Dive Review of Waidroka Bay Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu

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Waidroka Bay Resort: "5 Star Service in Comfortable Setting", Mar, 2022, by Rik Pavlescak, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 23 reports with 19 Helpful votes). Report 11926.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I stayed at Waidroka Bay Resort March 17-29, 2022, after a stay at VoliVoli resort. Waidroka arranged for transportation by car to their resort, with pick-up at VoliVoli. It was a four hour drive which passed uneventfully. I was greeted upon check-in and immediately offered lunch. The layout of the resort is basic—the “main hall” has check-in, dining room, bar, and lounge area and is centrally located. There are a number of bures located on the same level as the main hall and several that require a walk up a hill. The pool is located just in front of the main hall and there is a nice covered area for outdoor massage near the pool. The dive shop is about 70 paces away. Each diver is assigned a bin for masks/fins/booties, etc. BCs are handled by the crew after the first dive. My bure was clean and comfortable with wood floors, a patio with table and two chairs and view to the bay, bathroom with sink, toilet and shower. Water pressure in the shower was good, hot water was plentiful. A small refrigerator housed a pitcher of water that was filled each day, and there was an air conditioner with a remote control that kept the room very cool. I’m not sure that the calibration was properly set as I frequently had to keep raising the set temperature because the room was getting too cool—even at 24 degrees Celsius. Better that than to be too warm. Waidroka Bay Resort has an award-winning chef who takes pride in the meals he serves. I requested vegan meals and each meal was a piece of art—in appearance and taste. In most cases, he mimicked the foods the other guests were eating, but in some instances when it was not possible, others looked on with envy; although their meals also looked beautiful and they all commented on how good it was. One feature of Waidroka Bay Resort is that meals are served at two long tables in the dining area—group setting. I was traveling solo and was asked if this would be o.k. when I arrived: they were willing to set up separate tables if I requested. I was happy to join the group that was there and made a number of new friends. As for diving, the reefs were splendid—plenty of corals and sea life. Frequent sighting of reef sharks and a leopard shark on one dive. Waidroka Bay Resort also organized to take guests to a shark feeding dive led by another company where there were 6 types of sharks spotted. Dive times typically lasted 50 minutes to an hour, dive using a computer. Dive guide in the water on each dive—groups of 5-7 divers per guide. If someone went through air faster than others, dive guide would get that diver back to the boat while other divers enjoyed the reef. Safety stops at 15’ provided plenty of reef action to watch and photograph. Dive boat was fine, platform at the back for giant stride and easy to climb back up on the ladder. Note: at the time I was there, Waidroka Bay Resort did not have nitrox. They stated it is a priority for them, but at the time, they did not have it. Back at the dive shop there were rinse tanks set up for cameras and gear. On the boat, bins with water housed cameras, but there were no camera tables. No photo room either. The dive staff were attentive and helpful. Leps, one of the guides, was particularly helpful and pointed out both large and small critters. Prior to each dive a briefing was provided, almost always with a drawing of the site, including the dive profile. Once back on the boat, each diver was asked their maximum depth and time and it was recorded. At the end of the trip, divers are able to refer to these sheets to complete their log books with dive site names, depth and bottom times and get stamps at the dive shop. Fresh fruit and cookies were served during surface intervals, as well as hot chocolate and water. Towels were available on the boat as well. On some days, when going out further, prepared lunches were distributed on the boat during the surface interval between the second and third dive. Other days, when dive sites were closer, two morning dives were followed by a lunch break and then the third dive went out around 2 p.m. Waidroka’s staff led by Lorna and Andy (not sure that they’re still there) is fabulous. I arrived with two cuts on my shin from the dives I had done the previous week at a different resort. Both immediately expressed concern and provided me with bandages, antiseptic cleaners, etc. I stubbornly refused their entreaties to see a doctor believing it was healing up just fine. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I finally agreed to see a local doctor and ended up on IV antibiotics for 5 days, ending my diving trip and turning my beautiful bure at Waidroka from my dive resort to private rehab room where I lay in bed for most of the day with my leg elevated. Waidroka staff efficiently arranged transportation (1/2 hour each way every morning and every evening) to get me to and from the doctor’s office where the IV antibiotic was administered. Back at the resort they provided me with delicious meals every day. Typically I ate breakfast with the group and then had lunch and some dinners delivered to my bure as the timing with my doctor’s appointments didn’t always coincide with the group meals. While not nurses, I could not feel better cared for than I did by the Waidroka team who expressed concern, provided anything I requested, and served as a constant cheerful presence as my wound finally started healing. Waidroka is a bit more “rustic” in look/feel than VoliVoli which is more modern in look and amenities. However, Waidroka’s service is absolutely 5-star. There are only a few drawbacks: lack of nitrox, limited Wi-Fi access, and the condition of the road leading from the main road to the resort. Wi-Fi is available in the main hall and extends to some of the bures, but not all, and it is not a consistent, strong signal. It was difficult, for instance, to upload photos to facebook at times—especially when others in the group were trying to use the Internet. The final 10 minutes of the drive to the resort (once leaving the main, paved road) can be difficult. The road is unpaved, rocky, winding and steep. One driver told me that there have been times during rainy season when the road is impassable in a loaded van: guests had to get out to lighten the load. For most people the road won’t be an issue: they’ll experience it once on their way in to the resort and once on their way out at the end of the stay. With my wound, I had to go to the doctor 10 times in 5 days—necessitating 20 trips over that road (there and back each time). On one particular trip I became nauseous (probably due to a combination of motion sickness, poor shocks in the vehicle, and the antibiotic treatment I had just received) and vomited immediately after getting out of the vehicle. I expressed hope to a staff member that perhaps one day the road will be paved, but I was told it has been an ongoing request for years and most likely won’t happen due to government funding/restrictions. That said, I would not hesitate to go back to Waidroka Bay Resort. The diving was excellent, the food superb, the accommodations great, and the staff and service absolutely 5 star.
Websites	Waidroka Bay Resort [same]
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Costa Brava, Roatan, Key West, Cozumel, Key Largo, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Bonaire, Philippines, Bali, North Sulawesi, St. John, St. Croix, Curacao, St. Eustatius, Fiji
Closest Airport		Getting There	Had a driver meet me at other resort I had stayed at; 4 hour drive from VoliVoli
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	78-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Follow your own computer. No nitrox available.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Boats had bins for cameras that were separate from mask rinse bins. No camera tables, no photography room, charging stations. Took camera each day to and from my room and charged batteries there as well.

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Dive Review of Waidroka Bay Resort in Fiji and Tuvalu

Waidroka Bay Resort: "5 Star Service in Comfortable Setting", Mar, 2022,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Waidroka Bay Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu