Taveuni: Paradise vs. Taveuni Dive Resort vs. Nakia

[TostitoBandito]

I'm not surprised to see it for sale. The owners, Terri and Allan, are getting divorced. They are from Australia. When I was there in March & April, the nondive staff seemed stressed, sometimes just going through the motions of their job. For the most part, the men had dive shop jobs, and the ladies worked in the restaurant and around the resort. Another guest told me that she saw the ladies being verbally mistreated.

An interesting note about the real estate ad...the property was not built in 2016. It was rebuilt in 2016 after Cyclone Winston leveled the property.

Yikes. That's not good. Sad to see, as from everything I've read it's been a great resort until just recently.

I know it got leveled along with pretty much everything else during Winston. I've chatted with the owners of TDR a lot and know that they decided to build uphill of the road and use concrete construction expressly for the storms since they seem to get a really nasty cat 4-5 one every 10 years or so. I think they just had some minor damage and a lot of branches/trees down at the same time Paradise got wiped off the face of the earth by Winston. The tradeoff of course is that it's a 3-5 minute walk down the hill to/from the boat every morning. They're also planning on opening a sunset bar down by the jetty/boats at some point, since they recently acquired that land down there that the school used to sit on. Maybe it'll be open by the time forthecookies goes there.

 

[forthecookies]

Yikes. That's not good. Sad to see, as from everything I've read it's been a great resort until just recently.

I know it got leveled along with pretty much everything else during Winston. I've chatted with the owners of TDR a lot and know that they decided to build uphill of the road and use concrete construction expressly for the storms since they seem to get a really nasty cat 4-5 one every 10 years or so. I think they just had some minor damage and a lot of branches/trees down at the same time Paradise got wiped off the face of the earth by Winston. The tradeoff of course is that it's a 3-5 minute walk down the hill to/from the boat every morning. They're also planning on opening a sunset bar down by the jetty/boats at some point, since they recently acquired that land down there that the school used to sit on. Maybe it'll be open by the time forthecookies goes there.

Let's hope! I will be there in late April of 2025.

 

[Bluefin59]

Holy crap, we leave today for Paradise. I hope everything is okay...Hopefully they keep their commitment to their guests.

 

[Bluefin59]

I want to give an update on our trip to Paradise Taveuni during August. All of the concern we had after reading some of the other reports was completely unwarranted. This was a well run, well oiled resort on exceptionally well taken care of grounds. The setting was exquisite with our Bure just 100ft from the ocean. The dive staff was top shelf and 100% concierge. They were extremely organized with everyone's gear and they fully washed, rinsed and dried our gear ready to pack at the end of the stay. I was amazed that they always had the gear ready to go every morning and there was never a case where dive gear was misplaced or mixed with another diver's gear. Uli was a great DM who was our DM on the Princess dive boat. I really connected with him. Since they were having engine problems on the Explorer, they rented an excellent dive boat called the Aurora which I dove on a couple days. The Aurora was a larger boat accommodating 15 divers. But the Princess was more intimate with fewer divers and faster. The resort staff were absolutely great in every respect, always cheerful and always accommodating. They go out of their way in making sure you are happy. We got to experience their Fiji Night twice while we were there where they spend all day in preparation for a lot of singing, hula performances and big feast. As previously reported some of the food was good and some was a little underwhelming, mostly because it was bland in my opinion. Better use of seasoning would help a lot. But there was a huge variety of dishes to choose from and was always served quickly. You will not go hungry. I only dived the Rainbow Reef and never got to Vuna Reef. The reef mostly looked healthy and colorful. I even got to see the Napolean wrasse I had been looking for. The house reef was really good and you can dive that as much as you want. About 25 resort staff assembled before we left to sing the traditional farewell song Isa Lei to the four of us, which was very moving and endearing. If the resort maintains this level of service, you will not be disappointed.

 

[ACHiPo]

Let's hope! I will be there in late April of 2025.

And I’ll be somewhere in Taveuni or Savusavu mid May 2025.

 

[ACHiPo]

Any information on Nakia? It seems they have AC. From the website it looks a bit more rustic than either Paradise or Taveuni Dive Resort?

 

[wgw04024]

Mosquitos were barely noticeable at TDR during the winter (dry season), but were certainly a bit more present during the summer (wet season), but not terrible or anything. There were always a bunch of cans of repellant sitting by the bar/pool for anyone to use, and the staff often place and light coils when people are hanging out there. I only really bothered putting any on if I was gonna be hanging out outside all afternoon, or going hiking/walking for multiple hours or something. But I tend to not get bit as much as others, so who knows.

That said, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as when I was at Lighthouse Reef in Belize last year where you couldn't walk outside at all without being completely swarmed. That's the worst I've ever seen. You literally had 10+ on your back biting you while walking less than 150 feet to the boat dock.

What are the winter months exactly?

 

[ACHiPo]

What are the winter months exactly?

April to Oct?

 

[TostitoBandito]

What are the winter months exactly?

Opposite of northern hemisphere, so let's call it April/May through Sept/Oct. The peak/best time to go during that period is probably August. You'll have the best visibility and minimal rain.