Review: Likuliku Lagoon Resort, Fiji

This adults-only oasis dishes up everything you’d expect from the Maldives, yet is just over a three-hour flight from home.

The harmonious strains of “Bula Maleya” lure me into the vibrant lagoon as at least 15 smiling staff clap and sing the Fijian welcome song. A smooth stone pendant necklace is placed around my neck, and looking beyond the boardwalk, a baby blacktip reef shark cruises near a hammock strung above the glass-like water. Destination bliss officially reached.

Location

Likuliku Lagoon Resort is on Malolo Island in Fiji’s Mamanuca group, nestled into its north-west corner. It feels delightfully remote yet easy to reach – I leave Brisbane at lunchtime and am eating fresh Fijian walu (Spanish mackerel) that night. After a three-and-a-half hour flight from Brisbane to Nadi, a 20-minute road transfer puts me at Port Denarau Marina where my speedboat transfer awaits. Depending on arrival times, the ferry is also an option, as are helicopter transfers.

The vibe

Although this resort is primed for honeymoons and elopements, it doesn’t feel suffocatingly couple-y. Multi-gen adult families and groups of friends enjoy dinner together and guests get chatting across pool loungers. It helps that phones are discouraged from being used in communal areas. While undeniably luxe, the resort sits well in its environment. Bures are coated with sand and shell fragments to blend in and paths meander beneath coconut palms. 

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