Octopus Resort or Waisalima?

Hi! I'm going to Fiji in a few weeks for a short trip. I'm having trouble deciding between the Octopus Resort in the Yasawa Group or Waisalima Resort in Kadavu. There are 2 big considerations. 1. Is either island group significantly better than the other? It sounds like both have great snorkeling and diving, but at Kadavu I may have the chance to go surfing for a day and do a bit more hiking. 2. Is either going to be much better for a solo traveler? I'm too old for the gap year party like a rock star scene (33) but I like to have fun and I don't want to be stuck at a resort with all families and couples. Octopus has a dorm, so it seems like it would have more inde travelers but Waisalima sounds fantastic too and the price isn't much more for a single with shared facilities than the dorm is at Octopus. Any recommendations from anyone who has been to both islands (and especially anyone who knows about both resorts) would be much appreciated!!

I'm a regular at Octopus and know it well, but my only experience of Kadavu is sailing along the northern coast in a yacht, stopping off at a few places (not Waisalima). There are some good detailed reviews of Waisalima on Trip Advisor if you haven't already found them.
For a short trip I'd recommend Octopus for ease of getting there, and for company. Several of the reviews I read said they were the only guests at Waisalima at the time. You can do some guided hikes at Octopus - fairly strenuous & need good shoes or hiking sandals. If you have any particular queries about Octopus I'm happy to answer.

Thanks, TaiMarilyn! I wrote a really lengthy reply that was somehow deleted. How were your diving and/or snorkeling experiences at Octopus? I did read the TripAdvisor reviews and the part where several people had tummy troubles at Octopus is a small concern. Good company is awfully important when you're traveling solo for a long time, but I don't know that it would be a terrible thing for just a few days. As long as the lovely fijians shared their kava and conversation with me :). I'm much more interested in meeting locals than heaps of other westerners. My other question would be the availability of getting to the Vesi Passage for surfing (along with the availability of rentals and safety for surfers who fall down A LOT) and how nice the beach/grounds are at Waisalima, which is a question for someone else (who will hopefully read this thread). Did you visit the Blue Lagoon and the cave and if so was it worth the trip or just an overpriced tourist excursion? Thanks so much for your help!

re tummy troubles - I've been going to Octopus every year over 17 years and know many others who have been there - have never had a problem. The food is great and the kitchen scrupulously well run. They provide free filtered drinking water at the bar so water is no problem either. I suspect some people may arrive there having already contracted their problems elsewhere.
Snorkelling is very good straight off the beach in front of the resort. They have a very reputable dive operation. I don't dive myself but family members who have dived with them say it's good. The band plays every night before dinner (except Sundays) and greet new arrivals with a kava ceremony, are very welcoming to those who want to sit and chat. The resort arranges frequent visits to the local village from where most of the staff come. There is usually a good range of guests, from backpackers to couples to family groups. The staff are very friendly and always willing to chat to guests who are interested.
My other favourite place is Octopus's new sister resort - Blue Lagoon Beach Resort. It's further north - about 1& half to 2 hours more on the Yasawa Flyer. Run in a similar way to Octopus but only 2 years old. Even better snorkelling there. If you want to visit the Sawa-i-Lau caves then you would have to stay there rather than Octopus - Octopus doesn't do day trips up that far. I went to the caves from BL last year - an amazing experience. I think the cost was around FJ$59 - not expensive when you do the conversion from Fijian $$ - fuel for the boat trip there swallows most of that and they have to pay a fee to the mataqali who own the caves.
Octopus does have a day trip which has the possibility of swimming with manta rays - dependent on the time of year and of course whether the mantas happen to be there - have done that, it was magic.
If you'd like to see my photos online send me a PM with your email address and I'll send the link. Hope someone else can help with Waisalima. Have you tried asking on TripAdvisor about that?

Edited by: TaiMarilyn

We stayed @ Waisalima for 2 nights as part of a 5 day sea kayaking trip with Tamarillo Expeditions (a NZ base company).

http://www.waisalima.com/
http://www.tamarillo.co.nz/

We had 10 people in our group, other than that there were only 2 other people staying there. It can be very quiet there. No TV or internet.
As with most Fijians, the staff are very friendly & welcoming.
They can offer all of the above (diving, snorkellng, surfing, hiking, paddling, etc).
All transport is by boat. It's about 75-90 mins from the airport at Vunisea.
They also have manta rays which frequent a local area, but they hadn't been seen for several weeks when we were there - a smaller island the other side of Ono Island.