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Reviews of Mantaray Island Resort

3 out of 5
Mantaray Island Resort
Yasawa Island, Naviti Group, Nanuya Balavu Island

Reviews

8.6

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 101 out of 209 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 74 out of 209 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 20 out of 209 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 9 out of 209 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 5 out of 209 reviews" "

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

8.6/10

Amenities

8.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Taylor

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
If you've done your homework and you know what to expect when you arrive, this place is excellent for a few days away. The staff are so friendly and helpful - they get to know you by name almost immediately. For a place with dozens of people coming and going every week, that's a really nice touch, so thank you Rosa, Mika, Ropate, Taveki, Save, and so many more. We stayed in the beachfront villa so I can't speak to the quality of other accommodations, but we were happy with the room. The shower was open to the sky but we didn't have problems with bugs in the room or anything. Just keep the door closed most of the time. Being able to sit in a beach hammock and watch the sunrise was fantastic. The main guest lounge near the beach has drinks and snacks, along with easy access to the dive shop, activity bure, and plenty of places to relax. The quality of the meals was one of our favourite things of all, and we always left the dining area feeling satisfied. Some things to note (not bad things, just good to know): - not all drinks are included with the meal plan. Water is drinkable around the resort and morning coffee/juice up in the dining area is free, but everything else ranges from $6.50-$25 depending on what you get. - the resort is built onto a hillside, so you'll be climbing up and down some paths and stairs a few times every day. - you can get cell data on site with a Fiji e-SIM. Overall we loved it. Go to disconnect, relax, eat well, and enjoy the sea around you.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024

8/10 Good

Lucille

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I had an amazing week at Manta Ray Island Resort. The best thing about my experience was the Fijian people and Sunny. The Fijians who work there are some of the kindest, happy and most genuine humans I’ve met. My room was very comfortable. There was so many things to do there. If I wasn’t snorkeling I was walking on the beach, paddling on a stand up, fishing from the beach or offshore. The waters off the beach were incredible with sea life. I got dive certified there, and I highly recommend all the individuals as instructors and or dive buddies, especially Wise. I am looking forward to returning soon. My only constructive criticism is that I think the proteins tended to be overcooked…fish, chicken and beef. Otherwise, the food was good. Also, I think the resort should make all visitors aware before their trip that the resort doesn’t take any currency other than Fiji dollars. The paddleboards need some fins. I highly recommend this resort.
Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Karen

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff are amazing and swimming with manta rays unforgettable. Great gluten free food options. Beautiful snorkelling right off beach.
Stayed 7 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Rebecca

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Welcome home- this resort was the highlight of my summer! Offers beautiful ocean-front stays, a lovely walkable beach, and easy access to snorkeling and diving. Food is delicious and the staff are friendly and helpful. Wish I could visit every month!
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

William

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed right on the beach. They didn’t have water the day before we arrived so they were working hard on it while there and got it going. Owner was easy to talk with. Snorkeling was amazing, rained lots but had lots of fun!

8/10 Good

Neil, Dianne

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Coral and fish were amazing
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

6/10 Okay

Miquel

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
I liked that we had a direct view of the beach/ocean from our room. Pictures on the website needs to be updated. The food was not that great.
Stayed 5 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Erin, Vancouver

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Mantra Ray Island resort was everything we could have asked for. There were always activities on offer, but you could also just lay in a hammock for hours. The snorkelling just steps from our bure was amazing, the best I’ve ever experienced. The staff were so friendly and kind.
Stayed 5 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Amy, Hartland

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Mantaray Island Resort is unlike any commercial resort we’ve ever been to, but was very special in that way. This is a resort for social adventurers, and the staff are the key. They are social, kind, compassionate, funny, and full of life! Everything is organized around meals which are carefully planned & rotated with fresh ingredients & flavors! There is not a wide selection because of the remoteness, but they do their best to accommodate everyone’s special needs. We thought every meal was fabulous, but we are not picky. The resort is fronted with a beach on a shallow marine reserve, best snorkeled at high tide, but they offer paddle boards & kayaks to explore the bay and easily get out to deeper water or other nearby beaches. The opposite beach in the rear of the resort is a softer quiet beach with bigger waves, but is also shallow water & is not great for a swim. We took advantage of all the snorkeling in front of the resort as well as on guided morning tours, to about 5 different locations. The reefs & marine life are absolutely in abundance! We would have tried a dive if able. There are lots of other activities offered, and the staff are great fun in leading all! However, again, this is a remote island. Not all rooms have AC or a bathroom. Be careful in choosing, as there are limited availabilities of rooms. There is a central bath w/ shower stalls & sinks, and no-flush toilets - all community. We saw a lot of grumpy guests who had not read those details. Very clean tho.
Stayed 6 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Nancy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The snorkeling directly in front of this resorts beach front is great!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Marie

