In recent years Fiji has come up with a number of outstanding luxury resorts, to name just a few Likuliku, Laucala and Vomo. But many of them don’t accept children and as you probably know by now The Lux Traveller doesn’t ever leave the kids behind. So we were looking for family friendly luxury and we have absolutely found it at Malolo Island Resort.

Mololo hasn’t originally been on our luxury travel map (as it is a 4.5 star rather than our usual 6-7 star) but we were offered an opportunity to visit it and were astonished by how much we enjoyed ourselves at this warm family resort.

Location & Arrival

Malolo is located in Mamanucas, a group of islands close to the mainland and easily accessible by boat. It is a wonderful location for a number of reasons.

It is easy to get to  and guests have a flexibility of arriving at any time of the day or night. Other islands located further don’t have the same flexibility – most of them offer only one flight to their resorts per day which means either a long wait in the airport or an overnight stay in Nadi, the capital of Fiji and not a very exciting holiday destination.

We arrived at Nadi airport at 6pm and were whisked away to the Denarau Marina without delay. Ask the hotel to pre-arrange all transfers.

In 40 minutes we heard the sound of music and singing – sure enough our speedboat has arrived at the Malolo Island Resort jetty.

After a warm welcome and an obligatory Fijian necklace we were invited to have a late dinner at the Beach Bar or go straight to the room. During dinner we met most of the Malolo’s friendly team and they were to become our good friends during our short but fun stay.

Malolo Island Resort offers 46 rooms and suites, most located in the beachfront duplexes. Colonial in style, white in colour, fresh, newly renovated and facing the beach they were just right for our family holiday.

They didn’t have many modern luxuries we got so accustomed to – large baths, hi tech stereo systems, flat screen TVs, digital control panels and the rest of the gadgets we have come to expect. In fact Malolo makes a point of having no telephones and no TVs in the rooms. There is also hardly any wifi – it is available only in designated areas of the hotel.  Normally addicted to the internet I found our time in Malolo utterly relaxing. I was able to switch off and just enjoy the my gorgeous son and stunning nature around us.

Malolo has much more to offer than the latest in technology and ultra luxurious rooms. It offers families an opportunity to participate in lots of exciting activities together, to enjoy sunsets on the beach, to spend after dinner hour chatting with each other on their open sea front verandas – a chance to connect and enjoy your beautiful family. Priceless really and an absolute luxury for me.

Day 1

Our first full day at the resort has started early. We had an early breakfast and didn’t linger around for too long – we had a 9am snorkelling safari to go on.

Lucky for us we were the only ones on the trip.

We went to the Honeymoon Island and swam around the coral reef for about 40 minutes. Snorkelling guide has helped my 4 year old and stayed with him the whole time. Fijians know how to take care of your little angels.

Once we have acquainted ourselves with all the tropical fish at Honeymoon point we rushed back for the morning of adrenalin.

We took endless pleasure in water-skiing in the lagoon and cruising around the islands on super fast jet skis. Adrenalin galore and so much fun!!!

Exhausted but very happy we headed off to the Beach Bar for late lunch. Everyone gathers here for a glass of wine and a salad or a burger. I had a juicy burger (a rare treat for me) and it tasted extra nice after all the morning activities. My son chose pasta from an extensive kids menu.

We noticed that many couples prefer to send the kids to the Kids Club and enjoy a relaxing long lunch. Alas, no such luck for me and as my very smart 4 year old has figured out that there is much more fun to be had with me rather than in the kids club. 🙂

On most days after lunch there is another group snorkelling trip and this time we were going to the Castaway drop off, another spectacular snorkelling spot. We saw a lot of fish and pretty coral but unfortunately turtles and sharks stayed away from us this time.

With the water activities out of the way it was time to spa.

A gorgeous little spa hut is located on the garden side of the resort and outdoor treatment room faces onto the forest. I had an exceptionally relaxing massage (might’ve even fallen asleep for some of it) and didn’t want to leave the table once finished. But sunset was waiting for me so I had to peel myself off the table and join my son and a small group of other sunset admirers on the boat again for a champagne sunset cruise.

We slowly cruised into the sunset through the calm waters of the Pacific until the sun had set and we cheered it on with a glass of Italian Prosecco.

Dining

For dinner Malolo offers 2 options – family restaurant Terrace, which serves buffet on most nights and ‘adults only’ formal restaurant Treetops. Kids Club stays open until late to give all parents an opportunity to experience Treetops.

The Executive Chef comes from South Africa and has an affinity for meat dishes. On the night we experienced the restaurant there were two meat dishes – lamb & beef and a pasta dish – ravioli in butter sauce.

Fresh lobsters are also available and can be served to your liking but guests need to pre-order those a day before. Luckily on the evening we were dining the chef was so kind to prepare a lobster risotto, just for me.  It was delicious and has set a wonderful mood for the rest of our dinner.

The prices are very reasonable at Treetops and the service was excellent.

We certainly finished our day on a high!

Day 2

Another early rise and this time we are being whisked away on a private island for breakfast. This island, Modriki, was made famous by Tom Hanks’ movie ‘Castaway’.

There is a scene in the film where Tom Hanks writes ‘Help Me’ with coconuts on the beach and locals re-create it every day for visitors to feel like they are on the movie set for the day.

We hear that the island can get quite busy with the day visitors but we were lucky to have the whole island for ourselves, true Robinson Crusoe experience.

Understandably we returned to Malolo in an adventurous mood and decided to keep exploring the area from air. Parasailing looks so inviting  – being high up in the blue sky overlooking a spectacular turquoise lagoon – beautiful sea & blue skies – the essence of stunning Mamanuca islands.

Parasailing boat services 3 neighbouring resorts (Likuliku, Malolo & Castaway), so we shared the boat with 2 other couples. Tandem parasailing is wonderful – you get to share this exquisite experience with your partner or your child.

When captain lowers you down you get to put your feet in the water and water ski with parachute keeping you steady on the water. So much fun – all of us in the boat cheered each other and had a laugh!

For lunch at the Beach Bar we have ordered a spectacular seafood platter – it arrived overflowing with lobsters, prawns, calamari and local favourite grilled mahi mahi fish. Fabulous!

After a long relaxing lunch we only had a couple of hours left at Malolo and spent them on jet skis (my son’s new favourite past time).

At about 5pm it was time to pack and make our way back to the jetty for a speedboat transfer back to the mainland.

Did we regret choosing not the most luxurious island in Fiji for our holiday? Not at all – our only regret was leaving so soon. My son was so sad to say good bye to all the friends he made on the island and promised them to come back.

Malolo is not your typical luxury resort but for me it was a true luxury to spend the days frolicking in the turquoise waters of the Pacific with my son, to share all these amazing experiences with him, to be disconnected from the outside world and to be so connected to each other. Thank you Malolo!