The toilets were a bit uncleaned. They woke me up on my last day because allegedly the boat that was taking me to Nadi was broken so I couldn’t properly enjoy my last day there. They have a prices table with “tours” and when I wanted to do one of them it was so difficult because they asked me to find more people to go with me… because it isn’t profitable for them. Why it has to be me who find the people? It is their service. It was kind of complicated too when in the hostel there were just 4 of us (I couldn’t make it at the end). Another bad thing was that the owner was always telling the staff off when they were speaking to us… because he had sent them to do something else (like singing us a song instead of talking to us) Common mate if we are talking between us they are entertaining us too. In general the property it’s not that good, the owners neither, but the staff and the location are so good.

Next to the beach where you can do snorkelling due to the coral close to it. Nice relax area outside with hammocks and roof. Excellent staff, really friendly.

Stayed in May 2024

-The price for the trips were higher from the ones they sent me before via message! So it was a bit disappointing(they said it’s because of the war in Ukraine, how is that??) We did take a trip to sandbank and Castaway island ended up paying 150 FJD/px and on the Castaway we spent only 20 minutes-went up to the top and back, didn’t even stay on the beach because “there were too many Chinese tourists” so we basically paid for a 20 minutes stay in there and went straight to sandbank. When complained about it, the staff didn’t do anything - remember about electricity and water shortage, it can be quite annoying when going to the toilet and not being able to flush it

- it’s a beautiful place itself, the staff is nice and quite helpful - close from mainland - better buy water and some snacks on the mainland because hey charge 6 FJD for a bottle of water

Stayed in October 2023

They showed us their traditional kava ceremony. We thought it was part of the daily entertainment at the hostel. At the end of it they asked us for a donation. They should have told us before that we had to pay.

The island is beautiful with some activities to do around. The staff is so lovely and want to make sure you have a good time on the island with them. You get to meet the family and they make you feel very welcome. It’s not luxury, not hot water, no wifi, but perfect for a short stay experiencing the local lifestyle

Stayed in October 2023

- Do not organise your Nadi boat transfer through the hotel or their contacts, as you will get put on a very small boat and the journey is very long and uncomfortable. Instead, book the ferry called South Sea Cruises. It comes to the island twice a day and I believe it is $160 FJD each way - some of the younger staff members got very drunk one evening. They partied until about 6.30am and were playing music loud enough to keep up the guests in rooms close to them. The older staff were not aware and did confront them about it in the morning which was good. - the beds were not comfy, I could feel the wood through my mattress. Thankfully I was so tired from surfing daily that I slept well anyway - The bathrooms and shower are quite run down and not very clean. - there is no free drinking water. A bottle of water is $5 FJD which is fine. However, they don't order enough water and run out daily. I think this is unacceptable. They should stock plenty of water to never run out for guests.

- Very friendly staff. They made you feel very welcome and it felt much like a home stay. - The food was great most of the time, there were a few meals that were just okay but overall i was happy. I would recommend buying extra crisps, cereal bars, noodles, water in Nadi before you transfer to the island. I was sometimes hungry between meals. - The island was about 30-40 minutes away from the surf breaks. The boats would take you to the surf whenever you like. - It's a small Island thats small enough to walk around in a couple of hours, the island has nice snorkel spots.

Stayed in July 2023

The shower

Staff was lovely. Food was great, it’s all local, nothing fancy but yummy. My room was in front of the beach, obviously if you expect luxury this is not the place.

Stayed in July 2023

Island was closed and noone told me at the booking - couldnt do much therefore No free drinking water available (only to buy) Sink/Tap wasn't working Staff stayed in room next to dorm and was quite loud at night

Very friendly staff Local food

Stayed in June 2023

The matresse is SO BAD!

Stayed in June 2023

very noisy at 4am, can be much cleaner, no light in the "shower". Mattress very fine.

the staff is lovely, there are like family ! they take care of you

Stayed in June 2023

If you are picky with confort and cleaning (facilities are not new) it might be not your place, but if you are looking for an authentic experience on a beautiful spot, just go !

Im a solo girl kite surfing traveler and booked there for 2 nights ; extended to 4 :) I struggled to find info about where to kite in Fiji (except in too expensive resorts!) so ended up there and had Amazing sessions. Loved the team and the people at Mana lagon backpacker. Such caring people! They would do everything for you ( Felt SUPER safe, no worries at all as a solo girl traveler and they helped me a lot with kite also!) Loved the fact that you are totally immersed into the life here ; locals come and hang out with or without travelers. Met also really cool travelers there. You can do heaps of excursions with them : surf, cloud 9, castaway island, snorkel, diving… good to stay here and do day trips all around

Stayed in May 2023

Island was beautiful, but we weren't able to walk around, go there when Survivor is not filmed.

Rooms were nice and clean. Staff are friendly and welcoming. Nice place for people who like to party 😊

Stayed in May 2023

I seriously need to complain to booking.com. The property was fine but due to a literal take over of the island by a film company activities as advertised were all cancelled. no hiking - no access to public beaches…. no photos allowed. The tourists were confined to a small beach area of about 16,00 feet. We were not allowed to go any where as access into the water was difficult at low tide I could not even access the water as not allowed on the boat bridge where there was access. I had researched this island as a great place to home around via the beaches…. all this is closed off - I think illegally as the beaches are supposedly public.Booking.com needs to be aware of this. The owners of the resort were fabulous and very apologetic but not fair on the tourists not being notified of this when booking. there were subsequently trips to other islands offered at a cost so tourist could access beaches but I had already paid to come to this island. the filming will continue for 6 months!!! In addition there were no signs erected telling you that areas were private so one would find on elf constantly hounded by security men making you feel you were a criminal for walking in a beach. It was very upsetting and I will be taking this up legally on my return with the said film company as even the locals were upset as losing tourists.

property was basic but I expected that.what made the property exceptional is the people who ran it.

