CajunDiva
Contributor
I can't possibly say enough good things about Garden Island Resort on the amazing island of Taveuni. Although we arrived there just two weeks after the island was devastated by a category 4 cyclone,:shocked2: the resort was all cleaned up and fully operational. I couldn't believe my eyes...especially after I learned that just a few days before the swimming pool had been filled with sand! There was no evidence of the destruction by the time we arrived...the pool looked brand new and very inviting! :cool2:
We were greeted by a lovely welcome song and escorted to our room, which we were VERY happy with. Our first impression was that the room was so nice and cool...a very welcome adjustment after the past week. Our room was very comfortable. There was a nice king-sized bed as well as a sofa looking out through the wall of windows and sliding glass door to the balcony. We were situated right near the water's edge and had a fabulous view of the Somosomo Strait, home of the famous "Rainbow Reef" we were so eager to dive. The room was also equipped with an electric kettle and plenty of coffee, tea, etc. and a refrigerator (with a bottle of Fiji water!) which really made life convenient.
The food at Garden Island Resort was very good and we enjoyed everything we tried. Fortunately we had the opportunity to meet the chef and extend our compliments before the end of our visit. They even prepared a "surprise" birthday cake for my husband and the Garden Island Resort band sang to him as the staff brought it out. It was really kind of them...above and beyond the call of duty, but the cake was delicious!
The resort grounds were lovely, with chaise lounges and hammocks around the swimming pool. It was a great place to relax and visit with all of our new friends when we weren't diving.
Did I mention diving??? Garden Island Resort has one of the best dive operations I have ever seen. I have traveled to a number of dive locations around the world and I can honestly say that the dive boats at Garden Island Resort are the best I've ever experienced. They are intelligently constructed to accomodate extra dive tanks and provide additonal space. The seats are wider, allowing room for a slanted tank rack under the seats to keep those spare tanks stowed out of the way. Plus you have plenty of room to gear up on the nice wide bench seats. There's plenty of extra space to allow movement around the boat, plus the dive platform and ladders were just right. I was very comfortable diving the entire week. The boat crews are the best and have an uncanny knack for knowing exactly what the current is doing at all times and what it will be doing by the end of the dive. I was very impressed. The only complaint I had (is this a complaint???) was that they handled my equipment from start to finish...I'm not used to that. I'm usually very hands on and take care of my own gear, but honestly it was pretty nice to be spoiled for the week - it was like valet diving :cool2:
The dive sites were beyond my wildest imagination. On our VERY FIRST DIVE, our divemaster Hyram said "Well, the way the current is going to be running this afternoon, I think it would be best to go ahead and make our first dive at The Great White Wall". This was a dream come true! I have read about this dive site for a long time and couldn't wait to see it for myself, and it did not disappoint. Besides the wall itself we saw numerous interesting critters, including a sea snake, an octopus and a white-tipped shark! The fish life was absolutely amazing - brilliant colored fish were everywhere! We kind of expected that reef life would be at a minimum after the storm, but that was not the case at all. We saw numerous snakes, sharks and even a turtle during our week of diving. I was blown away by the colors and magnitude of soft corals on the Rainbow Reef...guess that's how it got its name, huh
To sum it up, I would HIGHLY recommend Garden Island Resort for any diver's "bucket list". The diving is fabulous, the resort is exactly what I hoped for, and the staff are the most incredibly loving and generous people I could ever imagine meeting. I was sobbing as they sang their touching goodbye song to us on departure. :depressed: My prediction came true...this was the place I was afraid I would not want to come home from. These people and this place will be forever engrained in my memory. I only hope that we will be able to return some day to see them all again.
We were greeted by a lovely welcome song and escorted to our room, which we were VERY happy with. Our first impression was that the room was so nice and cool...a very welcome adjustment after the past week. Our room was very comfortable. There was a nice king-sized bed as well as a sofa looking out through the wall of windows and sliding glass door to the balcony. We were situated right near the water's edge and had a fabulous view of the Somosomo Strait, home of the famous "Rainbow Reef" we were so eager to dive. The room was also equipped with an electric kettle and plenty of coffee, tea, etc. and a refrigerator (with a bottle of Fiji water!) which really made life convenient.
The food at Garden Island Resort was very good and we enjoyed everything we tried. Fortunately we had the opportunity to meet the chef and extend our compliments before the end of our visit. They even prepared a "surprise" birthday cake for my husband and the Garden Island Resort band sang to him as the staff brought it out. It was really kind of them...above and beyond the call of duty, but the cake was delicious!
The resort grounds were lovely, with chaise lounges and hammocks around the swimming pool. It was a great place to relax and visit with all of our new friends when we weren't diving.
Did I mention diving??? Garden Island Resort has one of the best dive operations I have ever seen. I have traveled to a number of dive locations around the world and I can honestly say that the dive boats at Garden Island Resort are the best I've ever experienced. They are intelligently constructed to accomodate extra dive tanks and provide additonal space. The seats are wider, allowing room for a slanted tank rack under the seats to keep those spare tanks stowed out of the way. Plus you have plenty of room to gear up on the nice wide bench seats. There's plenty of extra space to allow movement around the boat, plus the dive platform and ladders were just right. I was very comfortable diving the entire week. The boat crews are the best and have an uncanny knack for knowing exactly what the current is doing at all times and what it will be doing by the end of the dive. I was very impressed. The only complaint I had (is this a complaint???) was that they handled my equipment from start to finish...I'm not used to that. I'm usually very hands on and take care of my own gear, but honestly it was pretty nice to be spoiled for the week - it was like valet diving :cool2:
The dive sites were beyond my wildest imagination. On our VERY FIRST DIVE, our divemaster Hyram said "Well, the way the current is going to be running this afternoon, I think it would be best to go ahead and make our first dive at The Great White Wall". This was a dream come true! I have read about this dive site for a long time and couldn't wait to see it for myself, and it did not disappoint. Besides the wall itself we saw numerous interesting critters, including a sea snake, an octopus and a white-tipped shark! The fish life was absolutely amazing - brilliant colored fish were everywhere! We kind of expected that reef life would be at a minimum after the storm, but that was not the case at all. We saw numerous snakes, sharks and even a turtle during our week of diving. I was blown away by the colors and magnitude of soft corals on the Rainbow Reef...guess that's how it got its name, huh
To sum it up, I would HIGHLY recommend Garden Island Resort for any diver's "bucket list". The diving is fabulous, the resort is exactly what I hoped for, and the staff are the most incredibly loving and generous people I could ever imagine meeting. I was sobbing as they sang their touching goodbye song to us on departure. :depressed: My prediction came true...this was the place I was afraid I would not want to come home from. These people and this place will be forever engrained in my memory. I only hope that we will be able to return some day to see them all again.
