Volivoli Beach Resort

Volivoli is a beautiful resort. It is contemporary Fijian style architecture with a spectacular view overlooking the sea. The grounds are beautifully manicured with indigenous plants and flowers. Built on a hill the walkways were easy and well lit. We stayed in an Ocean View Room which was very comfortable and spacious. Sitting on the patio after a day of diving was relaxing. The pool area is beautiful and the beach bar is very tropical.The diving in the Bligh Waters is nice. We enjoyed the variety of fish, the reef shark, and the corals. We did not get to the sites that we had hoped to get to, such as Vatu-I-Ra passage. The dive staff were, overall, fine but fell short in a few areas, such as safety and handling our gear.The food was excellent and the wait staff went above and beyond to make everything perfect. They were very friendly and made a point of knowing your name.There were a few items added to our overall bill that were incorrect so I would certainly make sure to check your invoice when leaving. The items were corrected once brought to the staffs attention. Overall, this is a beautiful resort with great food, great hospitality staff, and good diving.

Volivoli is one of the best dive resorts I've ever visited. The diving there was fantastic, coral reefs were super healthy with a ton of fish especially in the marine reserve which is about 45 min boat ride. We didn't see too many pelagics in a week of diving (a few sharks and 1 turtle), but the reefs are full of small to medium-sized fish. The house reef is great for muck diving with a lot of anemones and shrimps inside. The dive team is extremely professional, our favorite DM is Jah. He was super friendly and he worked very hard to accommodate our needs.We stayed in the Premium Ocean View Villa. The room was very nice and large. It came with a kitchen, washer, air conditioner, patio and lounging chairs.The food at Volivoli was great and has a lot of variety. The staff at the restaurants were very friendly. The weekly Lovo night was a blast. You will get to see locals singing, dancing, and sharing their culture with you. That was also my best meal there.We signed up for the 4 days unlimited massage package which is a fantastic deal. There was some miscommunication between the receptionist and the masseuse and the masseuse didn't want to do the 1.5hrs that we requested (we only got 1hr that time). But later we confirmed with the receptionist and it should truly be unlimited and we got 1.5hrs that we requested the following day.Overall, we would highly recommend Volivoli and we will definitely come back for the great diving, beautiful resort, and the professional dive team.

I stayed at Volivoli in October. I looked forward to my dives in the marine park every day. The soft corals and coral structures were impressive. It was fun descending upon sites and weaving through pathways and tunnels. Jesse, Esa, and Bloss were good divemasters, always with a good attitude.Food was delicious, I was satisfied with everything the kitchen offered. VA was a good server.Room was spacious, appropriately-designed, and had a nice view to relax at the end of the day.Matthew settled all issues at the reception regarding billing and optional excursions.Music was played at night, buffets had good food, dances had performers in good spirits.Everyone provided excellent service.

Wow! I've been to many dive resorts all around the world, and Volivoli Beach Resort is one of my favorite!DivingIf you love colorful soft coral reefs supporting thousands of tropical fish, there is no better than the Vatu-I-Ra passage in the Bligh Water. Ra Divers have really stable dive boats that can move fast. It still takes about 45 minutes to get to the Vatu-I-Ra passage, but the diving is well worth the long ride. Diving on the reefs closer to the resort are also really good, but Vatu-I-Ra passage is the main event of a dive trip here. There is a house reef, but it is mainly muck diving, although I saw a couple of giant frogfish and seahorses.ResortThe resort is located on a hill, so there are a lot of stairs, especially if you are in a standard or deluxe room. Walking from the dive shop located at the beach level all the way up requires a few stops along the way. Luckily there are at least 3 bars on the way up with at least one of them hosting a happy hour at any one time. Half way up is also the pool, but it large for a dive resort, and also has a swim up bar. The recreation room is next to the pool. There are multiple activities throughout the week like a kava ceremony and traditional dances from the village nearby.AccommodationAll rooms come with a view which is one of the benefits of being on a hill. Some have an ocean view, and some have a view of the mountains and bay. Both views are amazing. If you are a couple, upgrade to a premium oceanview room. These are a lot more spacious than the standard and deluxe rooms, come with a lot more privacy and are half way up to the top of the hill.FoodMeal time is one of the most exciting times at Volivoli. The menu is extensive so you can try something different every day. Dishes are extremely tasty and well presented. I am not one that usually go for dessert, but their Volivoli Reef Shark dessert is out of this world. The diving area was recently remodeled and it is very fancy for a dive resort (in a good way). It is open and very breezy. The restaurant is indoors but let's in a lot of light during the day, and the mood lighting at night is perfect. There is also a large bar in the restaurant, and a lounge area as you enter the complex.The combination of excellent diving, good dive boat, excellent food and nice accommodations makes Volivoli a real treat.

