Ratu Kini's Backpackers and Dive Resort

I have spent two nights here. I was travelling with a group. I stayed in a 2 rooms beach front bungalow. The other people of the group were placed in a dorm and in a double room.|All three accommodations were perfect! Clean, comfortable beds, private bathroom, hot water.|Wifi is available at the restaurant and at the reception.|Food at the restaurant was delicious!!! To consider that you won't find all drinks, just beers and some sodas. Rain water is available to refill your bottle.|They offer nice daily excursion at a good price.|The real plus are the people! They are all sweet helpful people that really made us feel at home!|I recommend this place and I hope to visit Ratu kini again soon.

We travelled here in November with our 6 month old baby for 5 nights and had a blast for the price we paid. We stayed in the middle of the three beachfront cottages which was the best in our opinion- huge bathroom & seperate bedroom inside which was great for baby. Also had a well working fridge. Aircon ran all day except for 3-5pm. View was absolutely unreal. Now there are a few things to know to make sure you enjoy your time: - Don’t expect a 5 star resort- however rooms were cleaned daily for us & we found the rooms perfect for our needs! For $100nzd a night for a beachfront room it’s great. We didn’t spend much time in our room there’s too much to do on the island. - Food: Bring all your drinking water and snacks + food to have for lunches or dinners some days (tuna, rice thins etc) we didn’t feel well drinking the rainwater they have on island so we’re glad we had our own especially for baby. Breakfast is included (toast, cereal, fruit, coffee & sometimes eggs/porridge/pancakes). Lunch & dinner is just one choice each meal for $25FJD served 12-2pm and 7-9pm but every meal we had from chef David was outstanding- Mongolian beef, chicken stir fry, fish curry were a few examples of the meals we had. Also helped entertain our baby while we ate some nights- such a lovely guy! - Bring a small paddling pool to put in shade on balcony for kids - Bring your own snorkeling gear as they didn’t appear to have any - Scuba dive with Tukai from the village- reception can get you in contact with him. Resort doesn’t appear to do diving anymore - don’t leave anything on your balcony- our friends dive mask went missing. I don’t think this was from the resort but someone from local village perhaps but also could have been another tourist we don’t know - We preferred the transfer from the main ferry as it ran on time. Resort one was late both times. - Bring cash you need it for the excursions Location is 10/10. The beach steps from our balcony was beautiful and the water so Lovely to swim in. Lots of beaches to walk to to explore and you can also walk into the resort next door. Chef, cleaning lady and the guy that took us on our activities booked through resort were so lovely! (Sorry forgot some of your names). Receptionist wasn’t the nicest but other staff made up for this. We did the full day island hopping tour and the fishing trip through resort which were great value and a staff member came on each of these, pre booking our spots at the nearby resorts etc ran smoothly and had the best time! Perfect for our baby. The resort was very quiet when we were there with no cultural activities etc but a blackboard in the dining area looked like they do do these some months. Location is truly spectacular. Come prepared and have the best time. Switch off and enjoy the island life. Thanks Ratu Kini.

We had an early checkin arranged on Dec 1 but that didn’t happen, we had 2 rooms booked but ended up sharing 1 room when the other one wasn’t available. There was 1 choice for each meal (not advertised) and the charge was $35 FD no matter what - 1 meal was a canned tuna sandwich when more food didn’t arrive via boat. There wasn’t any beer or activities to participate in. The location was great and we walked to the other side, so pretty! No snorkelling equipment available and scuba diving didn’t happen due to a broken compressor and no gas for the boat motor. We had a return boat trip booked and paid for Dec 3 but cancelled the stay early and paid for another ferry back on Dec 2. We paid until Dec 3 at this resort but couldn’t stay without adequate food. The staff were very nice and the view was beautiful but not worth wasting a day! The best part was a staff member waived the charge for meals when we checked out a day early.

