Bula Melissa,
The trip was fantastic. Many, many things done right. Mike was great, tolerating my frequent mind changes in the planning process. His suggestion for Raffles for a day room was good too – they just opened a new pool which is actually pretty nice for a “crash pad” level room.
Diving had to be the highlight, although the accommodations are a close second, followed by the quality of snorkeling around Davui.
We were more or less the only divers there at the time so we had essentially a personal boat driver and dive master. Even if there were a few more people, it beats the cattle boats from the big dive resorts. Mini, the dive master was excellent and a lot of fun to spend time with. The night dive just off the island reef was a highlight. Definitely a different set of critters out at night, and a couple sharks in the dark… Did the big fish encounter – good, checked the box, a bit like a zoo under water, without bars. Glad we did it, but the small reef sharks appearing out of the darkness and disappearing just as fast on the night diver were more impressive/a little unnerving. On a related topic – snorkeling is amazing – the colors in the coral are innumerable, throw in the vertical wall dropping down to about 30 feet, cool shells and I spent hours just kicking around the island.
The rooms at Davui are great. They do have a resort map now with locations. If I had that to overlay with sun/shade times of each, it would have been the ULTIMATE. We started with an upgrade Mike arranged (Valle 3) that for our time of the year, great sun/shade mix and evening sunsets. Then moved over to 6, which turns the corner and only got sun on the splash pool for about an hour – not a huge deal and since I picked it over Valle 1, oh well (1’s pool overlooks the boat area and thus a little less private). Bottom line though, the rooms are great and for the rainier season, we were lucky enough to have perfect weather right up the day we left, which rained and made it just a hair easier to leave, but only just.
After reading reviews, we had already determined that we weren’t the kind of people likely to write a disaster story review and nothing changed after the trip. It was a little humorous to see how some of the things people thought disastrous weren’t (at least to us). Mosquitoes, yes, we got bit. Inside and outside the netting, sometimes at dinner – its tropical. We had very, very strong repellent we brought with us – it helps a lot but still… the mangers were in transition but seemed to recognize that and went a little extra to make sure they weren’t missing an element we needed. They were good about setting some expectations up front as well – such as letting us know if there was ANYTHING we needed to ask, and yet reminded us that we were on an island and although they would always do their very best, sometimes they would not be able to accommodate certain food requests, etc. They had a smoked tuna breakfast sandwich that they never got the tuna in for, but they did know I had inquired about it a couple times and seemed to genuinely try and get it but could not. They substituted with smoked Salmon they were able to get. On the topic of food, it was amazing. In particular the fish, which seemed available at every meal in some form including the breakfast sandwich I mentioned. I read a very contrary review online about them never having fish before going so who knows why when that happened. It was definitely NOT an issue and it always seemed extra fresh.
One other pleasant, and not minor surprise, all drinks (except alcohol) WERE included. They don’t list it as that on their website that way (I think they say tea, coffee and water is). Probably saved us a little bit and kept us more hydrated than we otherwise may have. It also means that with a bottle or two from duty free in Nadi and the minibar stocked with coke, tonic, club soda, etc – we didn’t have to have drinks delivered, ordered, etc.
Staff was very friendly and mostly fast. We learned that if you get to know them a little better, ask them questions, etc, they seemed more at ease and more in tune with what you liked – by the end, they knew that I LOVED the fresh baked bread (they made a pesto bread, kind of swirl of pesto inside – to die for…), and got a kick out of keeping me well stocked at meals.
Airline was good – upstairs in the air pacific 747, bulkhead seat was KEY on the way there. The little commuter 3 seater plane Davui used was a kick. If you have any fear of flying or small plans though, watch out. I have great photos from the plane, including out the front window landing. But then I like flying, and small planes. If they have any reservations about it, a car from Nadi takes a little longer – but you do get to see the country and I think is a little cheaper, and does offer more options for departure/arrival time. I’m sure they like to keep boat trips from Davui to Pacific Harbor to a minimum so if multiple people arrive on the same day, the plane is a charter. We enjoyed it as I said. On the way back, we were on a United plane – luckily had economy plus so leg room was tolerable there too. Upgrades on the united plane was crazy expensive despite plenty of room. US air lines – Oh well.
Have I left anything off? I could probably go on for a lot longer...
Thanks again for a wonderful vacation.
J. & A. Lunzer
Hermosa Beach, CA
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