Kokomo Private Island Resort

"A Fijian private island offering a family-friendly experience with luxurious villas and a commitment to sustainability." - Devorah Lev-Tov, Laura Begley Bloom

"This property, like the one by Six Senses, is also a collection of villas owned by a hotel. It’s both a 2024 Gold List property and a Readers’ Choice Award winner. Here, you can book a variety of beachfront villas from one-bedrooms to massive six-bedroom residences complete with sunset views, an open-plan kitchen, and a private infinity pool for getting all the gossip. Plus, the benefit of booking at a hotel means you can enjoy all the same hotel amenities (daily meals, use of resort facilities) while still getting total privacy." - Jamie Spain

"Located in the untouched Kadavu Islands, a 45-minute seaplane flight from Nadi International Airport, this private island balances romance and multi-generational travel in Fiji. Straddling the renowned Great Astrolabe Reef, the waters near Kokomo teem with colorful fish, manta rays, sea turtles, and thriving coral gardens, making underwater exploration a must for any visit (don’t miss the marine biologist-led manta snorkel excursion). Twenty-one beachfront villas range in size from a couples-friendly one bedroom to larger two- and three-bedrooms, each with a private plunge pool, private walled garden with outdoor shower, and direct beach access. Meanwhile, five hilltop luxury Grand Residences welcome larger families to multi-bedroom homes, inclusive of a private butler and nanny. Guests can also anticipate other water activities like sailing and kayaking, and three memorable meals daily, made of locally sourced produce from Kokomo’s 5.5-acre farm and hydroponics garden, and seafood from a sustainable, caught-to-order island initiative." - Paul Rubio

"My husband was still my boyfriend when we went to Kokomo Private Island, a villa-only resort on a lush and hilly speck of land in the bright, clear, reef-strewn waters of the Fijian archipelago. Often when we talk about the trip, we tell the story of how, when we turned up at the activity center to pick up snorkels and flippers, we were asked to rate ourselves as expert, intermediate, or poor swimmers. “Poor!” Tim said with enthusiasm, startling the hotel’s staff (and us) into gales of laughter. Fiji’s much-celebrated friendliness makes it easy to relax and be yourself—which, in Tim’s case, is a landlubber. Luckily there is something for everybody at Kokomo. While I ventured out with a resident marine biologist to swim with manta rays, Tim was happy to linger over a morning latte and an açaí bowl on the deck of the resort’s tropically elegant main restaurant. Afterward, we’d lounge around our more than 1,200-square-foot beachfront villa, read by the private pool, or snooze in a hammock strung between palms. Our agendas converged right around happy hour, when our biggest struggle was choosing among idyllic spots to enjoy an umbrella-adorned sundowner with an ocean view. There were the chaises on our villa’s patio, of course, or there was Walker d’Plank, named for Kokomo’s owner, the Australian real estate billionaire Lang Walker: a casual Asian fusion restaurant helmed by Fijian chef Caroline Oakley and set on a series of ascending platforms overlooking rocky shallows and a vast Pacific sky tie-dyed coral and orange. There, amid the paradise vibes, a couple of pineapple and basil mojitos might naturally lead to a meal of wahoo tataki, pork dumplings, and prawn curry enlivened with peppers and herbs grown in Kokomo’s on-site 5.5-acre organic farm. All of it—the delicious food, the manicured grounds, the tranquil spa, the choice between doing as much or as little as one pleases—is, of course, the product of careful consideration and constant labor. But one of Kokomo’s gifts to its guests is an unpunctured sense of ease and effortlessness. What a feat of hospitality that is, to be made to feel like everything is all right and that there are truly no worries, no matter how bad a swimmer one happens to be. From $2,200. —Maggie Shipstead" - CNT Editors

"My husband was still my boyfriend when we went to Kokomo Private Island, a villa-only resort on a lush and hilly speck of land in the bright, clear, reef-strewn waters of the Fijian archipelago. Often when we talk about the trip, we tell the story of how, when we turned up at the activity center to pick up snorkels and flippers, we were asked to rate ourselves as expert, intermediate, or poor swimmers. “Poor!” Tim said with enthusiasm, startling the hotel’s staff (and us) into gales of laughter. Fiji’s much-celebrated friendliness makes it easy to relax and be yourself—which, in Tim’s case, is a landlubber. Luckily there is something for everybody at Kokomo. While I ventured out with a resident marine biologist to swim with manta rays, Tim was happy to linger over a morning latte and an açaí bowl on the deck of the resort’s tropically elegant main restaurant. Afterward, we’d lounge around our more than 1,200-square-foot beachfront villa, read by the private pool, or snooze in a hammock strung between palms."