VATULELE ISLAND Resort, Fiji, with a rare Relais & Chateaux
rating, is one of the SoPac's top 5-star luxury islands.
All photos provided courtesy of Vatulele Island.

The world of tropical travel has been so buffeted by advertising hype, for most of our adult memories, that travel shoppers go glassy-eyed when they see another phrase like "world-class reefs" or "Polynesian Paradise" popping up in dive travel or scuba diving magazines. That's why it is almost impossible to laud a dive resort as magnificent as Vatulele Island (pronounced Vah-too-LAY-lay) without wrinkling the eyebrows of wary dive vacation seekers. But we're going to try anyway. After all, Mount Everest need not apologize for its stature, nor Papua New Guinea for its wild highland purity, nor the central Indonesian archipelago for its hypnotic coral colors. There are no luxury Fiji resorts to compare with Vatulele Island, not a one, friends. Vatulele is in a category of prime tasteful luxury that's completely unique among South Pacific islands.

In like manner, folks who've tasted the rare fruit of Vatulele Island Resort in the Fiji Islands, need not apologize for, nor pretend to downplay, the enchantment of their South Pacific adventure. Our agents & contract associates who have reviewed Vatulele Island Resort -- among scores of such luxury tropical islands -- believe that this particular secluded isle, which is 7 miles long & 3 miles wide, shaped like a left footprint, & sitting 30 miles south of Viti Levu's Coral Coast, is truly one of the world's best & brightest tropical vacation destinations. For obvious reasons, Vatulele Island Resort is not for everyone seeking luxury tropical islands. This place exists solely to cater to, to satisfy & to delight, only a select echelon of the world's most discriminating travelers, & aficionados of the South Pacific Ocean's most memorable scuba diving & snorkeling vistas. Dive vacations simply do not come in a prettier more tantalizing package, anywhere on this Big Blue Planet, among hundreds of luxury tropical islands, we believe.

FUN FACT for FIJI DIVING enthusiasts: Vatulele Island Resort is also the only 5-star luxury island getaway in the Pacific with its own on-island PADI 5-star scuba diving center. This place caters to Fiji scuba diving needs with first-class finesse & experience. These guides are experts to the max. You will be in good hands from Day One, & they will show you why Fiji is rated by us, & many of the professional U/W photographers & videographers with whom we work, as one of the top 3 or 4 destinations anywhere in the Pacific for healthy vivid soft corals.

Honeymoon couple on private beach at VATULELE ISLAND Resort, Fiji.

Another tranquil morning at VATULELE ISLAND Resort, Fiji.

Main beach of VATULELE ISLAND Resort, Fiji, seen from the puddle jumper.

There's nothing like Vatulele Island Resort in all of Melanesia's magical Fiji Islands, nor anywhere in the South Pacific, some tropical travel experts would contend. A bona fide 5-diamond-equivalent property, Vatulele has been hailed by Gourmet magazine as "the creation of perfectionists." This is the only luxury dive resort in the Fiji Islands, indeed anywhere among all Pacific islands, to be listed with the prestigious Relais & Chateaux, an association of hotels that adhere to the finest standards of lodging amenities, haute-cuisine & attentive service in the global travel industry. Relais & Chateaux is IT, folks, the sine qua non of luxury resort rankings.

What's more, Conde Nast Traveler, in their January '95 issue, & several years thereafter, listed Vatulele Island Resort as one of the top 10 "almost perfect" resorts in the world. Conde Nast Traveler has some august company, as well. Travel writers in Great Britain have loved this place: Harpers & Queen ranks Vatulele Island Resort among "the top 100 hotels in the world," while the Tatler places it among "the top 50 hotels in the world." One critic in the London Daily Telegraph wrote, "Vatulele Island is the best tropical resort I have seen anywhere in the world." Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Vogue magazine said, "Vatulele Island is a resort against which (we) will judge all others." These critics are simply stating fact, not advertising hype. Vatulele Island Resort has set a standard of impeccable service & physical comfort that few dive resorts, or South Pacific luxury tropical islands of any kind, ever could hope to match. Yet while you're there, neither staff nor management at Vatulele puts on any airs. You'll feel as casual & comfortable moving about the island -- a truly breezy Polynesian vibe -- as you would at a dinner in a South Pacific family member's home.

