Reviews Beqa Lagon

  This is the second time we have stayed at Beqa Lagoon Resort. We stayed here for 4 nights at fairly short notice after part of our cruise was cancelled and... read more we needed to find alternative accommodation at short notice. As we were already staying in Pacific Harbour and scuba diving the area we wanted somewhere convenient to stay and still be able to dive. The resort is comfortable, clean and tidy. We stayed in a Koi pond bure which is basic but very spacious and quite comfortable. Rooms are quiet. Bed was comfortable. Air con efficient. Nice pool. Food is pretty good though breakfast choices are limited if you don't have a cooked breakfast. There is no afternoon tea which makes for a rather hungry afternoon after a light lunch. BYO snacks. As usual the staff were wonderful and friendly. My husband became ill with a severe GIT upset and they couldn't do more for us. The staff arranged for a doctor from the local village clinic to visit (at no cost, and in the evening. The poor woman had to come to the resort by boat in pouring rain!) and provided medications, electrolyte replacement drink and delivered meals to our room. They helped with extra cleaning and extra linen and checked in regularly to see how my husband was going. As we have been here before we knew that both alcohol and WiFi were expensive. The dive team were helpful fairly organised (for Fiji) and we had no issues with our boats or most of the diving. The weather was kind and water was generally calm. A couple of the sites were less than healthy but other sites were great. One dive we insisted on aborting as the guide was taking us (just us 2) for an extended time through strong current, we were supposed to be aiming for a site, but were not seeing anything, the guide appeared totally lost and oblivious to us struggling and running down our air. Eventually he got the hint!. We did the Cathedral shark dive and while it is spectactular and you do get pretty close to the sharks, it is not the greatest for getting good photos due to the amount of sediment kicked up by the sharks. The shark food is placed in metal cages on the sand and at times you could hardly see what was happening for the kicked up sand. I actually found that returning to this site on a non shark feeding day was a better experience as there were still a lot of of sharks hanging around the area and we could get down amongst the feeding cages. Personally I found the Shark Reef shark feeding encounter run by one of the other dive companies a better experience photographically as the sharks are fed mid water well above the sand. We enjoyed our stay and it is a beautiful location with lovely staff.

  The staff is very nice. They do their best to please the guests. The food was very good.The room was pretty basichad everything you need and it was... read more clean. This is a very quiet island. If you want just rest and relaxationgreat place to go. It is tough to get to. We had to take a 3 hour drive from the airport, then a 30 minute boat ride. That was fine, just makes for a very long day. The biggest asset to this Resort is a man named Ty. He does everythinghe took us on a visit to a village, hosted the fire walkers (he does that too), played guitar and sang for us and of course gave us a kava ceremony. The main activity at this resort is diving. They have a small dive shop and the dive masters were friendly, but sometimes, there was a communication problem as English is not their first language. The diving was very nice, however, during one of our dives, there was a diving emergency with an elderly man. We were back on the boat, guests were screaming “diver in trouble”. The dive team just froze! Two people in our group went into the water to get the diver back on the boat. He had gone under the water and could not stay afloat. Divemasters just watched. I asked for oxygen 3 times. No response from the dive team. Finally got the oxygen and neither tank worked! There was no medical equipment on the boat! This was a life threatening emergency. Luckily for this man that a member of our group is a physician. There were no facilities on the island to take care of this man. The doctor cared for the sick man for the entire week. Had it not been for the people in our group, this emergency would have been a tragedy!

All in all, this is a precautionary tale.know who you are diving with and what qualifications the dive masters have before diving here!

