Paradise Taveuni Resort

Overview

Located on the world-famous Somosomo Strait, Paradise Taveuni is a family owned and operated boutique resort. With its proximity to the Strait, known as the ‘soft coral capital of the world’, Paradise is naturally a resort focused on diving and is ideal for those looking to do as much diving possible. Whilst not located on a beach, the elevated position of the resort on the southern end of Taveuni means that it has both sunset and sea views, in one of the island’s most beautiful areas. The owners, Terri, Allan and their kids, set the great culture of the resort and being divers themselves, know exactly what is needed to run a dive resort.

In Depth

With just 16 bures in total, Paradise Taveuni is simple but comfortable with a wonderful oceanfront location. There is a range of room categories to choose from including Oceanfront Vales, Family Bures and their most comfortable Luxury Oceanfront Bures with an extended sundeck, daybed, hammock and private dining vale. All the rooms were fully refurbished in 2019 and all have ocean views as a minimum, as well as endless piping hot water to warm up after a chilly dive! 

Allan has been a chef for nearly 30 years and leads his team of local staff, regularly changing the menus and continually training the team. Dishes include Fijian, European and tropical delights and all dietary requirements can be catered for. Guests are invited to dine together or on separate tables either in the open-air restaurant or under the stars. Private dining setups are also available for special occasions and guests can pick between the wedding bure, poolside deck, under the stars or their own bure deck.

The Diving

Paradise Dive is owned and operated by Paradise Taveuni and is located onsite within the resort grounds. Resort owner, Allan Gortan, is one of the resort dive instructors and he, alongside Fijian dive instructor Christine Riley, lead this excellent PADI Dive team. Allan and the team offer a personlised diving experience, getting time to know their guests and making sure each dive is tailored to the divers' passions and interests. Each day is a dive day at Paradise, with a full range of PADI courses on offer as well as a full schedule of daily diving. Nitrox is offered as well as range of Oceanic Dive Gear to rent.  

Up to three boat dives a day are offered from Paradise’s dive boats with over 40 dive sites to choose from. There is also a daily night dive available on the house reef. The dive boats include custom-built Taveuni Explorer takes 26 divers and crew equipped with galley, bathroom and shower as well as Lady Paradise who accommodates 12 divers and crew. Paradise is the closest resort on Taveuni to the Somosomo Strait. The Somosomo is home to 32km long Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall, often included in the top 10 dive sites in the world and it is easy to see why. The schedule generally consists of a two-tank dive the morning to Rainbow Reef with lunch back at the resort following by a single tank in the afternoon on nearby reefs such as Vuna or Dolphin Bay. Paradise also offers complimentary shore dives for those booking a diving package and wanting to maximise their time underwater.

The unique bathymetry in front of the resort means there are three shore dives to choose from with an abundance of tropical fish, reef critters as well as hard and soft corals – an underwater photographer's dream! This is probably the best house reef in Fiji. Guests can also enjoy snorkelling from directly from the shore as well as 20 different snorkelling sites in the region. Between June and September, guests can also encounter humpback wales as they migrate through with their new calves, often seen from the dive boat or in front of the resort.  

Beyond the Reef

Beyond the reef, there is so much to explore in this Fijian Paradise. The resort offers kayaking, paddleboarding, fishing and excursions further afield to get further under the skin of this remote island destination. These include trips to secluded white sand beaches, hiking in the Bouma National Heritage Park to discover the Tavoro Waterfalls and cultural experiences including a Fijian Village Tour and ‘Lovo Night’ with a shared dinner, kava ceremony and dance performance. It is a really relaxed evening in which to get to know the team better.