Musket Cove Island Resort Malolo Lailai Island

My husband and I are very low-fuss. We love being well looked after, but we hate being coddled, and hate paying through the nose for anything but the best service.

MUSKET COVE is IT!! It doesn't look like much, nor does it look like the standard American hotel plonked down in sunny Fiji. It is Fijian, and that means hand-hewn and much loved. Like your favourite old tee shirt.

Everything we could have asked for was there for us. The ultimate in service with a smile, personalised interaction with the fabulous staff was a real highlight for us. The food was AMAZING (truly the best lamb shanks I have had anywhere in the world) and even better, we were left to organise ourselves and live at our own relaxed pace. We absolutely embraced the idea of "Fiji Time'. The most amazing snorkelling in the pacific - and its Free!

I had a fabulous beach bure massage and cried on the plane as I flew away from the best holiday this travel weary couple have ever had.

Go to Musket Cove, you won't regret it!

Romantic... Relaxed... Gorgeous. Musket Cove Resort was fantastic. Most of it has all been recently renovated over the last couple of years and all of the accommodation was very good. We stayed in a Resort Villa as we thought we would stay in a big place for our wedding and it had its own spa. Unfortunately the spa was cold water, minimal bubbles, small and all hard edges, so needless to say we didn't use it. The Resort Villa is good for families though. The Armstrong Villas (up to 4 people - 2 bedrooms) were new and very nice (wish we had of stayed there instead!) and had their own pool. The Lagoon, Garden and Beachfront Bures were all of the same size and look, just in different locations. Very spacious. So for something a bit cheaper stay in the Lagoon or Garden Bure. My friends stayed in the hotel room and they said that was a very good size too although I didn't go into it.

The food was very good at Musket Cove, particularly since you have the choice of several restaurants/cafe. Plantation Island Resort is only a 5 min walk and there is also a new expensive resort called Lomoni Resort that has a restaurant - they will come and pick you up. The number of restaurants on the island:

* Dick's place (Musket Cove)

* Coffee Cafe (Musket Cove)

* Ananda's Restaurant (Plantation Island Resort)

* Plantation Island Restaurant

* Lomoni Resort Restaurant

There is also a general store where you can pick up bbq packs and cook yourself a bbq at the Ratu Nemai Bar (or $3.50 bar). This bar is great and is right on the Marina on an island bar and serves cheap beer. There was heaps to do, with lots of free activities such as snorkelling trips, windsurfers, kayaks. Snorkelling was very good around the island or on the free trips.

The Marina has a constant stream of boats and yachts from all over the world coming in and its great to watch the boats and talk to the yachties. The staff at Musket Cove were very friendly and helpful and nothing was ever too much trouble. Their smiles and their 'Bula's' were infectious. All of our family and friends that came over for the wedding (31 of them) loved Musket Cove and the island. We can't wait to go back again. We went to Mana Island after Musket Cove and were very disappointed. Mana Island is more expensive than Musket Cove but is in bad need of renovations. It also caters primarily for the Japanese tourists (about 80% of the guests) which makes things very costly once you are there.

Musket Cove was beautiful and we loved every minute of it... Highly recommend it.

Stayed here the first week in April 2006 on a round the world trip. Everything at the resort was fantastic and would recommend it for anybody that wanted somewhere to totally 'chill out' (not too many kids either). The staff were most polite and friendly and nothing seemed too much trouble for them. It took us just over two hours to Kayak around the island. On the far side we saw plenty of sea-life, flying fish, manta rays etc. The free snorkelling trips are a must and is not difficult on the sand bank with plenty different species to see. Saw plently of dolphins which swan around the boat. The prices of food and drink are reasonable with a stubby costing 3.5 fiji$. Look at the photos which have not been touched up or enhanced yes the sea really is that blue.

Bernard & Margaret Ginns

My wife and I stayed here for five nights recently. It was the rainy season and it did rain (surprisingly) but that didn't prevent our enjoyment of the resort.

We were greeted from the Malolo Cat with a tropical fruit drink and shown around the resort on a golf buggy arriving at our bure within five minutes. Registering was done inside the bure where our luggage was miraculously waiting for us.

We were in a lagoon bure (ceiling fan, not air conditioning but that wasn't a problem) with a shower room, safe and a balcony over the water. The bure was large with a queen bed and another single bed for a third person if required. It was equipped with a filter coffee machine, a kettle, a toaster and crockery and cutlery. We regularly had boiled eggs and toast for breakfast but it's worth bringing some filter coffee of your own; there's only one complimentary sachet per day and "The Trader" shop has some at over FJD19 (it was FJD10 in duty free on the plane coming over).

The complimentary snorkeling trips are varied but some of ours were cancelled because of the weather. There are plenty of kayaks (complimentary), wind-surfers (complimentary) and a few hobie cats (small charge). It's easily possible to kayak around the whole of Malolo Lailai Island and we almost made it around the larger Malolo Island too.

