Beachcomber Island Fiji — Attraction in Western

An honest review!

Stayed 6 nights here in a coconut lodge double room (ensuite) (with a ceiling fan) mid June.

Overview: Would highly recommend this hotel as a day tripper or guest. Be warned you're not paying 5 star prices so don't expect a 5 star experience either! :) Some reviews were pretty scathing but I think it's due to having the wrong expectations, or attitude, perhaps. This is an island with beds ranging from dorms to private villas. All eat at the buffet at set times. There's a few organised activities and a mix of day trippers & house guests in the resort. Evening entertainment and bar with a sociable feel.

Room is 4/5. The accommodations were built at different stages & have not all aged at the same pace. Rooms have mosquito netting on windows, bed sheets and the room is clean. Bures are bigger and some have sunset views. Some are a little closer to the main bar and so background noise can be heard from some of them (Bure 8) Buffet food is 4/5. Always tasty and Sizeable portions, Not much choice so may not be great if you're fussy and I'm not sure how well it caters to veggie/vegans as there were only a few options, so it may not have been requested - make sure you check before booking. menu below. No real dessert available. Activities is 4/5. Excellent snorkeling & scuba, kayaks but little else on offer other than day trips to other places and chill (we never felt bored though!). Service is 5/5. The staff is very attentive to all guests and want to make you feel very welcome!

Transfer from Port Denaurau is 99$ each way pp (bit cheeky as day trippers pay much less with their day package).

Breakfast (7-9 am): a mix of sausage, bacon, egg, beans, hash browns, pancakes, bread and cereal. Lunch (1-2 pm): fried chicken, fried fish and rice // beef stir-fry, pasta bolognese (beef) and spring rolls // veggie stir fry, chicken stir-fry and rice // lamb chop, lamb sausage, roast chicken and potatoes // pasta bolognese (chicken), fried fish and rice // plus a salad bar & fruit. Dinner (7-8 pm): chicken curry, beef curry and rice // seafood chowder, roast beef with mashed potato and marinated chicken // meatballs, rice, noodles and shrimps // pork chop, beef and potato cooked in an earth oven // chicken casserole, shrimps in sauce and rice // fried fish in sweet and sour sauce, chicken BBQ, beef stir-fry, rice and spring rolls // plus a salad bar & fruit.

Main coral sites: North west and South east of the island (you can do it anytime or with the daily organised boat trips). Max depth 7-8 m. Spotted the usual fish plus squids, a ray, turtle and reef shark.

Positives : the chill and friendly feel of the place, it is kept clean everywhere, free turtle viewing (in a pool), fish feeding and snorkeling twice a day (please measure your own ability and wear a life jacket - supervision is minimal), WiFi is available ( but only in the bar/beach area and can be a bit spotty), Digicel 4G available on the front beach, evening entertainment organised by the beachcomber crew. We had problems with our water and the staff did all they could to fix and make up for the inconvenience.

Negatives: diesel generator for electricity is smelly and loud, boats approach directly on the beach front at drop off/pick up times (watch out swimmers!).

Quick warning: The electrical generator can switch off for maintenance, this means no running water but it should get fixed quickly.

Paying activities: kayak (10$ph), massages (1hr for 55$), scuba diving (Hauraki Adventures Fiji), day trips to nearby islands (see board).

Top tip: bring your own bottled water (or pay 7.5$ for 1.5 l, approx 2.5 l pppd) and duty free drinks (bedroom...

I Don’t Usually Leave Bad Reviews — But This Place Just Takes Your Money.

I know it's a long review but you'll have the details of reality.

I’ve traveled a lot and experienced many types of resorts, and I rarely leave negative reviews. But Beachcomber Island Resort was honestly a disappointment. This place seems more focused on taking your money than offering a genuine Fijian experience.

The “all-inclusive” label is completely misleading. It doesn’t include drinks or desserts — not even juice or soda. And at dinner, you’re strictly limited to just one plate per person. If you’re still hungry or want to try something else, you have to pay extra. There’s no flexibility, no generosity — it’s just not all-inclusive at all.

When we arrived in the afternoon, we had missed lunch. In other Fijian resorts, they usually offer a small welcome snack or something to make guests feel cared for. Here, we got nothing. And later, when I was still hungry after a small Caesar salad, they charged us 75 Fijian dollars for a pizza — as if that made up for the lunch we missed. It felt unfair and unkind.

The cocktails were also disappointing. I saw them being made with supermarket juice straight from a carton, with barely any alcohol. One evening, they didn’t even have the proper glass and wanted to serve the drink in a tiny wine— same full price, half the portion. We cancelled it and they put it on our account but we realized when we went to pay our bill.

Dinner service was extremely slow. We ordered at 7 PM and didn’t get our food until 8:15 PM. The waitress was doing her best and was very kind, but she was clearly overwhelmed. The resort is understaffed and poorly managed.

The bed in our room was also uncomfortable — hard and low quality. For the price they charge, you’d expect a good night’s sleep, but even that was lacking.

Overall, the staff felt disconnected and unmotivated. In other Fijian resorts, staff are full of joy, warmth, and engagement. Here, the energy was low and no one encouraged participation in activities.

Snorkeling was okay, but once again, the staff just dropped us off with no explanation, no safety check, and no support. It felt careless and impersonal.

Activities some every day.

Just two days before we arrived, we were told the pool was under construction — something they clearly knew long in advance. The loud construction noise (drilling and hammering) made it impossible to relax. I felt especially bad for families with kids who wanted to enjoy the pool and had no calm alternative.

I also saw a cleaner wipe sweat from her face with a beach towel — and then leave that same towel in a guest room. That raises serious hygiene concerns.

And in the end, they will probably reply to this review with a generic “Sorry” message, as they do with everyone. But that’s just not fair. We work hard, travel from the other side of the world, and put time, money, and hope into these experiences. A simple apology isn’t enough.

Yes, the ocean is beautiful — but that’s true everywhere in Fiji. The photos online are misleading and don’t reflect the current state of the resort. This place is overpriced and simply not worth it.

There is more other disappointing things that are not worth writing about here

Final tip: check the reviews carefully. Most of the good ones are from years ago. The recent reviews — like mine — show what the resort is really like now.

Don’t waste your time or...

We hear that the island is gorgeous, however we were unable to experience this despite our group booking because our transfer boat broke down in the middle of the ocean leaving us stranded in the choppy waters. It was so scary, to say the least. The engine had ceased and it turned out that the spare engine onboard was not working either! It was a while until help arrived from the island to then work out what could be done and eventually tow us back to mainland after almost an hour in those dangerous conditions, using this much smaller boat. With 40 plus people stranded in those rough conditions in the middle of the ocean, the beachcomber management could have done much better and immediately called for help from other boats in the vicinity, however it was obvious that they were inclined for a financially viable solution over the safety of the kids and adults on the boat. We are talking about people’s lives here for god’s sake! It was a terrible experience and my children now have this intense fear for getting on a boat. I am pretty sure even most of the adults on the trip are feeling the same! They staff onboard did what they could with the limited resources they had, however the situation could have been managed much better if passenger safety was treated as priority. Can someone at least ensure that the spare engine is checked and in working condition before each trip?? We are never getting back on this boat and just putting it out there that book through the bigger South Sea Cruises if you are going to the islands and not using the transfers sold by Beachcomber as there is no back up. We were not aware of this and had this awful experience where we didn’t think we would...