In August of 2017 I lead a small group trip to VoliVoli Resort for Bluewater Photo. I had chosen the resort due to the ease of getting there, the reputation and value of the resort and the quality of the diving in this region, known as the Bligh Waters. The experience there exceeded my expectations.Getting to VoliVoli was a breeze. Fiji Airways offers direct non-stop flights from Los Angeles to Nadi, where you are picked up for the resort transfer. The resort is situated about 3 hours from the airport and is located on the north coast of the main island of Viti Levu. No domestic flights are required to get to the resort.The resort, located in the village of Raki Raki, is built on a hill with beautiful panoramic ocean views. This region is well know for it's world class diving and some of the best diving offered in Fiji. The resort is well run with a selection of accommodations located towards the top of the hill. A few steps below is the restaurant and lounge area, with the pool just outside. At the bottom of the hill is the dive shop and beach bar. The downside was a lack of a camera room near the dive shop, which made it necessary to carry camera gear back to the room for daily maintenance. However, the resort was very eager and accommodating to assist with schlepping our camera gear back and forth, with use of their "shuttle service" AKA golf carts. The accommodations at the resort were very comfortable and the food was good, but the real treat was the staff, who treated you like family. All of the staff knew you by name within the first 24 hours and all went out of their way to make the stay a very pleasant one, always greeting you with a warm Fijian smile and a hardy BULA!The dive operations were run very smoothly and the crew were a joy to dive with. They were always keeping safety in mind with everything from choosing the divesites based on conditions to assisting divers back to the boat when the seas picked up. The main reason we were here was for the diving and that certainly didn't disappoint! I was very pleasantly surprised to see how healthy the reefs were. I was a little concerned after reports from hurricane Winston were often to the effect of needing to give time for the reefs to recover. While some of the reefs did sustain damage, there were many dive sites where the reefs appeared untouched, even in the shallows in about 15 feet of water. The best dive sites were about an hour out, into the Vatu I Ra Passage. Sites such as Black Magic Mountain, Instant Replay and our favorite, Mellow Yellow, showed us just why Fiji is know as the soft coral capital of the world, with some of the most colorful reefs anywhere. The great thing was that there were some amazing dive sites within 10 minutes of the resort, so on days when it was a little rougher and more difficult to get out to the passage, we were not stuck with lesser dive sites. Some favorites were Pinnacles and Redemption.Overall, VoliVoli Beach Resort was a great place to stay and very easy to get to from the International airport. The diving in this area is what would have me coming back at any chance I had. If you've been thinking about going to Fiji and wanted a place that was easy to get to and has spectacular diving, VoliVoli is a great way to go!

Diving in Volivoli means away from the crowd, major cities, and bull sharks diving in Bela Lagoon. Volivoli is located about 2-hour bus ride from Nadi International Airport, in a town called Rakiraki, at the northern tip of Viti Levu. All the diving are done in the Vatu-I-Ra Channel, translated as "Rocks under Water". Diving here is no less than expected: magnificent, vibrant, robust hard and soft corals on the reef walls, bommies, and slopes. Schooling of barracudas, jacks, trevallies, fusiliers, surgeon fish, etc are everywhere. Scallop hammerheads, reef sharks, and manta rays are residents in the channel. For underwater photographers, there are also plenty of macro opportunities: blue ribbon nudis, hairy ghost pipefish, winged pipefish, Saron shrimps, orangutans, decorated crabs, etc.If you think that great frigate birds, shear waters, and masked boobies are only found on Galapagos Islands or the Northwestern Hawaiian Island Marine Reserve, think again. The nesting sites for these birds are on the bird island, right in between the major dive sites of Ra Divers. Ra Divers makes surface interval stop on this island for surprise land visit. For the bird enthusiasts, inquire ahead so you can bring an extra camera for topside photos (instead of rising to flood your UW camera or getting sands and dirts on O-rings).The Ra divers who are part of Volivoli resort are a bunch of nice DM and captain, although some of the DM are better than the others. They can definitely use a little more training and dive gears supports. I do not recommend this place to novice or newly certified divers, for two reasons: 1. The remote location from the closest hospital and decompression chamber; 2. The potential strong currents within the channel, especially during big tidal change. So buyers beware.Another drawback at Ra Divers is for the underwater photography. When we were there in September, there was not a separate rinse tank for camera gears or table/bench to set down the camera after the boat dives Eventually we solved this problem: first rinse off our dive gears and body, then walk a 100 yards distance to the swimming pool where the housing/camera could be totally submerged for a good cleaning and manipulation of button. It's definitely inconvenient! Good news is that a brand new dive shop with camera stations was under construction adjacent to the existing dive shed, and the projected finishing date was around Christmas of 2014!Volivoli is run and owned by the Darling family, who are real darlings and nicest people. The father and sons team was present on site everyday and were very receptive to any feedbacks and suggestions. The Fijian staff was amazing and friendly. When people try their best to remember every single guest's name, room number, and their meal preference, even though they might not see the guests ever again in a million years, that tells a lot to me!This was my land based dive trip preceding the Fiji Siren liveaboard 7-day dive trip, which the Darling family is the partial owner. I highly recommend spending some time at Volivoli before the Fiji Siren, or even just doing the land base trip alone. Fiji Islands are very diverse and rich in term of culture and history of Pacific Islands. There are many surprising facts and stories of this mixed of Melanesian and Polynesian people. Whether you are the minimalist in activity or enthusiast of cultural exchange, Fiji Islands has it all.

