Mantaray Island Resort

This is one of the best resorts on the Yasawas for solo travelers; the dorm accommodation is large, clean and allows you to meet new people. There are also lots of activities and the food provided is great.

The resort was in a lovely location but is a little tired, understandable after covid. Even after a few emails requesting a double bed close to the beach they did not have one arraigned for us, they had put us in a Bure up the hill. I have tendinitis in my knees so that was never going to work. In the end they put my husband and I in a Bure with twin beds closer to the beach - not at all romantic! The meal plan was really expensive but the food was plentiful, unfortunately the restaurant was up the hill so it was a painful effort on my behalf for each meal. Unlike other resorts that we stayed in this resort required a daily fuel surcharge and we also had to pay a hire fee for fins. They did not put on Manta ray trips on either of the 2 days that we stayed there although there were Manta rays in the channel both of those days. Unimpressed. Luckily we had also booked nights at Barefoot Manta Ray Resort so ended up swimming with the mantas which was our sole reason for going. To be fair other people staying at MRIR said that they had been taken on Manta trips earlier in the week so I have no idea why they told us that there were no mantas on the 2 days that we were there - Barefoot Manta Resort said that on one of the days there had in fact been 7. This resort is much more of a backpacker resort although the high cost of the meal plan would give most backpackers a second thought.

Snorkelling spot was extremely good with beautiful corals right at the front. Mantaray resort was fairly good thanks to amazing staff members especially Mili from the bar, Jon(Mili’s hubby), Pate the manta expert snorkelling guide, Magi and Tima from the restaurant and special thanks to Naca and Nico from Nacula. Nico has been welcoming us from the first step we put on this island. Hardworking but warm hearted staff. Naca has been fantastic for us as well. We went out for snorkelling two days in a row - first day was extremely good as we got to see the local Mantaray multiple times for about an hour but the next day they did not have enough boats so we had to go out when the first two boats came back. Unfortunately we spent only 30 mins out there whereas first group spent more than an hour with the same price so it would have been great if there was bit of consistency or set time to make it fair for the price we paid for. Other than that, staff members were friendly and meals were quite okay. Def recommend for people who would like to do some manta sightseeing during tours at Yasawa islands!

The food was lovely, lunch is the best with multiple options. The wood fire pizzas are a great additive if you get hungry in the afternoon and lots of snack options at the bar. The dorms leave a little to be desired as it’s a 32 bed dorm, but the resort is a nice mix of families, backpackers and honeymooners. Lots of options for activities. The kayaks and SUP’s are in great condition. Bathrooms were always clean. If you are staying in the dorms they allow you to lock your valuables in the safe which is a very nice option. The snorkeling in front of the resort is excellent, sometimes the manta rays are right there including some reef sharks! Dive equipment was in good shape.

The accommodation was ok and staff were friendly but there were a number of incidents around the mantaray snorkelling that were handled poorly by management which ruined our experience of the resort. The meal package was expensive considering the quality of the food. It’s a shame because the island is beautiful and the snorkelling at the beach was the best that we’d seen in the Yasawas, but management has put us off ever going back there again. I hope future guests have a better experience than we did.

I am unsure why my original review got deleted but wouldn’t surprise me if management did it as they tried to gaslight us and tell our holiday company we lied. The staff at this resort were amazing and couldn’t fault them at all. The management not so much. We saw more bed bugs than manta rays, hope you like our wildlife picture below (meanwhile after speaking to other resort and our friends they were there but the management refused to do trips the 2 days we were there). My friend slept on the sofa on the beach and manager told her it’s her own fault.