Oarsman's Bay Lodge

It was a total vibe

The prickles in the grass

Everything.

Nothing.

Very welcoming friendly staff. Stunning location. Excellent new beach front bures - very comfortable with aircon and outdoor shower. More roomy than the original ones and they have their own very relaxing lounge/bar over the bridge form the main part of the resort. Lots of options for activities or just snorkel on the reef right out front and swim with the turtles.

Nothing

We unfortunately had wet and windy conditions for most of our 6 night stay which can't be helped but some of our experiences were obviously affected by that. We especially enjoyed the evening music as well as the Saturday night performance - thanks especially to the multi talented Josh, Sefou, Adi, Lucy and others. It was also a good place to meet other travellers with nice informal seating options. Snorkelling on the reef hopping was excellent (both coral and fish) but it was very cold getting back, it was quite choppy and the conditions would be challenging if you were not a good swimmer. These trips are an extra cost. Snorkelling from the beach was not great, there was very little live coral or fish. The location is lovely but it takes around 5 hours to get there by the catarmaran and there are probably other options with a similar feel closer to the mainland.

Overall it was disappointing. Only instant coffee! No herbal teabag options. For most mornings the only fruit on offer was papaya (I discovered there was sometimes pineapple if you got in early). Bacon was usually burnt and there was little else on offer, however the scrambled eggs were from the local chickens and good. Pastries were often good. Other meals were fine, and on a few occasions, very good but the choices were very limited, with only one food option for lunch. Our room was only serviced once in the 6 days and even then not really cleaned, just new linen and towels (no hand towels) provided. As it was cold and wet the towels never dried well and were musty. Our room was small but quite nice otherwise and it was good to be near the main facilities and in a garden setting. Some of the other bures were in more open areas and more of a walk. Could not recommend the church service. If this had been a budget option all of this would have been fine but the costs were comparable with other resorts we stayed in that had much better facilities and food. We did mention the coffee situation to Tiki who we understood was the manager. Providing real coffee in a plunger for breakfast would make quite a difference.