we have the best time ever. They organized a Fijian night with songs. We were part of a big family, all ages, all nationalities: it was a really fun community and we had an absolute blast. They also organized a sunset cruise, we were singing and laughing. It was a memorable vacation and it was really thanks to the Paradise Taveuni staff. Thank you Jaime for your recommendation! You chose something very very special for us. We trust you for finding for us very special diving vacation!! We are so grateful!!

I traveled to Fiji in October. The first week of my trip was spent at Paradise Taveuni. The owners, Terri and Alan, are wonderful hosts. They endeavor to meet every need of their guests. They live across the road from the resort and take a hands-on approach to everyday operation. Alan dove with us every day and Teri sees the onsite operation. They have an on-site farm to supply the kitchen with fresh produce. We had a meal plan that provided three meals daily, with everything being prepared to order. The menus differed each day with specials available for both lunch and dinner. We found the food to be delicious and abundant.The staff is beyond wonderful. You are always greeted with a big smile and an enthusiastic “bula”. Fijians are the friendliest people on the face of the earth and it shows at Paradise Taveuni. Our bure had an ocean view, with a king-size bed, air conditioning, large bathroom, outdoor stone shower, mini-refrigerator, and coffeemaker. The grounds are well kept and there is a beautiful pool. Tables are set around the grounds to sit and eat or gaze at the ocean. The great room has wifi and a comfortable lounge area.The diving was almost exclusively at the rainbow reef, where the dive sites were exceptional! The dive staff was very attentive and dedicated to safety. They tend to your gear at the end of the day by taking it off the boat, rinsing, and drying. We happened to be there on Fiji Day (independence day) and we joined in the giant celebration with the other guests and all the staff. The resort staff also arranged day excursions for us on non-diving days to nearby villages, waterfalls, natural waterslide, international dateline, and the historic church. We loved this resort and would definitely return.

This was our second time traveling to Paradise Taveuni. The wonderful thing about the resort there is they make you feel like you are family. When we returned, they were so wonderful in welcoming us back to "Paradise". This is one of the big reasons why we decided to make a second trip there. The diving on Rainbow Reef is wonderful. We love the Great White Wall, but even if you aren't there during the time of the month when the "wall" is at it's best, the diving on the reef is still amazing - lots of critters, beautiful and healthy soft and hard corals, and oh so very fishy! The staff is so kind and friendly. We saw many familiar faces from the last time we were there. The dive crew and boat crew are fantastic. Papa, our dive guide for the second time, is an expert tiny critter spotter! As for the resort, we love the bures that face the ocean. The outdoor shower is such a lovely addition to the bure. We always enjoy the meke/lovo night and the cultural celebration with the kava, music and dancing. The food is generally good, although I'll be honest, there are a few items like the beef that can be quite tough and are best avoided. Fortunately, there are plenty of options, so you figure out what you like and choose that. Lastly, don't miss the opportunity to get a seaside massage. The ladies that do the massages are top notch, and listening to the waves while relaxing is heaven. Oh, one final thing... of ALL the places we have been in the world, and there have been MANY, Paradise Taveuni has the absolute BEST sunsets of anywhere. Trust me on this one.

Paradise Taveuni is a wonderful boutique hotel on the south side of Fiji’s Garden Island, Taveuni. Right from the start, everything is set up to make you feel welcome. You get a foot massage when you arrive, and a tasty cocktail as you take in the ocean and the lush jungle around you. It’s easy to relax and feel looked after here. The owners clearly think about every detail to make your dive vacation unique. With just a short boat ride to the Somosomo Strait, divers will be amazed by the soft corals and marine life at sites like the White Wall, Cabage Patch, or Vuna Reefs. If you love nudibranchs, make sure to stay close to your guide – they have exceptional critter‑finding skills. After the dives, we really enjoyed the fresh, local dishes with an international touch, all very delicately prepared. If you feel like a spa treatment, just indulge in a relaxing massage. In the evening, you can enjoy local entertainment with dancing and singing. Fijians are well known for their love of singing with guests. You will definitely enjoy your stay and want to come back – a true gem!

