Octopus Resort - August 2009

Gidday fellow South Pacific travellers,

I am, once again, off to Fiji - this time in August. For the first part of my trip I have decided to stay at Octopus Resort (Yasawa Islands).

I now need your assistance to be 'in the know'. For those that have been to Octopus Resort, I would appreciate your recommendations as to the following:

• Best snorkelling spots
• Hiking recommendations
• Which volleyball team to manouvre myself onto (which local Fijian player has an A game)
• Best cocktail to try
• Tour recommendation (organised by the Resort), if any

Any other info you would like to share.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Schwabbie

There is very good snorkelling right off the beach at Octopus. They also run snorkelling trips further afield----we went on both the half-day and the full day trips. Highly recommend the full day, includes BBQ on Mafia Island, but also takes in a few brilliant spots. The half day was very good too, but the full day was better, and there is a tour to the island school at Yalobi Village with a few stops for snorkelling on the way back. You can also go fishing in the late afternoon and they cook your fish for you for lunch next day----the food is splendid----lots of imaginative choices and well cooked. For hiking you can walk along the beach or to the closest village, Naulawaki, (you need some roots for kava to give to the chief if you are solo but you can go accompanied by one of the villagers on the staff at Octopus and he will present a gift from the group.) You need a guide to hike elsewhere but the Octopus staff is so friendly and helpful that they will probably try to arrange a hike if you miss the opportunity to do the 3 hour one to the top of the mountain. They have a special cocktail each day, with the ingredients listed. The barmen love to chat----ask them what their favourites are. The one I had :-- white rum, blue curacao, coconut cream, pineapple juice. They are all a bit lighter on the alcohol than they would be in a Sydney bar. Volleyball is every day and there are a few skillful players----they split up usually to even out the teams. The singing at Octopus is wonderful------husband even went to church to hear more of it. Writing about all this makes me really want to go back----we had such a good time. You will too. Take more money than you think you will need and do everything!

we stayed near octopus resort. there is an excellent snorkelling drift with a giant manta ray (bigger than a VW bug) that feeds during the AM. everybody in that area knows it as there was 2-3 dingys when i was there. the sad part is that, once all the splashing tourist dives in, the ray just flaps its wings and disapears with the current in few secs, so be the first...trust me, everybody tried to catch up to it but it was too fast!

for hiking, take a guide, i wouldnt just wonder around the villages out of respect to the them. even an innocent fruit tree is owned by a clan. for drinks, i would have to say the kava. if we were into the margaritas/pina collada types, we shouldve just stayed at home. tours will be offered by octopus. not sure about the volleyball. most of the resorts in the yasawa chain didnt have a net. i would assume in the party islands of the mamanucas group (just before the yasawa chains)

Excellent replies from posters #1 & # 2! My only addition would be a tip to book as soon as possible as Octopus is quite popular - we booked many months in advance and still had to juggle our schedule so we could stay there for 5 nights. And as graymare said, reading all this makes me want to return - we had such a good time there!

Good advice above - but please be aware that you are not welcome to just walk over to the village on your own, the resort does have organised trips over there at no cost to you. Wandering over by yourself when you are not invited is equivalent to a stranger wandering into your living-room at home without invitation.

Hiking recommendations

trails connect all the villages, so in principle you can cover the entire island

If you're energetic and ambitious, then consider a cross-island hike to Yalobi village. In theory you could do this on your own in a loop, start off low tide and down the coast, then to Yalobi and finally inland back up to Octopus resort. There is a backpacker resort in Yalobi so you wouldn't have to worry about gifts to the chief etc. - they're used to having foreigners wander around the beach.

But it's a full day, and it can get hot. And the tide has to be right if you want an early start. etc. Also, finding the trail on your own can sometimes be a bit tricky: long grass on the ridges sometimes hide it, or it disappears into some thicker vegetation. It might be a better idea to take a guide with you.

Thanks for the tips guys.

I will definitely be taking the full day snorkelling trip - sounds great.

Re hiking - thanks for the useful advice. I will be mindful to organise a guide to take me to the top of the mountain, if an organised hike is not arranged.

Schwabbie - Did you go to the top of the hill on Oasman? I presume similar at Octopus.

mandja - yes, I did get to the top of the hill at Oarsmans. You get a magnificent view of the Yasawa chain of islands and coral reefs. I have some pics if you would like to see them. You would need to send me your personal email. I have about 8 photos of Oarsmans.