Ratu Kini Backpackers & Dive Resort

I have spent two nights here. I was travelling with a group. I stayed in a 2 rooms beach front bungalow. The other people of the group were placed in a dorm and in a double room. All three accommodations were perfect! Clean, comfortable beds, private bathroom, hot water. Wifi is available at the restaurant and at the reception. Food at the restaurant was delicious!!! To consider that you won't find all drinks, just beers and some sodas. Rain water is available to refill your bottle. They offer nice daily excursion at a good price. The real plus are the people! They are all sweet helpful people that really made us feel at home! I recommend this place and I hope to visit Ratu kini again soon.

Very different experience than the Yasawa islands. There was no one around so couldn’t do the tours. You can go down the beach and do the tours with the big resort but they are 2-3x price. No menu for food so you just have to ask for what you want and see if they have it/can make it. No chairs for lounging in the sun. Wi-Fi is very weak. Lots of bugs around / the dogs have flees and ticks. I would stay here if you want the local Fiji experience with nothing fancy.

Just came back from Ratu Kini after spending there 4 days with my teenage daughter. We had the family cottage- two rooms with shower and toilet in each and a common area. The cottage was very basic but quite clean and perfect for our needs. Overall, Ratu Kini resort is integrated into a small village, the only one on the island, so plenty of dogs and kids running around. The food was ok, limited choice of menu every lunch and dinner. The prices- same as in NZ or Australia which was a shock to me (min wages in Fiji are 4$!) but it seems that all of Fiji is very expensive for tourists. The staff-very friendly and always smiling, real pleasure. The beach- we were there during the Survivor filming so most of the island was off limits. However, we still had about 3-400 meters of beach and could go around the island on a kayak or a paddle board, just couldn't land on the other beaches. The beach in front of the resort is not the cleanest- plenty of bottles, plastic and broken glass. The snorkeling and swimming was quite nice when the weather was calm. Really enjoyed the snorkeling trip to the Sandbar. Castaway Island was ok. Took Ratu Kini boat both ways. Paul the Captain is fun and a great guy. The boat broke down on the return trip, we had to catch the flight home that evening and also getting stuck in the middle of the sea was not really appealing but Paul managed to get it running finally. Bottom line- we enjoyed our stay but doubt I will be back to Fiji- everything is just way too expensive! SE Asia offers much better value for money.

We had a fab time at Ratu Kini, would recommend. Great location with coral reefs surrounding the island. We did our PADI open water dive course with Instructor Tuks which was great and had an amazing time exploring the reefs around the island. Snorkelling is great just off the beach in front of the hostel. We stayed in a beachside cabin which was fab and pleasantly surprised by hot shower and AC. Staff lovely, friendly, and made a real effort. V good value for money. Social evenings with live music every night

My daughter and I went with Ratu Kini dive shop today on a “tour” to Monriki (Castaway) island. Because it was just the 2 of us we were charged $120 each. But onboard came 2 other young local men and a local woman. Our first stop was to drop the woman off at an island, then we went on to Castaway. The “captain “ asked how long we’d like to stay. I replied saying I’m not sure how long should we stay. (I was very confused by his question, given we were on his tour) he said 2 hours. So I said ok. They helped us out of the boat, handed us our bags, then drove off waving saying they’ll be back in 2 hours. We were stunned and totally unprepared. I’d only brought 2 small bottles of water, we had nothing else. Almost immediately my daughter became violently ill and was vomiting. I had no way of contacting the crew. Luckily the tour group from Cruisin Fiji were there. I asked if I could buy some water and explained our situation. They were horrified and couldn’t have been more hospitable. They gave us 8 bottles of water and cookies and sat with us until they had to leave. Another boat came in from Tropica island and they were also disgusted that we’d been left alone with nothing. They offered to take us back to Mana island, which I gratefully accepted. Unfortunately just as we we’re taking off, the Ratu Kini boat came around the corner, they’d been fishing!! We had to board their boat again. And once more, despite my daughter’s illness, we went back to, first one side, then the other side of the other island trying to find the woman they’d dropped off earlier and take her back. The captain even asked if we wanted to get and look around!! I’d already told him how sick my daughter was and we needed to get back. To say I was disgusted and appalled by this “company” is an understatement. Money grabbing charlatans is the best way to describe them! DO NOT USE RATU KINI! When other Fijian companies are appalled by their practices, you know it’s a bad thing! It was a $240 taxi service!

Nice place to stay for snorkeling, diving or just visiting Mamanuca Islands. Of course it need some renovation ( what started this month ), but the staff was amazing and location is the best . Highly recommended.