This is a resort designed for scuba divers, especially photographers. There is a great air-conditioned room for photographers where everyone gets their own workstation for the week. There is a rinse tank and compressed air to keep everything clean.I found the Rainbow Reef better than the reefs close to the resort. Because the resort is at the far end of the island it is a 30-45 minute boat ride to the Rainbow Reef. Because of this on most days they will do 2 dives and then lunch on a beach close to the Rainbow Reef so they don't have to go back to the resort. They made meals for us to take but we were surprised when they offered us a coke to drink. We later found out when we checked out that we were getting charged for those drinks.The house reef if great. We only did a night dive there but it was one of the best dives of the week. We saw so much stuff and wished we had time to do another one.The staff were a highlight. Everyone is friendly and always smiling. Dive guides were great as well, pointing out everything they saw and making sure everyone had time to see it.The rooms are great. Indoor and outdoor showers and an outdoor tub. They have a farm behind the property where they grow most of the food they serve. There is a menu with a few options and you pick between the options for your meal. The options get repeated throughout the week though so if you're there a week you will have some repeats.There were some non-divers at the resort and they mentioned how through the day it was very quiet and there weren't many people around because the majority of people were divers. They do offer day tours and activities but I found them to be costly.If you want to dive the Great White Wall make sure you check with the resort when booking because there are only certain times of the month when they are able to dive it due to the current.

The resort has been completely rebuilt after Hurricane Winston in 2016. It is family owned and has the perfect personalized feel for all guests. It is the only dive resort in the south of Taveuni and is the perfect dive getaway for couples.The bures are all very well designed with french doors, four poster king beds and a separate living area that an extra bed can be added.Food is excellent as the owner Allan is a chef by trade. If you would like to have a private dinner by the ocean, just ask and they will set up a table for you there. The grounds are very well kept and all the staff are very friendly, accommodating and helpful.Paradise Taveuni provides access to 3 different reefs and a nice variation of diving. The famous Rainbow Reef is a 30 minute boat ride away and has some of the better soft coral reefs in Fiji. Vuna Reef is about 10 minutes away and while it isn't as colorful as rainbow Reef, they do have some dramatic geological formations. The house reef is an easy giant stride from the dock and has many critters like garden eels, leaf scorpionfish and cuttlefish.There is a large dedicated camera room, a stocked dive shop with full rental gear and multiple boats for all group sizes.