Our second time visiting Volivoli was even better than the first! The resort is top notch. The grounds staff is always busy making sure everything is beautifully landscaped and tidy. The kitchen staff does an excellent job with not only delicious dishes, but theres a lot of it with MANY of choices. We have our regular menu favorites, but their specials are also worth a try! There was no point in restraining ourselves when there's so much good food. The wait staff and bar staff greet you with a smile and always remember your name. We've stayed in a premium ocean vale both times. The beautiful views, tons of space and clothes washer make it great for extended stays. The big reason we come to Fiji - the diving! Getting to dive in the Bligh is every bit worth the long flight plus the 2 1/2 hour drive north to get to Volivoli. From the guides to the boat crew at Ra Divers on site at Volivoli to the very healthy soft and hard corals and fishy fishy reefs, we will come here again and again. I'd like to note that we were especially grateful to Simon, Geraldine and the reception staff for helping us on this most recent trip. My husband had a medical issue that required us to miss some diving in order to visit the local clinic and then the hospital in Laukota when the clinic had to refer us to a specialist. They made sure we were well taken care of every step of the way, arranging the taxi, checking on us frequently, calling ahead to the hospital to make sure they knew to expect us, and making sure we had what we needed to follow up with our travel insurance when we returned home. Volivoli is a not miss dive resort in Fiji!

I had actually originally scheduled my visit with the Wananavu Resort which was next door, but when I arrived, I learned that I had reserved my vacation for the wrong dates and there was no space available. I was only able to stay at the Wananavu for one night. Volivoli was nice enough to accept my last minute reservation and they were fantastic! I was in an upgraded bungalow with two bedrooms and a private pool. The accommodations were spacious and comfortable. The seating area in the suite was not particularly plush, but I was more interested in the diving rather than spending my time in my room. Compared to the accommodations from the other resort next door, I would definitely choose this resort over Wananavu when I travel to Fiji again. At Volivoli, the food was fantastic and the service was impeccable. The dive center was spacious and the boat was comfortable. The staff portered my gear for me back to my room at the completion of my trip, and I was able to store everything at the dive shop.I loved the diving here due to the beauty of the soft coral. The fish life was reasonably good at the sites nearer to the resort and excellent at some of the outer marine protected areas. Pelagic encounters were limited (for this I would suggest Beqa and the shark diving there). I will definitely go back here again, and I will stay at the Volivoli when I do.

I am a very experienced diver (used to work in the industry). We found the entire experience at Volivoli excellent.The resort is comfortable, medium size. The staff were all very friendly.The rooms were great (water view studio)- they had kitchen, wide porch, great air ventilation.Food was homestyle, but nice. All staff were friendly and sincere.Dive boats, professional and first rate.Diving to the straits was the best. Current flows had soft corals in full bloom- and divers could duck behind the bommies to take photos out of the current.Marine life prolific when currents running. Healthy corals, lots of reef fish. Spotted reef sharks on most dives.Best dives were longer boat trips from the resort.Great spot- feels out of the way .Highly recommend- will probably return