Turtle Island Fiji — Hotel in Nanuya Island

Bill is the manager of operations on Turtle Island. He looks serious most of the time. And I can tell that he has millions of thoughts in his head because his mission is to make the guests happy. I also believe that he is playing a big role on this island like a father to lots of the younger staff. They all respect him very much. Mama Lo is our Bura 7’s mama. She is a quiet person and doesn’t talk too much. But I can tell that she has the warmest heart and takes care of her Bura families very thoughtfully. She seems super patient with every single request that we put out there. And she tries her best to meet our needs. We have danced together so much on Friday night. And It’s sad and unfortunate that we are leaving the next day. Mama Lo has four kids and she is divorced. Luckily she has her sister who can help taking care of the kids when she is away from them. We will be back mama Lo. We won’t make you waiting for long. Turtle island asks their employees to work 5 weeks and the gives them one week off. During the family time, the island will be shut down since all employees are sent home to enjoy time with their families. The island owner, Richard, has done such an incredible job taking care of the Fiji community and his staff. Everyone here are beyond happy. Jerry and Inia are the funniest guys on the island. Both of them have great smiles, especially great at the “Kava Smile” after drinking the typhoon bowl of Kava. It was hilarious! Inia was the guy who picks us up from the ferry. He also took us to the Butterfly reefs for snorkeling. Jerry has a lot of knowledge and history of the island. He jokes a lot and makes himself a very fun person to hangout with. Erami feels like a big uncle to me. He is always so warm and carries big smiles on his face. He teaches us the first rule on the island, which is “Kip smiling”. I love the optimism the entire island brings. He is going to be 55 on May 12th, 2024. It’s Mother’s Day on the 12th and all man will cook for the women. I don’t know if I want to eat food on the island that day. Luckily, we are leaving on the 11th. Mere, there is no better song like “You are the sunshine , the only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray “ to describe the greatest character you have. Last but not the least, our fishman of the week, Micah, has helped us caught a yellowfin tuna. Everyone enjoyed it. So as me who loves sashimi and sushi. Micah is like a big brother I’ve never had. I can’t wait to be back to catch our next 100 lbs fish that I lost this time. Tracey, one of my favorite Bura friends who stayed in Bura 8, once said that Sera is the Fiji queen. I couldn’t agree with her more. She always greets me in the cafeteria every morning with the biggest smile on her face and a small kiss on my cheek and a warmest hug. It was the best smile I could ever get every morning and the best part is that I got tons of energy to start my day with. There are so many staffs that greet us every day with Bula bula and the big smiles. Unfortunately, I don’t remember all of their names. But when I come back next time, I hope to get to know each one of you. I believe the cocktail and dinner time is the smartest idea for getting people together. Unlike other resorts, we are “forced” to sit down at the same table together and talk to our neighbors of the day. It’s a great way to make friends and we have never missed a day and we will never miss the opportunity to meet more people in the future when we come back. I’ve seen many many beautiful places in China and US. But nothing is nearly comparable with this Turtle Island. What makes this place unique is the people here. Your hospitality, your happiness and your power of love are the most inspiring and memorable things here. There’s no other place on earth that deserves to be called our second home than here. I wrote this from the bottom...

We can definitely say we've never stayed anywhere in the world quite like Turtle Island. The first views of the island are stunning, and we were greeted by song (how does the entire staff all have such beautiful voices!?) and physically carried to the beach (definitely many 'White Lotus' vibes here - take that how you will!). We knew from everything we read that Turtle Island was not going to be like anywhere else we had stayed, yet still we weren't prepared for how unique it was.

Firstly, the island and the bures are spectacular. Everything has that 'Fijian Dessert Island Paradise' feel - and from our first tour of the place it's impressive how self-sufficient the island is (from the gardens that provide the food on your table to the woodwork shop that provides the actual tables themselves). Our Bure (Tolu #3) was immaculate - steps from the beautiful turquoise waters and equipped with everything we could need. Our 'Bure Papa' Tommy was absolutely lovely and took phenomenal care of us.

