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Escape to Paradise  - Tokoriki Island Resort, Fiji                  June 2010

People travel and people holiday. This time I holidayed. Relax, eat, drink and relax some more. It is easy to do in a beautiful place where your hosts cannot do enough to look after you. If you are looking for a truly relaxing holiday, this is a place I recommend.

There are 333 islands that make up the Republic of the Fijian Islands, better know as Fiji. Tourism is the mainstay of the local economy and has grown significantly over the last ten years, and is continuing to grow. A visitor is spoilt for choice for destinations, activities and accommodation. With every resorts website claiming to have the answers to all of your holiday needs and desires, it can be a difficult decision to choose a destination. 

I came across Tokoriki Island Resort and was instantly attracted by the offer of secluded beachfront bures with outdoor showers, fine food, a beautiful setting and the promise of friendly people. As I was travelling with my partner and we have no children, the fact that it was a 'no families resort' also appealed.

We arrived at Tokoriki Island, which is in the Mamanuca Islands group, west of Nadi via a South Sea Cruises transfer that took a little over an hour. Upon arrival we, along with 3 other couples who had arrived at the same time, were whisked up to the main bure which served as a lobby area, where we were served a delicious cocktail and staff appeared from all corners to give us a real Fijian welcome with enthisiastic singing and playing of guitars. Delivery on first promise - the people are friendly. In fact, their kindness and generosity of each individual went beyond normal customer service, they learnt our names quickly, were always quick to help and genuinely cared for our enjoyment.

Our Beachfront Bure was a beautifully furnished, secluded hideaway that definitely lived up to expectations. It was big, with a reasonable living space as well as the bed inside, and a patio with two reclining deck lounges out the front. Our own personal hammock hung from nearby palms. The bure was surrounded on the sides with foliage and trees so as to have privacy from the neighbours and allow you to relax and enjoy the view in relative solitude. A great place for an evening drink, but beware the mosquitoes at dusk!

The recently refusbished bathroom is complete with an outdoor shower, allowing one to gaze up at the clear blue sky and palm trees (watch out for falling coconuts though!) while showering. So it was delivery on the second promise, with the beachfront bure more than satisfying us. Tokoriki Island Resort have just completed several 'Sunset Pool Villa's', which take the luxury of the beachfront bure to a whole new level. The larger bures have their own deck with a private plunge pool overlooking the ocean. We settled for enjoying the resort pool, surrounded by palm trees and with a view of the ocean and neighbouring islands.

Click an image to enlarge it

Our booking at Tokoriki included the meal package, which consisted of a full breakfast, two course lunch and three course dinner. If you are relaxing by the pool all day, that is a lot of food! So before I go into detail about the meals, here are few ideas on how to spend your day.

 The Daily Snorkel Trip

The island has its own coral reef, barely 100m off the beach. Every day the reosrt takes out a boat to 'the drop off' where you can snorkel around the edge of the reef at a leisurely pace. Also, there is a weekly 'Round the Island' Snorkel trip, which takes in 3 or 4 different locations on the reef, and has the added bonus of allowing you to see the other side of the island. Unfortunately due to the wind conditions our Round the Island trip didn't go all the way around, but was nonetheless a great experience. Fiji's coral reefs have over 1200 species of fish, 500 types of coral and are amongst the worlds most biodiverse.

If you do not go on the daily snorkel trip, it is easy to grab one of the resort's kayaks and paddle out to a mooring, jump off and snorkel yourself.

Scuba Diving

For the more adventurous, Tokoriki has its own PADI 5 Star Diving operation, which offers both introductory diving and dive trips for more experienced or certified scuba divers.

Cruises & Daily Trips

There is a different activity available every day, ranging from a visit to a nearby village, the Sunset Cruise, Champagne Island hopping and the Sacred Islands Cruise. For moviebuffs, take the Castaway Island tour to Monuriki Island, made famous by the Tom Hanks film (also great for snorkelling).

Just Relax 

The edgeless pool at the resort provides a beautiful setting to swim or lounge in one of the cushioned, reclining deck chairs. Read a book, doze or simply gaze out at the scenic view to pass the time. If you forgot your book there is a library nearby with a decent selection of novels for you to choose from.
	Come sunset, order a cocktail and watch the sun go down. Make sure you have your camera ready for the brilliant colour changes as the sun set. The torch lighting ceremony occurs every evening when a traditionally dressed Fijian man runs through the resort with a flaming torch to light each of the resorts fixed torches.

So hopefully you have managed to work up a bit of an appetite and can take full advantage of the excellent food on offer. Breakfast consisted of a continental buffett with a choice of hot meal from the a la carte menu. A good start to the day, and served up until 10am so no need to be getting up too early!

Lunch has a range of light meals and more substantial offerings, such as pasta, salads and seafood dishes. Desserts are creative and tasty, and the Sandy Icecream was a highlight (there was no sand in it, but I think the name came from the rough texture on account of the coconut!).

Dinner was an experience unto itself, and not simply limited to the food. I recommend stopping by the bar for a cocktail or two beforehand to sample Tokoriki's range of traditional and original creations. If you get the chance, book one of the 4 ocean front tables giving you your own private dining area and an uninterrupted view of the ocean.

Tokoriki's resident musicians are a 3 piece band, consisting of two guitar players and a sielo, which is a stringed instrument made from a large box and broomstick, attached by a string that is plucked to produce a sound like that of a bass. Singing and playing guitar are a part of Fijian culture, and it seems just about anyone has a good voice! Every night at dinner, the band come around to each table to play you a song of your chosing, with the remarkable ability to know just about any song, from old classics like Amazing Grace, to the latest top 40 hits. They will also play Fijian songs, as long as you specify if you want happy, sad or a love song!

Regrettably, I had to leave Tokoriki and return home. The experience could not have been better, and we left feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. To top off our holiday, we took an Island Hoppers helicopter from Tookoriki back to Nadi airport. A great way to see the Fijian Islands from above, as well as the many coral reefs in amongst them!