“Out of the way. Out of the Ordinary.”Paradise is located about an hour from the airport. The road is paved as far as the village of Somosomo, but mostly dirt beyond that. There are plans to continue the pavement, but as of this writing, no funds to do so.Paradise Resort and Spa is owned and operated by Allen and Terry Gorton who live across the road with their adopted son and daughter who you might see on the weekend. They also have two very well behaved Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs that I believe would be left at home if any guest objects.Arriving at Paradise you will be greeted by one of the managers with a Fijian lei and escorted on to the property. Halfway, we were met by owners Allen and Terry Gorton and a couple other staff members with coconuts with straws. In the “Wedding Bure” overlooking the ocean, Allen explained our vacation package and Soni gave us each a foot and lower leg “sugar scrub” and massage. Afterward Mikaili (a manager) gave us a tour which ended at our “vale”.The bures (stand alone unit with living room and bedroom) and vales (one large room duplex or triplex) all have both luxury indoor shower (which we never used) and outdoor shower and Jacuzzi. The Jacuzzi, though nice, takes 35 minutes to fill which makes an effective deterrent to its frequent use. All rooms have a small refrigerator with minibar and bottle of filtered water that is replenished daily. The king sized bed was reasonably comfortable. There was also a sitting area. There was adequate storage area and plenty of areas to dry wet swimsuits and towels. The vales have air conditioners, but we only turned it on a couple of times during our 16 night stay – and could have survived with just the ceiling fan.FOODAllen has spent 23 years as a professional chef in his native Australia. Although he still spends some time in the kitchen, they also have (so I’m told) an Indian chef.The first meal we had was a T-bone steak that came to us untrimmed (lots of fat) and was slighty overcooked from what I requested and tough. This had us worried about the rest of our 16 days there, but fortunately this was the worst meal we had.Most of the food is a variety of Fijan and Indian cuisine and even the pickiest eater should be able to find something they like. A couple of our favorites were the Fijan seared beef and the Fijan chow mein with chicken. All of it is artistically presented, often in a coconut shell with a sprig of mint or a tomato rose.You can pay ala carte, but most packages include a meal plan. Ours included cooked breakfast with fruit, fruit juice and cooked entre. Lunch was one course and dinner two courses. There is an upgrade package to 2 courses for lunch and 4 courses for dinner, but our package was more food than I wanted to eat. Lunch is ordered from a menu at breakfast and has choices that include a salad, a pasta, a curry, a pizza, usually a catch of the day, and a specialty – or you could choose from the appetizers.Dinner is ordered at lunch and there are one or two choices for 1st course, 2nd course, and main course and dessert. Since we only paid for 2 courses, my husband and I would usually share either the 1st or 2nd course, have our own main course and then share dessert.There are also 2 beverage packages that you can purchase to avoid the necessity of paying for individual drinks.Once a week, there is a Fiji night when dinner is prepared “lovo” style on hot rocks. The staff with help from the guests will prepare palm frond baskets to hold beef, chicken and pork that is placed on banana leaves over hot rocks along with taro and casaba. Above that they place another thick layer of banana leaves. Guests sit at long tables under the stars (I’ve never seen so many) if weather permits or in the Oceanfront Restaurant. Sepo opens the evening by welcoming each guest. Dancers perform between courses. Dinner is followed by a kava ceremony. This is the traditional drink of Fiji and may give you a slight buzz.Most packages for couples include a 4 course “romantic dinner”. I had trouble eating 2 courses at dinner and we never got around to doing this.Most packages also include spa time in conjunction with an activity day. We only did one of the four in our package. This was a 50 minute couple’s sugar scrub followed by a 50 minute massage. We are really not spa people, but I heard others call it “amazing”. Many couples or individuals had 2 or 3 treatments (including banana leaf wrap or papaya polish) while there.DIVINGThe dive shop was managed by Mark, who signed on for 6 months that will end before Christmas. Salote, Christina and William are very good Fijian dive masters who will most likely be there long term. Presumably, Mark will be replaced by another dive instructor, but Allen can always step in as needed.The “Lady Paradise” is the largest and fastest of the Paradise fleet. It is used for fishing, transporting snorkelers to a private beach and picking up guests who pay extra for that service as well as for diving. On one occasion, after our first dive , we travelled about an hour over rough sea to Sulu Bay to pick up a couple of guests who were an hour late in arriving, then another hour to our 2nd dive site, and back at the resort at 3pm for a very late lunch. Twice, (in our 10 days of diving) we dropped off snorkelers which wasn’t much of an inconvenience except for the day that the water got rough and we had to go back to get them and drop them at another site before our second dive.Rainbow Reef with its 21 named dive sites is the main attraction of the Somosomo strait between Taveuni and Vanua Levu. The resort lists a fuel surcharge for up to $80 Fijian for only one diver going to Rainbow reef ($40 Fijian ea for 2 or more?) when there are less than 7 passengers. We did not get charged for the two times the boat was light (once for the guest pickup and once with snorkelers). The guides watch the tide charts and currents for the best times to dive the famous White Wall and the Purple Wall. If there is no current, the soft corals will not be feeding and will not look impressive. If there is too much current, divers will fly on by barely seeing what they came for.It is typical to do two dives on Rainbow Reef in the morning and return to the resort for lunch. The afternoon boat time is almost always along the coast which is not as nice.The house reef does not have much of the color of Rainbow, but heading west down at about 50 feet there are at least 3 Blue Ribbon eels and in nearly the same location we saw 3 leaf fish and some translucent shrimp. Heading Northwest from the entrance, in about 20 feet is a big bommie with four different kinds of anemonefish, and there are snakes (at least one large and one small) who roam about the area. On the night dive, you might see octopus or cuttlefish.ADVENTURESOur first adventure was “horseback riding up a mountain for a 360 We got nowhere near the top of the mountain. That afternoon we did the cultural walk which I could pass on.The second adventure was to the Lavena Coastal Walk, Buoma Falls, the Date Line, and the waterslide… Don’t let anyone tell you it can all be done in one day! First there is an hour and a half ride to get to the other side of the island (2/3 on dirt road). The coastal walk is nice, but takes about an hour and a half with the last part being uphill to a lovely waterfall. (It happened to rain on us almost all day, but was still warm). We spent a half hour or more swimming in the pool and climbing up a smaller falls to be catapulted off into the pool. By the time we walked another hour and a half back to the van for lunch, it was 3:00 and my legs and feet were feeling it. At Buoma Park we only had time to make the 10 minute hike to the lowest of the three falls and at that it was see it and leave. It was almost dark by the time we made it to the dateline, and we weren’t able to go to the natural waterslide at all.For our third adventure, we went with Sepo to Vuna village. The first stop was at the chief’s house where Sepo made the traditional presentation of kava root to obtain permission to visit the village. Sepo is a wealth of knowledge of history and legends. I wouldn’t say that this is something you must do, but I did find it interesting. Next we went to the blow hole which is unimpressive at high tide, which it was. Then we stopped at the “coconut oil factory” where 6 people opened the coconut, ground out the meat, cooked the meat and then extracted the oil using a worm gear press. Our final stop was at the waterslide, but since central and southern Taveuni were experiencing a drought, that could have been skipped.For our last adventure, we returned to Buoma Park and climbed to the highest of the falls. It was at least an hour long very steep climb, but well worth it. At the top, the falls splits into three streams and is very beautiful. Since we had gotten to the park before it really opened, we had the pool to ourselves for about a half an hour.BOTTOM LINE:The resort is lovely, the staff couldn't be better, but I don’t think that “Out of the way” is really an asset. I have to wonder if a resort closer to Rainbow and accessed with less dirt road, might have been preferable - but looking only at the on line pricing for another very popular resort, it seems that we saved at least $150/day at Paradise with their limited 2 for 1 special. Also, we had some good dives at Vuna Reef which might be out of reach for more central resorts. That is where we saw 8 eagle rays.I would suggest moving to a resort closer to the airport for the final couple of days to do Buoma and Lavena at a more leisurely pace without as much travel over dirt roads.

The staff of this resort are just amazing--very helpful and always friendly. We enjoyed our weeks visit very much. The house reef isn't much but the short boat ride (30 min) to Rainbow Reef is worth it for sure. The boat was covered and convenient. And the food was just to die for. Very interesting every day. Would recommend for families and newly marrieds as the cottages are large and private.

My dive buddy and I recently had the opportunity to return to Fiji, so we had some idea of the dive conditions we could expect but were looking forward with anticipation to the accommodations at Paradise Taveuni.Come on. A place called Paradise would be perfect, right? Well...ACCOMMODATIONS: Our bure was beautiful, neat and clean. It came with a grotto-like outdoor shower and spa - the shower was great and romantic. The spa never worked. For a couple with romance as the highest priority I would give this and big, solid "A". For those of us who appreciate romance but are serious divers, the bure could have used a small desk area with good seating and lighting for writing log books or working on some piece of dive or camera equipment. Let me hasten to add that here is a nice area for working and servicing your UW camera attached to the main lodge. There is a double sink camera rinse area just outside the camera room which is nice if there are just two divers. It was something to be negotiated when there were more than two UW photogs returning from an outing. In the camera room there are outlets (240V) and lights at each station and the stations are well laid out and easy to work at. The downer is that although the area has an air conditioner, it was anemic at best and we often found ourselves wiping beads of sweat before they fell in our open housings and exposed cameras equipment .Food at Paradise was pretty bland with an unvarying menu (at least for the week we were there). Portions were such that the bag of salted nuts we kept in the bottom of the travel bag for those airport layover emergencies was pretty well depleted by weeks end. One evening the staff created a four course dinner that was quite good, but for our stay, it was a one-of event.DIVING: In coming to Taveuni, we were quite excited by the prospect of diving Rainbow Reef. The hype and accolades for the site are easily found on any web search. We were well aware that many sites in Fiji are current controlled - that is that at higher current conditions you'll find much better representation of soft corals than at slack tides. But the Dive Masters need to judge the currents carefully so as to experience the best of the soft corals and yet not blow away less experienced divers. It is often a difficult act to handle successfully. The good news is we never lost a diver, the bad is that we never caught Rainbow Reef at its best. Sites like Fish Factory, Rainbow's End, Freeway, Christine's Garden and Great White Wall were interesting, but well below the color and diversity of Bligh Water sites we had dived previously - OK but not breath-taking as often described in the advertising literature. The one site that was interesting was Mini-Cabbage Patch. Very interesting coral structure and fish life made this a site we would have done more than once.Coastal sites along Taveuni were a disappointment - Vanu Reef, Tabua and Coral Garden really were not worth the air to dive them. On one of the trips across the Soma Soma Strait, we came upon a pod of sleeping Pilot Whales but were not allowed to snorkel so we could not take any UW images of the beautiful critters. Actually, we had an immense amount of fun diving the house reef and drop-off. Close, easy, good species diversity (Blue-ribbon morays, leaf scorpion fish, lion fish, puffers, big anemones and the requisite clown fish, octopus and Tridacna clams) and amazing dusk dives kept us pretty happy. A night dive on our own would have been nice, but there were no unguided night dives allowed. The one we went on we were moved along with the herd of newbies and the experience garnered an extra charge.STAFF: First, the dive staff - first rate and willing to bend over backwards to help the guests - A-1! They do the very best with the site they have.The room staff - the ladies who tended our bure everyday were excellent - fastidious and inventive. We would return from dives with welcome messages written in flower petals on the floor- quite nice.The wait staff needed nearly daily reminders regarding certain things (i.e. no bread or flour foods) Had the resort been packed with hoards of people I could understand there might be some confusion, but a full house was not the issue while we were there.AMENITIES: As we were there for the diving we didn't take advantage of most of the amenities that are available to guests, but we did do an hour massage with banana wrap finish that was quite awesome - I would definitely recommend experiencing it.