  Beqa Lagoon Resort is a beautiful property. The flora is just stunning. Staff sing you onto the resort to welcome you. Throughout our stay, the staff could not have done... read more more to assure our pleasure, just the nicest people. As you are a bit remote (45 minute boat ride from main island) they bring activities to you. We were invited to the village for a tour, kava and shopping local handicrafts. If you visit, please consider bringing school supplies for the local village school. Our room was beautiful and spotless. Very spacious. We had a plunge pool which was cool and refreshing, very clean. The bathroom is large and the shower is huge! Plentiful hot water. You have a choice of menu items for each meal. All meals were hot, well prepared from fresh local ingredients and delicious. There are not snacks between meals. That would have made the stay better. they bring in fire dancers, dancers and singers which were all impressive and delightful. Very nice private beach. The massages are among the best resort massages I have every had. Ask for Lita! Kayaks and paddle boards with support are free and you have quite a bit a room to take them out and explore. Gift shop has a few snacks. Plentiful supply of Pure Fiji lotions. Indulge. It is worth it. There were local artisan crafts and clothing for purchase.
Diving: the scuba support could not have been better. Highly organized and safety oriented. Our gear was handled with care. The dive masters made sure to meet individuals at their level of diving. They were very interested in helping us to spot all sea creatures that we could. The boats are in good condition and set up well for diving. We were there in July. the surface was a bit rough and expect drift to current dive conditions. The reef was disappointing. Only two dives had healthy reef. There were two dives that had colorful small fish. The shark dive is a great one. Shore diving was a considerable amount of work, you have to go far out to get below the surface. However, our group saw octopus and other fun critters on shore dives. Water temp was right at 80F. Plan for a 3ml. We are not sure we would return for the diving. dive shop had drying racks and indoor storage.

  Wonderful time and great staff - We had a wonderful time at Beqa. We're not divers but enjoyed the snorkelling, swimming and kayaking with our 9 yr old, who was the only child there.

Once... read more the dive groups went out for the day, we basically had the resort to ourselves. The house reef was calm, and vibrant with many different animals and tonnes of colourful fish of different shapes and sizes. The guided reef tour was also similarly vibrant.

The food was good and desserts amazing. The staff were a very hard-working group of people and went above and beyond to make our stay great. Was lovely to be there for the Fiji day celebrations.

We would return and recommend the resort.

Special thanks to Sala at the massage, Missi at the dive shop, Filo at guest services, Tai and Buka for the activities.

  Lovely island with a beautiful beachside pool and spacious bures. But beware a koi pond Bure does not equal a garden Bure! They may have identical footprints but very different... read more aspects and the garden bures located furthest from reception had issues nearly every day with picking up the very expensive wifi ($70 US for a week for only 2 devices).
Unfortunately for Beqa that prides itself on diving and the famous shark dive, our experience with all the dive team (apart from the very friendly and engaged Tusi) was that they seemed very disinterested and it felt to our entire boat that they just wanted to rush the dives with very little briefing or any attempt to point out the highlights. Having dived all around the Pacific this was our first experience of dive masters who seemed to really not enjoy their job- this really spoilt the experience for us all. They showed very little interest or attention to the nervous newer divers on our boat. This didn’t effect us as experienced divers but it was left entirely up to you to make the most of the dives.

  My husband and I recently travelled to Beqa Lagoon Resort for our honeymoon. Here's the skinny:

Snorkel/Diving: My husband is an experienced diver, I am a non-diver. Let me... read more tell you, there is plenty for non-divers at Beqa! In the mornings, most of the guests were off on their dives, and I virtually had the resort to myself to enjoy. How often can you say that you have a resort to yourself!? I went out snorkeling several times on my own and with my husband, there was a great variety of aquatic life to see right there in the lagoon. We also enjoyed the kayaking. I was hoping to take out the SUP, but didn't get around to it. We did the secret island snorkel tour on our last day, and the snorkeling there was incredible. I ended up doing the Discover Scuba program with Dell, and he was a patient and thorough teacher. I really enjoyed my dive with him and he made me feel comfortable the whole time. I talked to a lot of divers at the resort and it seemed like everyone really enjoyed the famous shark dive, and from what I gather, you're almost guaranteed to see at least one tiger shark, if that's your thing...

Food: We were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. Choosing our meals for the following day was something we looked forward to every evening. Lots of fresh fish and lamb. I enjoyed the tropical fruits every day at breakfast. The menu was mostly western foods, which makes sense, since most of the guests are American. There were some hiccups with my breakfast orders on a few occasions, but they always got it sorted out promptly without issue.