Stayed in the 3rd cottage, ceiling collapsing, sky light leaked, windows don't shut pretty much whole inside got soaked. No food for 2 days as their boat didn't show up with supplies. Left after 2 out of 3 nights and went to Mana Redort next door for the last night. Agoda gave our entire trip back as the cabin was really unsafe and unhealthy to be in. Morning chef lady was awesome however!!!!!! DO NOT BOOK HERE...

Do not stay here. Your belongings will very likely get stolen. We got robbed on our last night while we were at the neighbouring hostel, and only noticed in the morning, upon being told to pack quickly as “the boat was coming early.” The boat of course wasn’t coming early and they wanted us to pack quickly so we didn’t notice what was missing (jewellery hidden in the depths of our bags, alcohol, clothes and AirPods that I can see are still being used on the island thanks to FindMy). The staff do not care or want to help. The manager blamed me for having dinner at the next hostel, and then went missing as soon as it happened… “on her day off.” The “security” - not real security according to the tourist police - laughed while I was upset that things had been taken from our room. Robbery happens a lot here (please read the reviews here and trip advisor) and nothing is done about it. They will run out of food as the staff take the deliveries and they will overcharge you. They will send you to the next hostel for dinner and blame you when you get robbed. The trips out will only happen if someone can be bothered. It’s a shame as we wanted to love this place, but in the end it feels like everyone is plotting against you. The ‘tourist police’ that eventually came after the theft never sent the crime report number - and wouldn’t give us one there and then. Avoid!

I truly cannot recommend this place ENOUGH. My friend and I flew into Nadi and took the ferry over to Mana island with zero expectations. To start, this island is small, stunning and the people are so kind. We booked the group hostel room and they upgraded us to a bungalow right on the water with aircon for no charge. The food was SO GOOD. The atmosphere was peaceful, there are locals in and around the hostel as it’s placed within a village. It felt authentic and we never wanted to leave. They have plenty of excursions to choose from. We went diving, fishing, island hopping & went to Cloud9 (highly recommend doing). If you don’t stay here you’re missing out!

We stayed at Mana Island at Ratu Kini for 5 days & absolutely loved it. The first day it was hard for us to adjust to the slow paced living on the island but by day 3 I never wanted to leave. This is a beautiful local experience with the most amazing beaches & nature. Where you stay is just in front of the village and right on the beach, there’s a lovely hammock to sit in and read & beautiful swimming right out the front on the high tide 🐬 The local women give beautiful, affordable massages & sell some jewellery as well. My only advice would be to bring heaps of food with you ( crackers tuna etc.) which means you can skip buying a couple lunches & bring heaps of water with you because it’s $8 a bottle :) Also if you can, bring your own snorkel, there’s SO much beauty to see & bringing your own will save you money hiring them 🤿 There is wifi but only works in the inside area so if you need more connection to internet, organise a sim card or e sim, the reception is great! There is no locker for passport and other important things so we just carried within with us wherever we went but you could bring a lock with you if you wanted to feel more secure leaving stuff in your room Food is beautiful that the chef makes for lunch anddinnee but you get what you’re given so if you’re not fussy it won’t be for you so bring your own food 🥘 there’s no where to buy food on the island as you aren’t allowed in the 5 star resort. Breakfast is cereal, toast, coffee and tea, sometimes some yummy fruit. Overall, if you’re looking for a beautiful , simple living & relaxing time you will love it :) we will be back to Mana definitely! Ps. I left my crocs out on the doorstep & they got taken, not sure if by the dog or a person but just keep your shoes inside!

Very different experience than the Yasawa islands. There was no one around so couldn’t do the tours. You can go down the beach and do the tours with the big resort but they are 2-3x price. No menu for food so you just have to ask for what you want and see if they have it/can make it. No chairs for lounging in the sun. Wi-Fi is very weak. Lots of bugs around / the dogs have flees and ticks. I would stay here if you want the local Fiji experience with nothing fancy.