Stayed in April 2023

Beds/Bathrooms/inside communal area etc v basic and run-down. We (my wife and 3 kids) had a dorm room which was very shabby. No air-con. Bring some bottled water. The double rooms were in better condition. What seemed like stray dogs on the beach.

Amazing location, lovely friendly staff-with the exception of the owner, who can be a bit abrupt, excellent place to disconnect. Very much reflective of real rural islander Fijian life and its challenges. Good entertainment, food generally good for the price. There is a really nice snorkeling area in front of the property which my kids really loved. You will always remember the adventure.

Stayed in April 2023

on the activitie board it said fishing tour cost 120fjd so I went out but when we come back he said it cost 100fjd / hour. If I know that I would never go. and that put me off my time there. It you organise trips you have to have the right price. that comes to everything.

Nice location, and some staff was very friendly to. great food as well.

Stayed in February 2024

Nothing, staff were amazing and a great experience, would recommend.

Love the location, right on the beach, loved meeting the locals from the village who would just join us for the evening and were so friendly.

Stayed in February 2024

It was my third time there and I will come back

Stayed in November 2023

Beds could be more comfortable, but for the price I think it’s really worth it

The host family is amazing, they are extremely kind and welcoming, also the island is beautiful despite is not really big. You can do many activities and also they have fun every night so absolutely recommended

Stayed in November 2023

Where do I begin… Ants in the bed, Cockroaches in the room, food was cheap and cold, very bad smell, shower was just an old pipe, water and electricity is off for hours, all in all not worth the money…

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Stayed in November 2023

The atmosphere at this hostel is just exceptional and can hardly compare to any other hostel. We stayed here for 2 weeks and wouldn’t have stayed any shorter. The staff is super welcoming and always helpful plus you get a real local fijan experience as the staff and locals are hanging out with the guests too which is super nice. One evening we even had a fijan dance and fire show! The location of the place also couldn’t be better with the beach right in front of it. You also get fresh local food 3 times a day which is really delicious and really reasonably priced. The team also runs daily trips to other islands, snorkeling, etc depending on what you are interested in. If you are looking for a real fijan experience on a beautiful island with beautiful people and want to get to know the fijan culture this is the place to be. I can only recommend this place and would return anytime! This is the best hostel I have ever stayed at! Plus when you go there send big greetings to Bosco from Michi, a living legend!

Stayed in July 2023

The place is dirty, many people stayed for one night and decided to forfeit their pay and leave due to the conditions. There were also a couple of cases of things being stolen from the dorm rooms so be careful!! Plan when you go to mana island carefully because they use the island for filming and when we were there 90% of the island was off limits. The place is used as a bit of a meeting point for the local guys and can be pretty noisy overnight due to the drinking and grog sessions. If your veggie prepare for eating lots of eggs!!

Mana island was very pretty and there was a selection of activities to do which were enjoyable and made the stay bearable. The staff were friendly.

Stayed in June 2023

Very dirty. No soap or water to wash your hands. Toilets didn’t flush half the time. No toilet paper half the time. No hot water to shower with. Shower only worked half the time. There was no electricity during the day. Very limited wifi. Bed was not comfortable, sheets and pillow were smelly upon arrival. Some members of the staff were saying threatening comments to female backpackers. Very very very challenging to get them to take you on any tours (we ended up having to find someone off the property to take us).

Some of the staff were lovely.

Stayed in July 2023

Everything from the staff being incompetent to the rooms being, dirty, powerless and unavailable even with a reservation.

It was nice weather

Stayed in June 2023

Mana Lagoon is a great place for backpackers. I had a good time with the crew of the island. I felt at home. They spent time with you for talking or for share and drink the kava. They are very friendly. I hole came back. See you. Thank you.

Stayed in June 2023

Place was dirty, Party place of the locals, which means they didn’t pay for the hostel but partyed there the whole night, drinking a lot, peeing on the beach and next morning you wake up, people sleep there and sober up in the breakfast area and bottles were left on the ground. And you couldn’t even leave this situation because 80% of the island was not accessible due to the recordings of the reality show Survivor (which of course nobody told you before coming). I don’t come with high expectations and didn’t want a resort, because I travel a lot and basic is absolutely fine for me but the things I disliked had nothing to do with high expectations but rather a minimum of respect for people paying to be on holiday

staff was friendly

Stayed in June 2023

Unfortunately whilst we were there the survivor TV show was being filmed which mean a large proportion of the island was off limits, it was still lovely where we were but a limited access to beaches and walks.

Mana lagoon resort was incredible. The family feel driven by the staff makes everything so welcoming and friendly. The staff really were amazing, they take care of you as a family and make the stay on the island even better than the paradise it already is. Shoutout to David, Jim and Mike! Lots of great activities on offer and great food too.

Stayed in June 2023