Malakati has the most beautiful beach and nature. Blue waters, white sand, snorkeling right from the beach. You can go up the hills from the village and get a great view. The children are adorable, so happy, ask questions, cuddly, they even went hiking with us. There's a pack of really sweet and friendly dogs (they establish dominance amongst themselves but are nice to people) that live on the beach. They love and stick to tourists rather than locals because the locals beat them. You can organize a lot of activities around the island(s) but sitting by the beach is also quite nice and relaxing. It was a great detox to be there as there is no electricity, no street lights, no indoor lights, only power made by solar panels during sunny days.
Even though we loved the place, we're leaving with a slight bitter taste in our mouth. The accommodation conditions are pretty horrid. The mattresses were not great but alright, but the bedding was gross and the blankets were absolutely disgusting. They were actually really dirty and stank. I slept in my day clothes because sometimes it got a bit chilly at night. Thankfully we had a net around the bed, the nets in windows had holes and generally the houses have zero insulation (=bugs please come in). Sometimes the toilet flushed, "shower" is a bucket filled with water and you pour it over you with a bowl, which is fine.
What was particularly disappointing was how extremely overpriced the activities were, including the very expensive boat transfer from the ferry to the village (80 fiji$ per boat which takes about 10minutes). On several occasions we've witnessed how they ripped off other tourists. We asked the questions they didn't want to be asked so we were able to split some fares with other tourist residents or by some miracle were able to get some money back. Two groups that arrived to the village during our stay seemed to surprise the host manager, not knowing what they're doing there and asking how long they're staying.
Activities you agree on doing might or might not happen. Or they might happen much later. The colorful "village experience" they talk about in the description might or might not happen.
We also went on a very fun fishing trip. The cost was $100 for the boat, which again is very expensive, given we spent less than three hours on the ocean. Luckily there was nine of us and we were charged $15 each.. (another way to make more money). We cought 6 fish but didn't get to eat or cook them. Even though it was a very fun experience, we paid money to provide fish for the village..
Some residents were really nice but most of them didn't want to have much to do with us. The dogs and the children "have respect" for the men. Dogs growl at certain individuals. I saw a man whip a 4yo girl with a towel for seemingly no reason. It didn't seem too bad but still unnecessary.
Pollution in the island isn't too bad, however, we brought some chocolates for the kids and they just throw the wrapping in the air and consider it dealt with. You find trash like this everywhere because they don't have any garbage system. If you want to bring something, maybe get something bio degradable or something for the local kindergarten.
To summarize, it's one of the most beautiful places we've seen but the living conditions can be rough. If you don't grow money on trees, don't pay anything in advance and spend your money wisely. We brought lots of things for kids (of course of no charge for them) but they wanted to charge us for everything.
PS: bring water purifying tablets or you might get very sick from...
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