The nightly dive package rates at Vatulele Island Resort include your own private ocean-front villa next to a long white-sand beach, plus all meals & all beverages including alcohol & fine French champagnes, plus all dive resort activities except scuba diving & game fishing. Your scuba vacation package basically gives you everything but a backrub & the secret of enlightenment. This ultra-luxury South Pacific island resort operates its own private air strip & island hopper air service from Nadi International Airport on the main island, Viti Levu. Vatulele Island is about 20 water miles south of Viti Levu, & 30 minutes by air from Nadi. And Nadi is an easy day's hop of 3,174 air miles southwest from Honolulu. As luxury Fiji resorts go, this little extra commuter time is WELL worth it, oh Polynesian sunseekers.

The gentle, warm waters of Vatulele Island's lagoon are perfect for safe & relaxing snorkeling adventures. If you want deeper thrills, the scuba diving outside the reef rim is replete with acres of colorful corals & abundant fish life enough to dazzle even Fiji diving veterans. And the scuba diving prices are so affordable you'll be tempted to grab tank after tank each day. Just be careful of your nitrogen uptake. You don't want the fizzies in Fiji, after all. Fiji diving is SO good, you could get hooked on huffing compressed air. Fiji diving will make you a believer, that satori can be achieved in this earthly sphere. Fiji diving is a spiritual visual experience as much as a relaxing sport. Fiji diving is the sine qua non of South Pacific scuba adventures. Or as Grandma used to say, "The cat's pajamas !"

The vision of Vatulele Island Resort's founders, award-winning Aussie TV producer Henry Crawford & Martin Livingston, was to create a South Pacific island getaway so perfect that men & women whose high-intensity jobs have abraded them with stress, can grab a plane, a suitcase & a daydream, then escape -- not just a little -- but completely, exultantly, resoundingly from the world's worries. We know of only one vacation hide-away more remote & exotic -- Jupiter -- but weather can be a bear out there, & the airfares are a bit steep, unless you've got an inside track with NASA.

If you're a seasoned globetrotter, maybe even an experienced visitor to Fiji, who's beginning to feel the gloom of Alexander the Great after he sliced the Gordian Knot -- all your kingdoms have been conquered, your eyes are veiled in a "been-there-done-that" shade of jade, you've lost hope in finding a dive vacation adventure you haven't already sampled -- well take a good look. You haven't seen it all in the South Pacific yet, amigo. Not a chance. Try the Pride of the Fiji islands. Try Vatulele Island Resort.

No money transactions are permitted on Vatulele Island. Don't even think of tipping the staff. We must alert you that such a move would be a faux pas extraordinaire in Fiji, where tipping is totally taboo. (We find this is one cultural norm that produces surprisingly little controversy among travelers :) There are no phones, no TVs, no radios, no newspapers, no tourist traps, no discos. Just clean Fiji air, perfect water, crystal sands, gracious people & sunshine. Daytime meals on Vatulele Island are offered on a terrace overlooking the lagoon. Evening meals are under the stars, lit by lanterns & candles. All Vatulele Island Resort meals are gourmet quality & prepared by the finest native chefs, with fresh ocean provender & healthful tropical fruits & vegetables.

Now for the piece de resistance, the part about Fiji scuba diving. Vatulele Island's northern & eastern coastlines are rimmed by a fringing coral reef that in some places is right next to shore, & some places more than a mile away. More than 60% of the island's land area is dominated by virgin jungle that has not felt the impact of civilization. There is no heavy industry, no highways, no development apart from the resort, only four little villages along the eastern flank, where about 900 people live in healthy South Pacific serenity. This is one reason why Fiji scuba diving in this Vatulele sector is so prisine: no vessel pollution, no siltation, no runoff, few of the problems of the touristy isles. We dream almost every day of moving to an island like this, some day when the demands of work abate. Fiji scuba diving experiences have changed us, big time. That's Dream with a Capital "D" by the way.