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We loved the beach front Jungle Burre. The outlook was superb. Staff were so good and friendly. Activities were great. Manta Ray and reef snorkelling were out of this world.
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Judith

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Setting was lovely and staff were great. Such a relaxing and friendly environment. We hope to return again!!
Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Angela

Stayed 3 nights in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

Peter

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
You will never regret visiting this place.
every one is nice and the service is 200%. A nice place to stay and play in the water. When I say play in the water, that means its not only swimming in a clear water.Its full of full of life.under. I wish I have speargun. Thank you so much everyone specially to the owners. See you again
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Reservations on 20 Feb 2020
Bula Peter, Thank you for your wonderful comments. We will share this with our hotel staff as this will only serve as a motivation to continue providing excellent service to all our guests. We look forward to your return to come enjoy the waters with us

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 8 nights in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Mantaray Island - Fiji
We stayed in a 2 person private bure about 30 steps from the beach, it was very nice. the food in this hotel was EXCELLENT! Drinks seem overpriced at times. Overall a good experience. One tip: If booking this hotel to swim with Mantarays call the week before and see if they had any activity. Highly recommend the snorkel trip they offer. Make sure you have an underwater camera.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

2/10 Terrible

Chantelle

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Not staying a third time, almost ruined our trip
Unfortunately I don’t have a great deal to say for Mantaray anymore. The first time we came we absolutely loved it here, it’s why we came back. The reef is still absolutely amazing so if you want a good place to snorkel this is the place to be there is a abundance of life in that reef area. We stayed in a reef Bure and it has had a major renovation to it, it actually one of the good changes been made (although we did like the old ones just as much as it had a uniqueness to them in the jungle Bure). The welcome committee was 3 people which was sad to see as last time the whole of Mantaray staff came down to welcome us. The guest out number the staff as the resort has now added extra rooms, making it an impersonal. This was the only hotel we stayed that the staff didn’t learn our names or barely acknowledge us (last time they all managed to get to know us). The waiter staff did try to make a little effort but impossible due to the fact there isn’t enough staff and guests is over populated. One night they couldn’t even fit everyone in the dining area we had to share our table, we didn’t mind but others had to wait for seats. It’s also squished in together, chairs are touching back to back. Food is awful. Minestrone was watered down, I had no pasta in mine, my partner got 3 shells and neither of us got vegetables. It was more like tomato soup. The first night I ordered chicken... there’s was next to nothing (see my pic), more okra (no one ate it) and heaps of mashed potato
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Carl

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Hi i think there needs to be more educational talks with the people who come to stay about them standing on the reef when they are going for a snorkel. There was lots of gests standing all over the corals when stayed there and that was only for three days. May be there should only be one point of entry into the water from the beach so some of the reef can grow back. It was a shame to see alot of dead coral.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The property was beautiful and unique, set on the beach and extending up a lush tropical hillside. The staff was kind and friendly, the beachfront villas were amazing, and the scuba trips were great. Our only criticism would be in regards to the restaurant and the service provided. While we expected the pace of meals to be more relaxed in Fiji, we were disappointed with the sporadic delivery of food to our party, in every meal we had gaps of upwards of 45 minutes between the first and last person being served. It was very difficult to enjoy the great meals at Mantaray while the service to our party was so poor.
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Treehouse was beautiful and perfect walk right out onto the beach. The fan inside was a definite plus during the hottest hours. No bugs or mosquitos got through the protection on the windows and door. The only improvement would be to have a proper fitted sheet on the beds, as the sheets were regular not fitted and too small for the double bed, often coming off the mattress while sleeping.
Stayed 6 nights in Jun 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly staff, great food, very helpful, comfortable room, very clean, relaxed atmosphere
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2019
Response from Resort manager on 1 July 2019
We are very happy to hear you enjoyed your stay with us. We sincerely hope that we will have the pleasure of seeing you again one day. Thank you very much for taking the time to write a review.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Stayed 2 nights in May 2019
Response from Resort Management on 8 June 2019
Thank you for your review. Please feel to contact us should you feel the need to expand on your rating. We are always grateful for feedback, We take our guests thoughts and reviews seriously and strive to improve.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 2 nights in May 2019
Response from Resort Management on 8 June 2019
Thank you very much for taking the time to give us a review. It is greatly appreciated. We are very happy to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us and hope to see you again one day.

