By Debbie Florence
I wanted to share my trip report from snorkeling two resorts in the Yasawas Fiji in June 2024. We stayed at both Blue Lagoon Beach Resort on Nacula Island and Barefoot Manta Island Resort on Drawaqa Island. This was my second trip the Yasawa Islands of Fiji and I would definitely go back.
We flew direct from Los Angeles, California (LAX), on an 11 hour flight. The flight leaves at midnight, nice and easy. Then you have to make your way to the Yasawas. We started at Blue Lagoon Beach Resort and it was a three hour small boat ride, bumpy and wet. The other option is a five-plus hour ferry ride, which is smoother and has air-conditioning.
Snorkeling Blue Lagoon Beach Resort
First 50 feet or so of the resort’s house reef is about half alive due to tide changes and general use. However, it’s in this area that I saw a fair sized octopus and many interesting fish.
The house reef goes on and on and on! Past the 50 feet mark the coral becomes beautiful and there is a huge number of small reef fish of all types. It seriously felt like we swam half a mile out and back each time we went out on the reef (three times per day).
During the week we were there, in June 2024, the lagoon remained lake flat with no waves and a very manageable current for snorkelers.
Visibility was hit and miss. Some days were great and others were cloudy in the afternoon.
We did a couple of snorkel excursions, the sunset float and the village trip. All were excellent.
In summary, we saw a lot of beautiful coral and variety of fish snorkeling Blue Lagoon Beach Resort. The fish were mostly smaller with no large fish sightings (no sharks, etc.). Sadly we also did not see any turtles.
What We Thought of Blue Lagoon Beach Resort
The rooms were large with air-conditioning and nice furnishings. WiFi reached to the rooms. The pool was nice but we never go in a pool if the ocean is nearby. If you don’t get a beach front room with its own dedicated beach chairs you will have to fight for the remaining ones. Not enough chairs are provided.
All meals were sit down and order. Sometimes the orders were wrong and communication was rough. Many times the time from sitting down to signing the bill for any extras (drinks) was way too long. We clocked our longest dinner at more than two hours. The food overall was very good. Dinner was five courses every night and beautifully plated.
Snorkeling Barefoot Manta Island Resort
The house reef here was superb! The resort is located on the tip of the island and has beach with coral offshore on three sides. The sunrise side was simply fantastic. Great coral, interesting drop-offs, tunnels and caves. There was a shark nursery area with black tip babies and larger black tips on the reef. We saw tons of fish. The sunset side was always super calm, the sunrise side occasionally had waves but we did not find it difficult snorkeling. The current was manageable.
Visibility was good but not great – maybe a different time of year would be better for water clarity. However, we still saw a lot of great stuff and we were there for the manta ray season.
For excursions, we did two manta snorkel sessions, the snorkel safari tour, night snorkel and a shark snorkel tour based out of Barefoot Kuata (a boat transferred us to the sister resort). All tours were fantastic except the night snorkel was really not worth it. It was fairly short and we did not see anything that was not there during the day. All the others were great, stunning coral, several manta rays, sharks, etc.
My brave kids did the bull shark dive out of Barefoot Kuata they are still talking about it! This can be done as an intro dive as well if not certified.
What We Thought of Barefoot Manta Island Resort
The rooms here are tents. We had the larger tent and one smaller tent room. They were interesting, no air-conditioning but the fans kept it cool enough to sleep just fine. There were plenty of chairs and loungers. They had no pool and WiFi only in the central lobby area.
Most meals were buffet style with some dinners as sit down. The food was decent and if we did not like it we supplemented with ice cream from the bar area.
We loved the vibe at Barefoot Manta and would choose it over BLBR for the excellent snorkeling and chance to swim with the mantas. BLBR felt more upscale and BM felt more like a remote dive resort.
Comparisons to the Snorkeling I’ve Done Elsewhere
I wanted to share my thoughts about the snorkeling in the Yasawas Fiji compared to the other places I’ve been. I have been snorkeling in Moorea and Bora Bora (Tahiti French Polynesia), Bunaken and Komodo National Parks in Indonesia, the Great Barrier Reef and Whitsunday Islands in Australia, the Red Sea in Egypt, Hawaii (Maui and Big Island), and Caribbean (Grand Cayman, Dominican Republic, St Thomas and St John USVI, Mexico, Turks and Caicos).
Comparison is tough as each place has its own unique benefits, but Fiji was easy to get to (shorter flight for us) and cheaper than Tahiti and Great Barrier Reef. Red Sea in Egypt is fantastic too for great snorkeling from house reefs, and it’s super cheap. But its serious desert and other than the water there is not much to do (maybe this depends on the area or resort you go to).