But there's more to Fiji scuba diving adventures than the scuba diving, of course. Most of Vatulele Island Resort's staff have been trained from among the island's villagers, who still maintain the peaceful & ingenuous spirit that sets old-world Fiji apart from all other South Pacific & Polynesian cultures. Vatulele Island natives live by fishing & farming. They also are one of Fiji's main centers for production of the beautiful Tapa wall-hangings. Tapas are mulberry-bark paper covered with ancient Fijian symbols & designs traced in natural dyes indigenous to Fiji. We have brought many of them back with us from the South Pacifc & we still treasure them as delightful mementos of our Fiji scuba diving experiences.

Devout Methodists, the Vatulele islanders do not drink alcohol, but they enjoy an occasional sip of the traditional Fijian grog known as yaqona (pronounced Yahn-GO-nah), or kava. This spicy cold tea made from the powdered roots of regular pepper plants. When new guests visit a village, they seek a blessing for their arrival by presenting the island's main chief with a gift of premium kava root, a cherished gift anywhere in the Fiji Islands, even among native rulers. If you like the chief a lot, you give him a 5 or 7-year-old kava root, & he will beam as broadly as the Somosomo Strait. If you give him an 8 or 9-year-old root, you will make a friend for life. And he may insist on you sharing some of that heavenly grog, until your lips & brain are tingling & your limbs feel like biiiiigggggg deeeep treeeee rooooooots. Oh yes. (BTW: no worries. Kava is perfectly legal to import into the U.S., do you won't be some sort of beverage outlaw if you partake of the Relaxo-Root.) But one Dutch Uncle word to the wise: do not mix Fiji scuba diving with too much grog, it might affect your safety on the decom side of things, OK? Sure thing amigos del mar.

Another plus of Fiji diving is the abundant sealife, some of which is munchable. Vatulele Island is renowned for its big, succulent red prawns, which thrive in tidal pools below ancient cliffs inscribed with 3,000-year-old petroglyphs. Among other great Vatulele Island hikes are recently discovered caves inland, which harbor pools of cool clear water ideal for swimming to escape the hot midday sun. Here you can beat the heat in an instant by taking a dive on the wild side.

Children under age 12 are not allowed on Vatulele Island, except during special "Family Weeks" a couple times a year. During these times, the children keep to earlier meal hours & do not join the adult tables. Baby-sitters are easily secured & they are very reliable nannies.

If there is anything at this wonderful South Pacific dive resort that has been left to chance, we challenge you to find it. Only a handful of luxury tropical islands on Earth can rival the sheer elegance & purity of Vatulele Island Resort. This is the kind of place where you'll find true rest for your soul & true inspiration for your heart. The pampering of your body is, well, only natural here at Vatulele Resort in Fiji.

One good tip to remember about packing for Vatulele Resort: pack super light! The resort wants guests to pack less than 35 lbs in their main bag, plus keep their carry-on as light & compact as possible. This is because the commuter airplane from Nadi to Vatulele Island is small & has tight weight limits. Please adhere to this stricture, or you may be required to ditch some bags in Nadi, leaving them for your return flight home. Thank you for your consideration.

VATULELE ISLAND PRICES: for all Fiji scuba diving & Fiji snorkeling trips:

We offer the best package rates in North America or Europe, & will price protect all clients, all seasons. Simply call our travel planners at U.S. DIVE TRAVEL NETWORK reservations office: 952-953-4124.

Please be aware, friends, that during low season, prices of the deluxe bures (cabanas) run from about USD $900 to USD $1400 per couple, per night. During high season (July 1 thru Oct. 31, & Dec. 24 thru Jan. 10) prices run from about USD $1400 to $1850 per couple / night. Meanwhile, the highly-prized Point Villa, renowned throughout the Pacific Rim as among the finest private getaways extant, fetches from about USD $2100 - $2550 per couple/night, all meals included. Air transfers are extra, as are some amenities.

All dive packages include meals & beverages (even alcohol & fine champagnes), plus a private beachfront villa, plus free run of resort activities such as tennis, sailing, hiking, paddling, volleyball & land yachting. There is even a well-stocked library of classic volumes. The minimum stay is four nights. Each villa is designed mainly for couples, but solo vacationers are welcome as well. No children under 12 years old are allowed on Vatulele Island most of the year.

