Octopus Resort Digs

With a few days under our belt away from the resort, it is very poignant in our minds about what we had there. We wanted to describe some of it for you.

Like many other places in Fiji, it had a dorm for backpackers with shared bathroom facilities. It had a couple of bungalows that were essentially private rooms that also shared the dorm bathrooms. And then many people, like us, stayed in traditional thatched bures with private bathrooms. We stayed in one of those in the 'garden' which is basically pathways and plots of plants and trees which the staff meticulously plant and care for. There were a few bures on the beach, but we reserved too late. The Octopus was packed all week (many backpackers were turned away when they arrived by a separate boat). But we could hear the ocean at night anyway.

Our bure (like the rest) had no air conditioning, just a fan and screened windows on three sides. We slept under a mosquito net over the bed. There were no mosquitos, but there were bugs. The sides and roof of the bure were literally made of thatch from the island plants, so bugs, air and sand could make their way through the walls. Two nights we saw multiple large spiders in the room that I had to shoo away or kill and one night we had several large flying cockroaches. But we knew we were on an island and living in a somewhat traditional 'house' so we expected it, plus we could sleep in ease at night with the net. The bathroom was a separate attached room with the shower above from above to the outside. You could wash off under the stars or in the sun. Very cool!

There are no restaurants or cafes on the island, so you had to book the resort meal plan when you booked accomodations. We ate our lunch and dinner meals together with other guests at 8-person tables in the sand under an open-walled building. They were at the same time everyday. For lunch, we had a choice of 10 different staples and one special each day. The dinners were different each night and served family style. Breakfast was a souped-up continental buffet that was self-served, and included French pressed-pot coffee which we love. All of the food was very good! We were actually surprised at how good it was for a captive audience. Water was free, but other drinks could be put on a tab at the one bar of the resort. We had alot of Fiji beer, and some good coffee and smoothie drinks.

There was a freshwater pool onsite, and many people learned to scuba dive in it. We had a deck around the pool with very comfortable lounge chairs and tables. Plus one night we watched a movie at poolside on a large movie screen. The beach had more lounge chairs under thatched shaded huts, and hammocks were scattered throughout. Even though every bed was packed, we could always find privacy. And down the beach was a special hut near the waves for massages, which only cost about $US18. Very nice!