Activities: A huge shoutout to Ty, the Activity Director, who made our trip to Beqa so very special. All of the activities with him were awesome, and we got the opportunity to learn so much about Fijians and the customs of the people of Beqa by talking with him. Don't miss the school visit or the village tour, it truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you won't forget. One rainy morning, my husband and I were alone at the resort and Ty took us on hike to the waterfall, just the three of us. It wasn't on the activity calendar for the day, he just did it because he wanted to make sure we had a great day (and we did, thanks to him!) We had the opportunity to see his village and meet some of his loved ones, and he truly made us feel like family. I've never encountered anything else like that anywhere in the world, and I'll never forget it.

Spa: The spa therapists are all wonderful. Be sure to get your arrival foot massage and book a treatment during your stay. I swear Lita has magical powers!

Tips:
Don't buy the reef-safe skin shield at the gift shop thinking it's sunscreen. It's bug spray with no spf! Took us a few days to figure that one out.
Do buy alcohol from the duty free when you arrive at the airport. The alcohol selection at the resort is limited and quite expensive. We spent way more than we thought we would on alcohol because we had to buy it at the resort. There is no alcohol in the villages.
Do bring garments that cover your shoulders and legs if you're a woman. You'll need them to enter the village. You can wear pants for the school visit but to do the village tour, you'll need a sarong and/or a long skirt/dress.
Do pack warm clothes. It does get quite windy there, despite the warm temps. There are umbrellas in the rooms.

Overall, we had the best time at BLR, and we greatly appreciate all of the efforts that the staff made to make us feel special. Everyone there was so friendly and made us feel welcome and appreciated. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  The resort was lovely. The food was amazing. Entertainment was fun. Diving trips were great however there was some miscommunication between the divemasters and the divers that... read more were being taken out. All in all a wonderful experience though.

  Beqa Lagoon Resort was an amazing place to stay at, the staff is very friendly and joyful, you can tell that they love their guests. The bures/rooms are nice, spacious... read more and clean, but I would enjoy them more with even less amenities and more tropical feel (an outdoor shower maybe). The island and resort's gardens are lush and beautiful, if you want to be on a green tropical island this is your place. Defenitely a dive resort, great place to dive and snorkel, consider getting your certification here. The food was very average and sometimes bland, if you are a gourmand you will be disappointed, but you should understand that this is an island resort in a poor island nation, and probably most of the kitchen stuff have never had the funds to experience much of the world's cuisine.

  My boyfriend and I stayed here a week ago and throughly enjoyed our stay. The snorkeling and diving was really nice and we were able to see lots of... read more different types of fish. I also liked that alot of the coral over here was vibrant and healthy. The staff at Beqa were very kind and super helpful and made the stay memorable. They really care and love the guests that visit. Filo, the guests relations Manger even played cards with us one afternoon which was so lovely! Also, loved getting to know Del, Thomas, and Ty.
Overall a nice 4/5 star property. I would definitely suggest this property for anyone who is looking for a nice diving "getaway".

  You could feel her almost divine presence even before she made her appearance at Beqa Lagoon's Cathedral dive site. Kneeling with my fellow Sundivers behind a low rock wall 20... read more metres below the surface we had been thrilled to see 30-odd bull sharks joined by tawny nurses, sicklefins, and the smaller reef sharks during the twice-daily feeding sessions conducted by the amazing local shark wranglers. The first tiger then made her appearance; a 5-metre female called Big Mama, making her imposing presence felt not just among us shark worshippers but also among the other sharks. We were lucky on that dive to see three more tigers, making it one of the most exciting diving experiences ever. The resort and staff led by the charismatic Filo were also exceptional.

  Lovely week with our travelling Sundive Byron Bay dive group.
The resort is very friendly and well run, and our Fijian hosts were great fun and very helpful. ... read more /> Highlight was the shark diving, which was a life experience in itself. Hectic at times but also very well run and we were well looked after by Brandon and the dive team.
We had a great week!

  The catch phrase is ‘arrive as a guest, leave as family’. I thought this was super cheesy at first but honestly, it’s true.

I can’t say enough good... read more things about this resort - the staff are incredibly friendly, welcoming and helpful.

The activities are awesome and a perfect way to balance relaxing with a little bit of exercise.

My only gripe, and it’s really more of a niggle is that the day spa could do with some additional capacity as when we arrived the whole thing was booked up for 5 days in advance! Clearly a sign that everyone enjoys what they have to offer!

We will definitely be coming back!