Commuter air transfers from Nadi to Vatulele:
-- from $495 + tariff per adult. USDT will guarantee wholesale rates
below the lowest published airfares from LAX to Nadi, Fiji --
book early enough that seat inventory remains w/ Qantas & Air NZ.

Special private air charter, for travel times
outside regular schedule -- USD $1305 per flight, one way, for up to 4 persons.

All commuter flights leave Nadi at 11:30 a.m. daily (check-in time is 10:30 a.m.). These twin-engine commuter aircraft leave Vatulele at 12:20 p.m. daily. In most cases, the flight lasts half an hour either way. If you spend more than 8 nights in a row on Vatulele, you will receive free commuter air tickets to the island from Nadi.

FOR MORE INFORMATION or RESERVATIONS:

Please feel free to contact:
John Hessburg, General Manager
Susan Hessburg, Operations Manager

U.S. DIVE TRAVEL Network
PMB 307 / Suite # 116
15050 Cedar Avenue S.
St. Paul, MN, USA 55124-7046
Voice Mail: 952-953-4124
Fax Line: 952-431-5023

E-mail: divetrip@bitstream.net

Website: www.usdivetravel.com

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Vatulele beach glow.

Wedding anyone?

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IMPORTANT REMINDER about PRICES & TARIFFS:

All Fiji snorkeling & Fiji diving prices listed here are subject to possible change in this steadily evolving travel market. Lodging, side tour & diving prices are traditionally stable, while air prices can fluctuate daily. Until air tickets are issued, all airlines reserve the right to change airfares without notice -- an industry standard per FAA rules. We at U.S. Dive Travel will price-protect you to the utmost of our professional ability; & that has been our pledge for one decade now. Our tropical vacation experts normally secure excellent wholesale discount air tickets for our clients who book early enough to secure limited seats in the best price categories. Remember please, the federal government has deregulated all U.S.-based airlines, so only they control their pricing -- not any travel professionals. Early is good when seeking the best air ticket rates for your Fiji snorkeling & Fiji diving adventures.

Unless specifically noted, these above scuba diving packages are prices for only the land-based portion of the dive resorts, in most cases reflecting double-occupancy rooms. As with most Fiji snorkeling & Fiji diving packages, there will be no triple-occupancy rooms offered. Some exceptions will be noted. International air tickets & commuter "island-hopper" seats are always extra above these land costs. Nominal service fees are also extra for air tickets & the vessel + side tour components of your Fiji snorkeling & Fiji diving vacations. The baseline tariffs for all clients start at $45 per person for the land portion + $35 pp for the air tickets. Late-booking clients may receive slightly higher tariffs on the lodging + diving at many of our dive resorts. Solo clients sometimes pay a single supplement to secure a private room -- normally 35% or more than the standard double-occupancy rate at some dive resorts.

The preferred payment mode for all of our dive resorts, side tours & air ticket specials is by cashier's check or wire transfer in U.S. dollars. All clients living outside the USA or Canada will need to pay for their dive vacations via direct wire transfer only. No personal checks will be accepted for the land or air portions of any reservation. Thank you for your gracious understanding. Our service level is the highest & our prices the lowest in this industry, & thus we need to preserve a reasonable margin on your Fiji snorkeling & Fiji diving vacation packages. For published-fare air ticket bookings, USDT always accepts Visa & Mastercard. For ultra-discount wholesale air tickets, USDT accepts only cashier's checks or wire transfers, please.

Remember, all tropical vacation clients on all Fiji snorkeling & Fiji diving vacations will be asked by local officials overseas, upon departing the airport on your final day, to pay a nominal government departure tax, usually between USD $25 - $40 per client. USDT cannot collect this tax beforehand, so you simply pay it down there, in your host country. Be sure to stash away a little cash for this final moment at the airport, so you'll get your exit visa stamped quickly with no fuss; & away you go. Best of luck with your dive travel plans. We hope your sFiji snorkeling or Fiji diving vacation is a safe & satisfying adventure. Blessings & best wishes with ALL your dive vacations.

Best fishes too!

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John Hessburg & Susan Hessburg, Mgrs.
U.S. Dive Travel Network.

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