The authentity! It is something you can never experience anywhere else. We stayed for 3 nights, I think it was a little bit too much. I would suggest 2 nights. Then you will get the idea of homestay and save your mood, too.

I can not say I did not like something there. You just have to know what are you going to get yourself in to. This is their way to live and you must only go there if you want to experience that. If you want to spend your luxury vacation there, choose something else! But for 2 nights it's fine! It will correct your judgment of values and makes you a better person.

Incredibly gracious and thoughtful hosts. Excellent island food. Hours of fun playing and getting to know the local people. Relaxed and welcoming village life.

Naberku homestay is a great location with beautiful beaches and epic snorkeling. The people are so friendly and welcoming and the Bure was surprisingly well equipped with everything you need.

nothing!

We were allocated Qeleni Homestay, which was beautiful. Beach in front of you, gorgeous sand and shells, pretty trees and fresh coconuts to drink. The people always welcoming and saying hello; ready to share their food or teach their language. Traditional living in a home just outside the village is a once in a life time experience. Nice Christmas meal.

Return Ticket from Denarau port was $410 FJD each and the only way to get to the Yasawas + purchase Sevusevu as a gift for the chief which was $35 FJD -Did not swim during entire stay given conservative dress requirements -no snorkelling/fishing/diving available as not like a hotel -wet season meant was always raining -what ruined the experience for us: children left unsupervised resulted in combination of smacking and kicking the village dogs, pig etc. we found the kids on the beach with a Hog tied up being smacked witn a wooden blank and dragged down the hot sand by around 10+ kids. Nothing we said could stop any of the abuse we saw. The lffess favourite puppies under fed/ribs showing any form of comment resulted in indifference from both children and adults but our feelings towards the abuse were spoken about and known by the village we later found out.

We had an amazing experience being the first ever guests at Nabukeru Homestay, we will never forget this special holiday! Misi and the rest of the community were so incredibly welcoming - we shared our meals with a different family each day, and were welcomed to join a church service and Sunday lunch. We were treated to so much fresh food including fish, mud crab and fresh fruit daily. The bure was brand new with a comfortable bed and an en-suite bathroom with new facilities. We were privileged to be welcomed by the whole village singing and inviting us to cut the ribbon on the new bure! Activities included snorkelling, hiking, fishing and caving (right opposite the famous Sawa-i-Lau caves). The bure is sitting right on the beach with a hammock out front. The most beautiful sunsets we have ever seen. We were only able to stay for a few days but would recommend a longer stay here if you can! We were blown away by this experience. Vinaka vakalevu!

the people and the food.

No fans

The host family are the best, they made us feel like family. Infact the entire community of Malevu made us happy. We learnt so much about the Fijian culture and the day to day life. We travelled two adults and our 8 year old daughter and we can't stop talking about our host family Sulu, Jeke and the kids. Sulus kana Vinaka! The food, we never had such exotic freshly catched food! I would recommend this to anyone interested in learning and living how the real Fijian people live, no resort can top this wonderful experience. Be open minded, and enjoy a rustical stay and nights full of stars. We took our head lamps but they had energy, just in case take one :) Congratulations to the chief and the community of Malevu for having such a wonderful community.

That we didn't stay longer :(

The villagers were welcoming and friendly. A lot of effort was put into food preparation and food was plentiful. It was interesting to visit different people in their homes at mealtimes and see and hear about people's lives in the village. We stayed in Navotua Village. The bures are absolute beachfront, with a beautiful beach and outstanding snorkelling in front of the accommodation. It is possible to go for an extended beach walk at low tide independently or you can access another beach over the hill with a village guide. There are beautiful caves accessible by boat. Bring plenty of cash if you want to go to the caves, or participate in other activities like guided walks or cultural dances offered by the village. There are some stalls at the cave entrance selling jewellery, sarongs, shirts and other souvenirs. We liked experiencing life away from phones and the distractions of modern day living for a short time, but really struggled with the hygiene standards and with being woken up frequently in the night. In retrospect we would've preferred to stay here for just a couple of nights instead of close to a week.

Each meal takes place in a different house and meals are served on the floor. Hygiene standards were often very poor. While sometimes the food was covered to keep flies out, often there were lots of flies buzzing around and landing on the food. The food was repetitive and some of the crockery and cutlery the food was served on/with was dirty, cracked and or chipped. We used sterilizer tablets in the water as a precaution. Make sure you bring some antibiotics for gastro bugs. Out of the 10 tourists visiting when we stayed, five got sick. Many of the villagers had coughs and colds when we stayed. Drinking kava is a popular pastime on the island and we regularly got woken up by the noise of kava roots being pounded into powder during the night. The villagers also get up 2-3 times per week at around 4am to go to church. A loud wooden drum is used to wake up the whole village for this purpose. The double beds feel like you're sleeping on a wooden plank, due to the mattresses being compressed in key places and in need of replacement. There were rats and crabs in our bures - the rats chewed through a backpack and toothpaste. The rats also made lots of noise in the night.

Very kind people, especially with kids. Amazing location. Kava ceremony. Very nice hike to the summits around. Meals at a different house each time.

Bathroom (shower and WC) not functional for 4 days. Little interaction with some local hosts due to language difficulties. Noisy mice in the walls (close your bags at night). Rubbish lying around on the beach and in the village.