The tide does go out at Musket Cove but beachcombing is good in the pools, it's possible to swim and snorkel off the bar island at low tide and Plantation Island Resort is less than ten minutes away at a slow walking pace along the beach. The other side of the jetty here has some excellent snorkeling at low or high tide.

The crayfish (FJD40) at Dick's Place was superb and a stubby of local beer there is FJD4.50 (and only FJD3.50 at the island bar). Ananda's (part of the Planation Island Resort) is the other side of the airstrip (four minute walk) with cheaper meals (curry FJD20), FJD4 beer and interesting entertainment - a Fijian band of guitar, tea-chest bass and rice maracas with regular kava stops, shared with the audience! As an alternative, it's possible to buy a barbeque pack of NZ steak (FJD33 per kg), chicken breast (FJD7 per kg) and sausages (FJD7 per kg) from "The Trader" and do-it-youself at the island bar.

We had a great time there and would certainly return for a short break again.

This was one of the best vacations we have ever had. From the moment we landed at the island resort, we knew this was going to be a great stay. The staff were very helpful, always smiling and willing to go the extra mile to make you happy.

The resort facilities are excellent, food at the cafe was awesome. The restaurant food was a little pricy, though - but, that is probably true with any other island resort in Fiji.

The best part of the resort is - you would almost feel that you are the only ones around. Excellent overall !!!

This Island resort also a great location for honeymooners, water lovers.

We spent two weeks in a beach front bure in nov 2005. We met alot of people there, especially at the famous Island Bar, cheap local spirits and beer $3.50.

We had a great time, relaxing, swimming, eating, kyacking,etc.

The staff are fantastic,the nicest people on earth.

the only thing we didn't like there were the crabs(mind you, they are more scared of you) and the tide going in and out... otherwise brilliant.

recomend this island for sure!

My husband and I stayed for 4 days at Musket Cove on our way back from a month in New Zealand. This is a perfect resort for a quiet, relaxing, and romantic vacation. We stayed in a Beachfront Bure which was lovely. We took advantage of the snorkeling trips each day and they were fantastic. Kayaking, beach walks and the trip to the shell village were also fun. I paid extra for an excellent massage at the beach. We ate at the main restaurant as well as the cafe and the meals were very good. For more variety, you can take a short walk to the neighboring resort's (Plantation Island) restaurant. More lively evening entertainment is also available at Plantation Island. The lovely salt water pool is where you see other guests. Once you get away from this main area, you hardly know that anyone else is staying there. I'd certainly go back.

My husband and I spent our honeymoon at the wonderful Muscat Cove Resort. It was idealic, we stayed in a beachfront bure, which I highly recommend, we spent most of our time swimming in the pool and snorkelling loved the island trip and couldnt speak highly enough of the service, the food was fabulous, any one that complians about the variety of food offered on the menu is mad. Perfect for honeymooners and families alike, you hardly know anyone else is on the island. Cant wait to go back.

My husband and I have recently returned from Musket Cove, we were there for our honeymoon. We really enjoyed our stay - it was lovely relaxing for a week!

The island itself is beautiful, very spacious, you would hardly know that there were other people staying there. We stayed in a lagoon bure which was really nice - Fijian in style, although no airconditioning, just ceiling fans - you soon adapt to the heat though!

The swimming pool was lovely (salt water), we spent many hours in it!!

There was one restaurant - Dicks Place - and to be honest I was quite disappointed with it, i'm a vegetarian and there really was little choice for me! the menu itself was really small, probably only 8 choices, with a different special each night, and when you're there for 8 nights it gets a bit limiting. I did ask if something different could be cooked for me and the staff looked at me as if I was strange!!! in the end they did manage, but it took a lot of persuading. During the day the menu was much better - sandwiches, nachos, that kind of thing. There was also an island bar which was gorgeous and you could buy a BBQ pack from the shop and cook it at the island bar. The shop itself stocked most things - very expensive though.

There were various day trips you could do from the island and we did 3 of them - one an island hop, the next a dolphin and snorkelling safari and the last a trip to a Fijian island. We loved all the trips - especially the island hop one where we visited 4 different island resorts and concluded that ours was definitely the nicest!!!!

All in all it was a great honeymoon, resonably priced and I would definitely recommend it!

My husband and I arrived at Musket Cove via the Malolo Cat (40 minute trip from Nadi) and were a little skeptical. The tide was completely out and the beach looked more like a swamp than the tropical blue waters from brochures.

After being greated with by the kindest staff, we were then taken to our beach front bure. For the price that we paid, I expected air conditioning, but then again, I should have read the room descriptions more thoroughly. The weather was extremely hot and humid with no relief for 8 nights. Air conditioning is an absolute must if staying at this resort during the wet season people!!

The resort was lovely, once the tide came in the beach was picturesque and we could not have been made to feel any more welcome!

We opted for the "all you can eat" pre-paid meal tickets, but for future travellers, I wouldnt bother. The food is disappointing and very greasy. You are better off purchasing meals as you go, or buying BBQ packs from the local deli (although expect to pay for it!!)

I think holidaying without expectations is the safest way to go.