6/10 Okay

Alicia, MN, USA

Travelled with partner
Negatives: Upon check-in, we were told the resort's meal plan fee was $20 more than that stated at the time of reservation via our Expedia booking. Staff said they raised the prices April 1. I argued We didn't make the reservation until after April 1, so the price stated should have been accurate. Staff would not accept the booking price quoted us by the Expedia booking for the required meal plan fee and said we needed to resolve the issue with Expedia. "Private toilet" in the bungalow room was a non-flushing porta-potty. Although the room was pretty, the Bathroom was not cleaned well. Bed was springy like a cot. Shower floor in room was made of round rocks and very uncomfortable to stand on. Meal plan fee too high for quality and amount of food received. Three choices for dinner. The meals took an hour to get and both were cold upon arrival. Lunch could order from a menu; chicken Caesar salad was unsatisfying. Breakfast was served buffet style. Positives: Snorkeling from right off the beach was Amazing! Could swim 20 ft from shore and find brilliant corals or all colors! Fresh flowers in the room were a nice touch. Bungalow proximity to beach is excellent.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
AMAZING!!!! I can’t wait to go back to this marvellous place. The staff were super friendly, the rooms where wonderful and very clean,the food was amazing, the reef by the beach was so beautiful with many marine life and colourful corals. This is a must go place in Fiji.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Mary, Southern California

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
We loved our stay at Manta Ray Island Reaort! We booked it thinking it was more of a busget properly, a backpacker resort. It does have accommodations in a dorm if thats what you are looking for. We stayed in a Beach Villa for 4 nights, and we were very pleasantly surprised. Our stay rhere exceeded our expectations. Food was really good, staff very welcoming & friendly, activities (as much or as little as you wanted - don't miss snorkel trip to the "Garden" & "Wall"). In addition, snorkeling right out front of our Beach Villa was also amazing, as was our massages by Pauline ☺ Vinaka & Moce to our Manta Ray home & family.
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great island resort
The island was perfect and had everything we needed. The diving was good and the sea great for swimming. Staff and food was also a plus.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2018

10/10 Excellent

Nicole

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
You have to stay here :)
My husband and I stayed at Mantaray Island resort for 5 nights in a Reef Bure for our honeymoon. Words cannot describe how absolutely gorgeous the room was - beautiful outdoor shower, comfortable queen size bed and very spacious. Not to mention that the beach/ocean are steps from your door. The snorkeling was incredible and you didn’t need to swim far from the shore in order to see amazing types of fish. We also did all the activities the resort had to offer - we swam with the Manta rays twice which was awesome, went sunset tubing and visited Soso Village which were all worth it. The staff at this resort made you feel at home. We felt welcomed and appreciated from the time we arrived to the time we had to sadly leave. My husband and I also stayed at blue lagoon island resort and the staff do not compare. Lastly, the food was delicious! Would reccommend this hotel again and again!!!
Stayed 5 nights in Sep 2018
Response from Sera on 18 Jan 2019
Bula Nicole and Matthew, Thank you for taking your time to give us your feedback.We are really pleased that you chose Mantaray Island Resort as your Honeymoon destination. Our main focus at the resort is to give our guests the best services,and we are delighted that you experienced this during your stay.We strive to give our guests wonderful memories and i will pass your regards to all staff at the resort. Once again,thank you for your review and your recommendation to others. Kind regards, Seraseini.

10/10 Excellent

KA YEE JUNE

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Paradise
Friendly staff, food tasty, good service, nice view from hilltop, excellent house reef.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2018

10/10 Excellent

Joseph

Great first Fijian Island experience
Amazing first Fiji experience. Great island and location. Great first time snorkeling experience: saw many coral (though a good amount are dying), so many types of fish, giant clams, stingrays, eels, reef shark and mantarays! Had very cheap scuba certification as well. Dorm were good, communal showers great. Only downside need to have more Fijian experience like food. They only do Lovo once a week and don’t know if they had cava/grog. Missed a cultural experience.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018

10/10 Excellent

Clare, Northampton

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful Island
Beautiful hotel, lovely staff, good food and great snorkelling right off the beach.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2018

10/10 Excellent

KIM WEE ALLAN

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A lot of effort made in cleanliness
It is a really popular resort, difficult to get rooms unless you booked really early.I was there for 7 days. Every morning when someone leave the stuff would be there to clean up the place and place the mattress under the sun outside the dorm. Meal cost 99 FJD, wrongly written as 95FJD on Hotel.com. There are multiple choices for lunch and dinner, unless you stay for a month I doubt you ll get sick of the meals. Did my Open Water diving licence there, diving insurance is included in the package. Provide equipment rental. And paid activities like hiking (which is done on another island) and village tours (didn t managed to go cause minimum group of 4 or willingness to pay for the price of four).
Stayed 6 nights in Aug 2018