We stayed for 2 nights at Malakati village. What an amazing experience! A very welcoming community, we felt at home and were sad to leave. We had our meals (3 times a day) every time with different families. The portions are really big and you get to eat the local Fijian food like fresh fish, cassave, taro and rice. A lot of people put in a lot of effort to make sure we were looked after. Our room was at the beach and had a mosquito net. We went for fishing with a local fisherman and the beach is an incredible beautiful sandy beach great for swimming. The water is super blue! The kids are lovely, the older kids play volleyball on the beach every night and you can join, great fun. Also there is a primary school with a lovely teacher, they are urgently looking for basic primary school stuff like pencils, crayons, etc. Make sure you bring something small for them, it will make a big difference for them and will be greatly appreciated!

We loved everything. Don't expect it to be a resort. It's actually better then a resort :-)

The villagers could not have been more welcoming and friendly. They went out of their way to meet all my requests and needs. My 11 day homestay at Navotua Village was an authentic Fijian village experience. It was definitely not a resort 'tourist bubble' experience.My Bure other facilities (toilet & shower) were basic but that's exactly what I expected. If you want a 5-Star Resort experience this is not the place for you. Nacula (pronounced Nathoula) Island had surprisingly good mobile phone/internet access (3G via Vodafone with a local SIM card) which was a real bonus.

The constant onshore easterly wind at this time of year. The food was plentiful - but after a number of days - I found it rather repetitive/boring. This was not the fault of the villagers - it was me a spoilt Australian used to a great variety of foods & produce. The majority of what the villagers eat - is made up of what they grow in their plantations (Cassava - Breadfruit - Yams etc.) or catch in the sea. In other words - don't expect al carte dining at a homestay in Navotua Village or any other homestay for that matter.

The authenticity of it all. The host Salome and her family were very welcoming and cooked fresh food from the island for us which was so amazing especially the crab and mackerel. This holiday we traveled around Fiji and stayed at 5 different places including luxury resorts but this will have been the most memorable for our family. Our two kids loved all the animals (dogs, cats and chickens) that live on the property and enjoyed collecting coconuts to eat and roaming the beach steps away from the Burre. We hope to come back and visit Salome and her family again one day.

Everything was exactly as expected, no luxury like hot showers or internal bathroom. No electricity to charge any electrical devices or internet. You have to be prepared to go back to basics or this is not the place for you.

We stayed at Navatoua village. An amazing stay. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. Very well organised. You genuinely felt like you were part of the village. Thanks to everyone for making our stay such a great experience. Make sure you request the "entertainment" (traditional dance) if you stay here. This was an amazing way to spend our last night. An unforgettable experience. The facilities were basic, no hot water or electricity, but this was what was expected and exactly as described, so not you know this before you book and arrive. There's a flushing toilet and cold shower, and the beds were comfortable. A little tip, you are expected to bring some kava root as a gift to the chief. In the instructions it says to bring a root, but it should be a bundle of roots (somewhere between 500g and 1kg from what we can gather). You can get this from the markets on the mainland. As a guide it cost us 80 FJD for a kilo, but depends on that age and quality from what we were told. Google what kava root looks like before you go to the market. It will make it much easier to find.

It was all fantastic.

If you want to experience the real Fiji come and live how the locals live. Nothing fancy here but great welcoming family with great food, and total relaxing. Kids are gorgeous too.

Nothing this is what I wanted to experience

Bula Boys! We went for a jungle hike with Navotua Village teenagers - Dara, Bo and others, it was not a formed track. It's a wild jungle without tracks, it was a great and memorable experience. Variety of terrain and post card perfect locations, we reached a pristine and clam isolated beach, saw devil fish, ate from the wild mango trees, used machette to cut through 10ft tall grass, bush tree branches to make way. The village is located in a remote beautiful spot, spectacular views overlooking the ocean and mountains. The trip to Sawa-i-Lau caves was truly magical, hard to explain in words. Some villagers were very friendly and nice, a honorable mention - Aperosa he was the all-rounder helped with lot of things like getting through the black spot in the cave, taught me how to remove the husk from the coconut, and great dancer and guitar player. The local food was good but became montonous after few days.

The dishonesty of the organiser Tayima and couple of others in the village, which gave a very disappointed experience, and gave us a feeling not to come back if we have a chance. The dealings were cheeky and dishonest, words didn't mean anything to them, they kept changing their stance without considering our situation, just for few extra bucks. They made us stay an extra night, promised a private boat transfer which is dangerous and illegal (which we later found out), and cancelled the transfer at the last minute and created a chaos. We ended-up paying a hefty money (more than the cost of international flight ticket) at the end for transferring from this village to the next resort.

I loved this place. The people are super friendly. It's absolutely beautiful and my bure was great. The food was fantastic. You go to different families to eat your meals, most are delicious some less but it's a real experience of how village living is. Lobster, crab, fish. For some is paradise for others not. Personally i would come back anytime.

There needs to be a communal place the visitors can meet and hang out. Just a big bure.

The Bure’s were amazing and if you leave the windows and doors open at night the breeze is beautiful! very good to have the fly nets too.

Everything was great!

Really enjoyed our stay at Taven homestay. Everyone made sure we are comfortable and were extremly nice and welcoming. Meals were very tasty, we got to see the real life in the village, room was few steps from the beach and the island was beautiful.

This was probably one of the most surreal moments I've ever experienced. It is a must for all travellers. Food was amazing! Fish was caught fish and fruit was so juicy and sweet.