taveuni recommendations

Hello... wondering about bibi's hideaway...lisi's... or beverly's campground for a few nights. Planning on moving a bit and trying to keep the cost down being in fiji for a month. Has anyone stayed at Lavena Lodge? Stayed at Rosies 15 years ago and remember the great snorkeling. Now it' the Paradise and to $$$....Vuna Lagoon Lodge o.k.? thanks!

cheers...nance

I stayed at Lavena Lodge.
It's simple, cheap, and has a great location.
But don't expect any extras on top of those things, not even much of a presence of those running it, let alone any "service".
It's one of those places you should consider packing instant noodles and the like to.

Don't look at Lavena Lodge as if it were a normal guesthouse/hotel. It's more like a hostel or a hiking lodge.. Basically, it's 4 double rooms (and a kitchen) attached to the information center for the coastal hikes.
You can order meals at the information desk -- village women rotate the cooking duties. One of the villagers has a walk-in closet which doubles as the village market. It's stocked with the usual basics: crackers, instant, noodles, tinned fish, eggs

I wasn't much interested in Matei as a location. The reason being that there is a predominance of mid- to upper end 'resorts', all decked out with private property signs. I felt claustrophobic. Perhaps great for tourists who don't want to leave the resort grounds, but for an itinerant independent such as myself, the overall ambience wasn't pleasant.

Lisi's is a private guesthouse, across the road from an OK beach. The woman can cook up some good Fijian fare, recommended for that reason. Easy to socialize with the family, and their dog would sometimes follow me around whenever I took short walks. There is (or was) an OK restaurant up the road as an alternative for meals or for a cold beer.

Beverley's .. it's also on a nice bit of beach. You can rent tents or put up your own under a fabric 'roofing' slung up between trees. They're necessary as extra protection against rain. A normal small tent would probably get soaked. Staying there is a matter of taste, I suppose. There were no other budget travellers around when I was there, so Beverley's wasn't even good for socializing.

Bibi's one downside, for people looking for a resort holiday, is that it has no waterfront. You have to cross a road and use whatever beach you can find etc. The place itself seems OK for the accom (I didn't stay there) and the grounds are large .. it just doesn't fit what many people might want in a holiday resort in paradise.

I didn't stay at Vuna Lagoon. Susies Plantation was still in existence at the time (now new owners and transformed into expensive 'boutique' resort). But I much preferred south Taveuni over Matei -- a better sense of place, more of an open indigenous feel -- and the snorkelling around the lagoon is great.

I have a few photos of these places on my BLOG

Lavena Lodga: you can order a (good) meal, which one woman in the village will prepare and bring.
Vuna Lagoon Lodge: it was a really excellent place, with excellent meals (if the housewife is present). In a completely untouristy village. But the lagoon is very shallow.
I also stayed at the Indian-owned Sunset. Also a place I really liked.

Paradise is offering a deal on wotif.com at A$180 per night room rate instead of the rack rate of $550.
The new bures will be very nice we were there just as the first 2 were being completed.