8/10 Good

Samuel

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The beach is very nice and clear. Love the pizza. Managed to see a shark and some stingray when we snorkel. Went for the manta ray swim but due to the crowd only manage to see manta ray for a min. Everything is excellent except for the breakfast provided. Would prefer if there is more variety for the breakfast.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2018

8/10 Good

Nancy, Orange County, California

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice resort that's great for relaxation. We stayed for 3 nights and the night before we left, the mantarays did pay us a visit and the snorkeling was great. There's a really nice reef right off the resort where we saw octapus, sharks, and large clams. There were plenty of places to be secluded, a short hike and you're on the orher side of the island with more private little coves. Was really hesitant about the mandatory meal plans but the selections turned out to be quite varied and delicious. Only thing i can critique is for staff to be a little more engaging as we had encountered at other fijian hotels. Staff was good but couldve been better.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2018

4/10 Poor

Clare, Sydney

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service
We stayed for two nights and overall we were disappointed with our stay in comparison to the amazing time we spent at other resorts. The room was clean and the staff, on average, were pleasant however I can't recommend staying here when we much preferred the close by alternative of Barefoot Manta - the rooms are more homely, the food is better, the staff are friendlier, attentive and genuine, and there is a personal feel. Spend a fraction more and stay elsewhere. We raised a complaint about our stay on checkout and followed-up with an email to which the manager replied to say that she would look to improve staff training - I hope they do.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2018

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
Room stunk could hardly breath because of smell we were in a jungle Bure with a non smelling compost toilet … that was not the case and no air con and really hot throughout the day make the smell worse .Complaint to reception who sent manager down and was saying nothing wrong I Carnot smell anything was rude and abrupt .
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2018

10/10 Excellent

Cheryl

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 5 nights in May 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place staff super friendly only suggestion would be some other food options
Stayed 6 nights in Apr 2018

8/10 Good

Gail, Melbourne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place to stay
Loved this place. Great snorkelling on the house reef but not at low tide, so check tide times before booking
Stayed 5 nights in Mar 2018

8/10 Good

Leanne, OR

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stunning setting
Great setting at a wonderful snorkeling reef. The bar area is a great place to sit and watch the beautiful water and birds. Go snorkeling, get a massage on the beach ... Relax!
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2018

8/10 Good

Kate, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great snorkeling, lots of activities
Make sure you have your transfers in place before you book! Also, check the season for manta rays. The resort has a variety of diving options and daily activities. The resort has the only food available on the island. I had a great time snorkeling and enjoying hammocks on the beach.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

Tammy, Arkansas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best Ever
Place is fantastic!! Paradise. Literally some of the best snorkeling ever, a few feet out of your jungle bure. Staff are the best!!
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2017

10/10 Excellent

honalee, newzealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Tropical paradise with exceptional staff and exqui
Totally worth the 3 hour ferry ride. A beautiful place to stay. The real heart of Fiji are the people. On the islands you get very genuine warm hearted Fijians. The only dark cloud to the story is how terribly exploited they are being. Overseas owners rake in huge Money while paying the locals $2 per hour. I felt incredibly uncomfortable with this. They work long hard hours and deserve to be paid at a rate in accordance with the local economy. Coming from new Zealand, prices in Fiji were comparable, or mostly more expensive, yet our minimum wage is $17.. None of the staff complained to me about their situation, it was only because I asked and the more I found out, the sadder the situation was. they said that other resorts were better paying. I don't want to ruin your holiday, but please advocate for fairness with the managers/owners. I don't know what can be done to help the Fijians but awareness is always a starter. It was a bit heart breaking. Staff work 35 days on then have a week off to go home and see their family or children who they are supporting with their meagre wages. The staff were the main reason that I would want to return. If they aren't taken care of as the precious resource that they are, they won't still be there next time...and although I want to see them again and support them, it's a double edged knife with the situation the way it is.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2017

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The long drop toilets absolutely reek. The rooms/bures are all so packed together you can hear your neighbours conversations. The food is also far overpriced and was left very disappointed with the quality and portion size. They are also now charging you to go see the Mantarays. Will not be going back.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2017

8/10 Good

Rita, Brunswick, GA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great snorkeling!
Great snorkeling at reef immediately in front of beach. Very friendly and helpful staff and good food!!
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2017

10/10 Excellent

Laura

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good Stay!
Good stay. Nice and relaxing. Staff is very friendly. Vegan food can have more options at dinner time. Love that we are able to hike and snorkel easily. And staying at the Jungle Bure is quite nice as we are further away from the main actions (music, games, etc). Shower water - unable to adjust between hot/cold. It can go from cold to very hot. We took quick showers instead.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing staff that works hard to accomodate guests. Beautiful beach with great snorkeling.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2017