Barefoot Manta Island Resort — Hotel in Western

Barefoot Manta Resort is approx 3hrs away from Denarau Port on the Yasawa Flyer. After a short transfer from the flyer by island boat, we arrived just before lunch. On arrival guests are given an orientation talk and provided with the wi-fi password, before scanning a QR code to complete guest check-in. To save yourself time in a long queue, suggest calling the resort to prepay the meal package, as everyone was required to pay before being shown to their rooms.||Yanuyanu bures 2-10 on Sunrise Beach are solid (not canvas) structures, with an open air bathroom at the back. Inside is a queen size bed (space for an additional single bed if requested), bedside tables and a clothes stand with a few coat hangers. There is no fridge, kettle or hairdryer. There is a ceiling fan and the bure is fully screened, so no mosquito net needed - and being on the windy side of the island, we didn't see any mosquitoes anyway. There are mosquitoes on the sunset side, and around the outdoor tables at the restaurant though, so bring repellent. In the bures there are two powerpoints (Australian sockets), and lighting includes two bedside lamps, ceiling lighting and outside light. Outdoor ensuite at the back of the room has toilet, sink, rustic shower (very low pressure hot water), shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Outside, there is no decking like the other bures on Sunset Beach, there is a stand for drying towels, wetsuits etc, two chairs and a table, a hammock, and comfortable cushioned reclining double sun lounge. ||The wind on Sunrise Beach can be loud at night, but after the second night we didn't notice it and had our shutters open for a cooling breeze, and beautiful water views in the morning. Rooms are swept most days and the footbath water changed, however towels are only changed on request.||Snorelling off the beachfront is very good, however you will need to be vigilent for boats returning from snorkel, dive or manta trips on Sunset and Manta beach. You may be fortunate to see the huge hump head wrass (saw it on a late afternoon snorkel), and we also saw a couple of black tip reef sharks. The water in some places was very warm, so a wetsuit is probably only needed in May if you intend staying out for a while - you will need to bring your own, as the wetsuits at the resort are only for divers.||Weather in May was lovely - warm and sunny. Even when it was windy at night, it was still warm. Dress code was super casual, sarongs and bare feet during the day, and resort casual at dinner.||Breakfast is from 7.00am (buffet with egg station), lunch from 12.30pm (a la carte, orders taken at breakfast) and dinner from 7.00pm (buffet - pasta, Indian, BBQ - every second night, a la carte orders taken at lunch). Barista coffee is available, but there is a charge. Some days there were a lot of flies around, but most of the food on the buffet is covered. Only complaint (from many others as well) is that the smoking area is right next to the restaurant, smokers may as well be sitting at the next table if the wind is blowing in that direction - needs to be moved a lot further away.||Happy hour at the Sunset Bar from 5.30pm included cocktails for FJD20 each, or a bucket of 5 Vonu beers for FJD40, or Fiji Bitter for FJD35. We brought duty free spirits to drink at our bure, and asked for a glass of ice when purchasing mixers (cans FJD7). You will need to bring your own water bottle, there is water available at the restaurant to refill.||At reception, you can buy insect repellent and sunscreen . Reception opens around 7.30am (Fiji time), and closes at 8.00pm. ||Grounds are well maintained, with coconuts trimmed along walking paths, although worth looking up before settling in a hammock, as dead fronds were also a hazard. Paths are lit at night through common areas, and each bure has outdoor lighting. There is some very basic outdoor gym equipment near the marine centre.||A manta education briefing is compulsory before signing up for a manta swim. This is when bookings are taken for the next few days - if you are only staying for a couple of days, you may want to head to the marine centre a bit earlier to book your swim as they do book out quickly at the briefing. They usually take 3 boats with 6 people in each, although our second swim was on a boat with 12 (this boat's ladder was fixed, so much easier to get back onto the boat between swims). Manta swim times are based on the tides, it may be as early as 6.30am. Both days we went out, there was only one manta in the channel (a drone is used for spotting), perhaps there are more later in the season. There is no guarantee of seeing a manta (the people on the earlier swim didn't see one), and the plankton can make visibility difficult if the manta is not near the surface. You can't take towels on the boat, so suggest wearing a wetsuit or insulated rashie, as it can get cold on the boat ride once you are wet. Cost was FJD99 if a manta is spotted, or FJD89 if not. Recommend checking that nobody on your boat needs to return early to catch the morning ferry, as our manta viewing trip with 12 people was cut short to accommodate two people leaving the island.||The hike to the top of the hill is easy to moderate and there are three lookouts, so you don't need to go all the way to the top to watch the sunset, perfect view from the first lookout. Sunrise walks are also organised, with one of the resort's activities guides. I felt more comfortable in trainers, but walking shoes are not necessary when it is dry, some people were just wearing thongs. You may also see the resident goats at the top.||It's a very relaxed vibe on the island, lots of backpackers though, so better suited to families or groups, than a...

My partner and I (from Melbourne) stayed for 6 nights at Barefoot Manta in a mixed dorm in January 2025.

Reef: The reef at Barefoot Manta is the key highlight of the place. We snorkelled once or twice a day using the free gear from the dive shop and saw a large variety of sea life (e.g. fish, coral, oceanic fantail rays, friendly small sharks). Snorkelling off the beach by yourself or a guide is free but you can pay to go out on a boat (around $90 FJD). They also offer free intro to diving sessions where you gear up and learn the basic skills of diving in 1.5m water, then you can pay to do actual diving sessions (first dive option is $220 FJD). The reef is the key highlight, with other travellers saying that it’s the best reef in the Yasawas and comparable/better than the Great Barrier Reef. Other travellers we spoke to who had come from resorts like Blue Lagoon and Octopus all said that Barefoot Manta’s reef was better.

