Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Which 2 islands; Manta Ray, Nacula, Waya? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Fiji
swgdesign 12:03 UTC 20 Jul 2009 | Hi everyone I am visiting the Yasawas chain of islands fomr 7th-15th November inclusive and wanted to fit in 2 of the 3 islands listed in the title; Manta Ray, Nacula and Waya. I can only fit in 2 stops so which of the 3 islands should I visit? BTw I plan to dive 2 days on one of the islands and was thinking Manta Ray island would be best for this? Thanks Simon |
mandja 12:15 UTC 21 Jul 2009 | Nacula contains Oarsmans and Waya has Octopus - these are the 2 main places that TTers like best. Manta Ray is nearest the place wher you are guarnateed to see ....yep Manta Rays. Ive stayed at both Oarsman and Octopus, and went snorkelling near Manta Ray resort - all 3 are very good to visit. Manta Ray Resort is the smallest and probably chepaer of the 3 and would easily have the besy diving, so if you are into diving then that should be one of the 2. The other 2 are both great . It should be noted that Oarsman (Nacula) is 3 hours more each way in the ferry than Octopus, but the beach is much nicer. I have heard reports that Oarsman is not as good now as it was even a year ago - this is unconfirmed - have others here heard that? | 1
swgdesign 13:01 UTC 04 Aug 2009 | Thanks Mandja, much appreciated information. I think Manta Ray is a definate and considering the distance I think Octopus might be the other consideration as I would rather spend time chilling than 6 hours travelling. Can anyone else shed any light on Oarsman or Octopus? Thanks | 2
videshi 08:08 UTC 07 Aug 2009 | My brother and I just stayed at Oarsman's, but not at Octopus. I was not impressed by Oarsman's. the food was not fresh (I recognize the frozen carrot cube, corn, and pea mix! and it was served in meals, as were canned mushrooms), the pasta was not fully cooked, and lunch must have been sitting out for a long time before they served it because it was cold. the food just did not taste good. most annoyingly, they made a huge deal about the fact that my brother and I are vegetarian (but we do eat fish). They acted like this was placing a burden on them and our no-red-meat-or-poultry diet was a nuisance. Also, they claim to have a couple hiking trails, but they are not maintained. We walked for about 15 minutes before we realized that the trail pretty much disappeared--there was so much overgrowth we couldn't figure out where the trail was! That was disappointing. The tour of the Sawa-i-Lau caves was disorganized. We showed up and went in the cave, but we weren't allowed to swim through to the other chamber because we didn't have a guide with us, only a boat driver. So we waited and waited until finally the boat driver was able to convince a guide from another resort to take us into the chamber. And then the guide didn't even show us the paintings we had read about. However, Oarman's did have a spectacular beach. It was probably the best one we visited in Fiji. So if all you want is a good beach and don't care much about anything else, then Oarsman's is fine. But if you want good food, friendly service, and other non-beach activities, then I would recommend you go elsewhere. | 3
karlo 08:57 UTC 07 Aug 2009 | It's been a few years, but Octopus used to offer packages on their website that included transport to and from on their boat. If you wanted to do two places, Octopus time sandwiched around another place that you reach on the Flyer is a possibility that could save you money. | 4
mandja 09:34 UTC 07 Aug 2009 | At my recent stay on Octopus the new manager there said that the resort at Oarsman was experiencing "many problems" but he wouldnt elaborate. I wonder if the Chief (on Nacula) mightve gone from the island or been replaced?? When we were at Ocarsman last year the food was ok - not brilliant but nice enough AND my semi-vegitarian daughter was very well catered for. Satff were happy to accomodate her fussy eating requests. | 5
swgdesign 10:59 UTC 11 Aug 2009 | I have deicded to spend 4 days on Manta Ray Island, 3 days at Octopus Resort and 3 days on beachcomber :) That gives me diving, beaches, and partying :) hehe | 6