Coral color and structure was very similar to Indonesia. Indonesia had slightly more variety of fish but Fiji had more fish overall. We saw turtles in Indonesia and not Fiji but manta rays in Fiji. I loved the Pink Beach in Komodo National Park! The combo of turquoise water and pink sand and great coral and fish was just wonderful.
Hi Debbie, thanks so much for sharing your Fiji trip report and pictures.
For anyone interested, here are links to TripAdvisor’s reviews of Blue Lagoon Beach Resort and Barefoot Manta Island Resort. You can help us if you use these links. We may make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
Thanks. Thinking about Fiji next year so some good information.
Thanks for the review from a serious snorkeler point of view! I never know on TripAdvisor reviews if the person is a serious snorkeler or a newbie, so always take their reviews of how wonderful the snorkeling is with a grain of salt. (The TA forum is a better source.) We are going to Barefoot Manta and Oarsman’s resorts (sister resort to Blue Lagoon) in September so are very happy to get the real scoop from you. We are going to Blue Manta first for four days and then to Oarsman’s for another four days for the better food and the excursions. Thanks so much!
Sally, did you get to Barefoot Manta and Oarsman’s last September? We are going to those same two resorts for a week each in September 2025 so I would love to hear what you thought of both resorts and the snorkeling. Our primary purpose in going is for what I have read about the snorkeling. I am looking forward to an amazing experience!
I’ve stayed at both those places. The beach at Oarsman’s is stunning but overall we far preferred Barefoot Manta. We went back already once and look forward to going a third time soon. The snorkeling at Barefoot Manta was the best of the six places we have stayed in the Yasawas and Mamanucas.
Thank you for your reply. We are really looking forward to our trip to both locations in a few months. Beaches and snorkeling!
Hi, Betty, I just saw your question, sorry I didn’t reply sooner. We really liked Barefoot Manta, but as many have said in the Fiji forum on TripAdvisor, the food is not great. I read after we had been there that it depends on when they get the food delivery, because the food did dramatically improve one day.
The people there were fabulous. The house reefs were meh, but the mantas made it all worthwhile! We only saw them once in our four days—so glad we got up for the early call because there was one manta sighted the next day (we didn’t go) and none the next two days.
The (paid) excursion to Coral Garden was fabulous, with interesting topography, good fish and coral. The night snorkel was blah and since the guide did not stay with us, I would say it wasn’t safe. We hardly saw anything.
The accommodation was good. We stayed in a beachfront burre that was the last in the line—couldn’t hear the manta bell, but we got up on time so were able to make it. BFM has the boat transfer all set up.
We caught the northbound ferry to Oarsman’s. It was a long ride. The resort is more upscale than BFM with assigned seats in the dining room. We got the huge bure with separate living room and kitchen. I think there is only one. It was lovely to have all the space after the somewhat cramped room at BFM. There are loungers near the beach which we used for stargazing.
There are two sides of the house reefs to use. We found interesting things to see each time we went, but it wasn’t lovely coral and tons of fish. It comes out lacking when compared to Raja Ampat, but is interesting and kept us coming back. I wouldn’t come here just for the snorkeling.
We also took the paid excursion to “three islands”. It was terrible. We complained and the management offered us our money back. (We didn’t take it.) The boat ride out was very rough as the speed boat bumped over other boats’ wakes. Then we went to two places in the bay next to the resort instead of three islands and there were hardly any fish at all! And a lot of swimming!
We enjoyed our time there—who wouldn’t when you are far, far away from anywhere and have snorkeling available! But we won’t go back.
Thanks for your reply Sally. I appreciate your detailed response. Sounds like the success of the excursions can be hit and miss. Food is not a priority so as long as we have something to eat at BFM that will be just fine. We won’t starve! Looking forward to a beautiful tropical vacation and some fabulous snorkeling!
At the end of January 2025, I am going to Waya Island Resort and Matamanoa Island Resort. I will report back when I return.
Thanks for your review. We are heading to Fiji and the Yasawas for the first time September 2025. We are on the hunt for some great snorkeling with healthy reef. I have already booked into Barefoot Manta for a week and Oarsman’s Bay Lodge (on the same island as Blue Lagoon Resort) so your review hits both locations that I will be snorkeling. Looking forward to a great snorkel experience after some recent disappointments in Gili Islands and Bali (dying reefs and garbage floating in the sea) and Costa Rica. Hopefully Fiji will not disappoint!
Fiji will not disappoint!
Recently returned from 10 days in the Yasawas Islands at Waya Island Resort and Matamanoa Island Resort. Both resorts were small and very comfortable.
The reefs were in beautiful condition, with lots of small vibrant reef fish, small black tipped and white tipped reef sharks, negligible currents, and turquoise water. I will definitely return.
Matamanoa, the reef is right out the door of your beach house, Waya Island, requires a 10 minute boat ride to the reef. Both have walls, and the reefs are close to the surface, with great color.