We'd never done the 'All-Inclusive' resort thing, but this was the perfect place for it. The food, was immaculate (and SO MUCH OF IT) we kept praying for a bad meal just so we could stop eating so much (the Fijian day buffet lunch and three course dinner was a particular favorite). The dining options themselves are very unique, each day we were brought a picnic lunch to our own private beach - and each night we had the option of dining out solo (the pontoon dine-out experience is a must-do) or dining communally with the rest of the guests.

Which brings us to the communal experiences. There are never more than 14 couples (there were probably half that when we went) and over 125 staff, so the staff-to-guests ratio is crazy and they go out of their way to make you feel looked after. Turtle Island definitely goes all-in on the communal/family vibe, encouraging the guests to alternate between privacy and community, with games, dancing, events and nightly Kava Ceremonies with the staff (all of whom live on the island). Most of this time this can feel more like a summer camp than a resort (none of this is mandatory, though there can feel some pressure to join in). There's a powerful concerted effort from absolutely everyone at the resort to make you feel like 'family' and not a 'guest' and your mileage may vary on how effective this is, but what's definitely clear is that the entire staff is working so incredibly hard to create this environment and they themselves certainly are a family.

Lastly, the highlight of the entire experience - the private beaches. Every other day, you have the option (and we actually took advantage of this every single day while we were there) to be dropped off with food/drinks to one of their 7 secluded beaches around the island. This was absolutely incredible. To spend the better part of the day on a stretch of beach entirely your own truly gives you the sensation of paradise. More than anything else, this made the rather steep price tag worthwhile for a unique splurge we...

The Turtle Island experience is simply amazing. It is cultural, intimate, relaxed and heavenly. We went in mid-March and the weather cooperated nicely. We had a good rain shower one night and two rain showers during the day in an eight day span. ||Arriving at the island, we came in via a seaplane. Definitely a must for at least one direction of your transportation to the island. Having taken the seaplane both directions, next time we will take the ferry in and take the seaplane back. Both the seaplane and ferry arrive at Turtle Island at about the same time, so why not enjoy a beautiful boat ride in :).||Upon arriving, the ladies are carried in from the plane to avoid getting wet, men have to walk in through the water. We were greeted at the beach by our Turtle Island family. Trust me, the feeling on the island is so familial. You feel the love and care immediately by all the staff. Genuine care. ||Our Bure was lovely. The walls are all glass and glass shutters, allowing air to flow freely through the Bure. The Bure was extremely clean and maintained every day. We slept very well in our king size bed surrounded by sheers. There is an air conditioning unit just above the bed and when we arrived back after dinner, our Bure Mama had closed up our sheers surrounding the bed and had the AC running within the bed area. It made for a great nights sleep.|| We had options daily as to where we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. We really enjoyed breakfast at the main table accompanied by beautiful songs sung by the morning staff. Lunches were often eaten at our private beaches or in front of our Bure. Dinners were once again primarily back at the main table with the other guests and our Turtle Family.||There are so many activities to partake in, it was hard for us to not be doing something all the time. Our Mama was amazing in coordinating everything we wanted to do and making sure any drinks or foods we wanted were available to us.||The water is close to bath water temperature and so easy to get in and out of being so calm in front of the Bure. Deep sea fishing and snorkeling trips occupied most mornings. One morning we went to the Caves. That was quite the experience and I loved it! Maika, Aku and Kiti made sure we were well taken care of and they were so attentive to us making sure we understood everything we were venturing into within the caves.||Of course the private beaches took our trip to the next level. Beautiful isolated beaches with lunch, a glass of wine and lounging areas along with a hammock. This is where our quiet time really was felt.||In our eight day stay, we had five one-hour couple massages and we will do that again in our next trip. ||Saying good-bye was difficult. There was so much love and genuine care given to us. This experience wasn't just a vacation, it was an education in Fijian culture and a whole new appreciation for people. We will return...