Barefoot Manta employs 4 marine biologists to conduct research projects in relation to manta rays and the reef. We went to 5 free marine biology talks during our stay which were facilitated by ‘T’, one of the marine biologists at Barefoot Manta. Other than the snorkelling, these talks were the highlight of the trip for us and we are so grateful to T, Rob and team for sharing their research and knowledge with us.

Food: The meal plan is $139 FJD, which includes buffet breakfast/lunch and a la carte/buffet dinner. The website is incorrect - breakfast and lunch are both buffets and dinner is a la carte 4 nights and a buffet 3 nights a week. The buffet breakfast is pretty good and has a variety of options. The buffet lunch generally includes garlic bread, salads, rice and 2-3 hot options (e.g. curry, lasagna). Lunch is good but not amazing - it’s what you’d expect from a 3 star hotel as a benchmark. If dinner is a la carte, you choose from 2 options for entree and 3-4 options for main, and have no choice for dessert. With the exception of our last night, dinners were of a high standard. There are no snacks provided in between meals.

On our last night, we waited 1h 15 min for our entree after checking with the waiters 4 times, and people who arrived 45 mins after us received their food before us. They also ran out of dessert. Not worth kicking up a fuss but sub par for the price you pay. Unfortunately I had food poisoning from dinner that night and was throwing up and going to the toilet from 2-4am. This was the only time I was sick from the food and I took Travelan/colostrum before each meal as a precaution (including before dinner that night so it could’ve been worse).

Accomodation: We stayed in the mixed dorm. The website advertises the dorms as 7 people max, but all of them have 4 bunk beds and hold up to 8 people. However, on our first night, they squeezed another single bed into our dorm so there were 9 people total in the dorm.

The dorm itself isn’t too bad and is reflective of the price - the heat is relatively bearable with the two fans on and windows open. There was surprisingly a lack of insects/mosquitos in the dorms. The shared shower and toilet block is what you’d expect for the price - not super dirty but not that clean.

Summary: It’s worth going to Barefoot Manta for amazing snorkelling/diving and to see their beautiful reef. The marine biologists/staff truly care about the reef and have lots of different marine projects on the go. 6 nights was too long and I think 3-4 nights would be the sweet spot.

The reef is worth going for despite the other aspects of the stay, as long as you are ok to pay the price, don’t expect amazing food/accom and take Travelan or similar before each meal. If you are going in particular for something on the website, check beforehand as it may be inaccurate.

If you are looking to go to Fiji for a 4/5 star resort and don’t care as much for snorkelling/diving, then choose elsewhere for better food, accom and...

They sing when you arrive & leave and at dinners too. Breakfast is buffet style with loads of options and you have options for lunch/dinner too but not buffet style (except on Fiji Night on Sundays which has a performance, kava drinking, Fijian food buffet, & Fijian activities during the day, highly recommend being there on Sunday nights if you can!). Lunch times are hectic since new people are arriving from the ferry so whether you're new or already there it takes a while to get your lunch (and room if you're new). You have to pay FJD 139 per person per day for food but servings are huge so you'll be full (you pay extra if you want lunch the last day but you don't really need it with how much you can eat during the other meals).

Dorms were great but there's only 4 drawers/boxes for 7-8 beds. I thought there were enough toilets/showers/sinks as I never had to wait, but showers vary in pressure (at some points after dinner when everyone is showering there's no water from certain showers but other stalls would have a little bit).

There's 2 manta snorkels per day that are scheduled based on daylight & tides (they used to bang drums when mantas were seen but then you'd be waiting all day for mantas, now you're able to enjoy the beaches & know you'll be getting in the water to hopefully see mantas so I do prefer this) - if you see mantas you get charged FJD 99 but if you don't they show you a reef & are charged for a 'snorkel safari' instead at FJD 89. When I was there the manta snorkels were at 6:30am & 9am: the 1st day the 6:30am group saw 3 mantas but us in the 9am group only saw 1 manta very far away (they only charged us for a snorkel safari though so that was nice); the 2nd day we did both sessions and saw nothing at 6:30am but 3 mantas at 9am (if you're only there for 1 or 2 days I'd recommend doing both sessions). Sign up for manta snorkels as soon as you get on the island because they fill up really quickly so you might not get any spots! Our 1st day the marine biologist brought a huge camera & our guide knew from the start that we wouldn't see any mantas because the big camera always scares them away. The 2nd day the marine biologist just had a GoPro & thats when we actually saw the mantas. You can feel tension between the marine biologists and the snorkel guides because the marine biologists only want to research & feel the guests are a necessary evil to fund their research while the snorkel guides really want the guests to get the best experience so that they come back because they provide money for themselves & their families (& money from guests pay the villages so that they don't fish the reef or harm mantas which would keep mantas away) - the 1st day felt geared around the marine biologists which was disappointing as a tourist who came here primarily for this while the 2nd day felt more equal where we were able to see the mantas. Other companies' boats also didn't bother us because the current pushes you along so we didn't get overcrowded. Special shoutout to the snorkel guide Ice who always explained everything & took us to some amazing snorkel sites when we couldn't see mantas (which my other guide didn't do, he just sent us through the channel again which was our snorkel safari without telling us anything).

The sunrise beach had loads of algae but it is nice, its the only place deep enough to snorkel at low tide. Sunset beach was prettier, but manta beach was my favourite especially at the drop off because the coral seemed much more colourful here. The hike to the viewpoints isn't difficult and we were able to see goats too which is cute. The marine biologist talks were great & I loved listening to them, our days only had 1 marine biologist talk with how the manta snorkels were scheduled but there were other activities to do in the morning that I never even got to because of how much there is to do...