After wanting to visit here for a year we finally found last minute availability. Unfortunately our visit left us disappointed on some fronts. The arrival and instant demand for full and total liability waiver to be signed ( including resort negligence ) prior to allowing check in, a room move disguised as an " upgrade" that wasnt, and late night noise by the bars and backacker set were problematic. Im yet to check the if liability waiver may violate our travel insurance. Waivers of this type should be sent in advance of arrival. The location is epic. Manta and great marine life. Spectacular snorkling. Clean rooms. Beautiful beaches. Food was overall pretty good but did become repetitive. I wanted to love this place. I did love Vee the manta.

Barefoot Manta is a wonderful, small resort on beautiful Drawaqa Island. The staff are wonderful, friendly, and make you feel at home. The bures (and from what I heard, the dorms too) are clean and comfortable - being able to walk out straight to the beach is a joy! The food is great with lots of veggie options, and the bar makes some tasty cocktails. The reason I chose Barefoot Manta was both for swimming with the Manta rays, and for the Marine Science centre. Swimming with the rays is amazing! And I really enjoyed the talks at the science centre. Also, the reef at Barefoot Manta is probably the healthiest one I've ever seen in my life - the snorkelling is amazing and the diversity in coral and other sea life is really wonderful. I cannot recommend this gem of a place enough, it exceeded my expectations by a lot, and I would very happily return (and for longer) to this amazing spot!

The snorkeling was amazing. The property was clean. Overall had the feel of a hostel. Community. Lots of buffets. No AC in the rooms. Outdoor showers were kinda neat. Bring your bug spray. Really frustrating experience for us. As soon as we got there they didn’t have our booking. This was rectified professionally and quickly. But over the next two days we went back and forth about how they said I hadn’t paid and I had already paid Expedia. At the end we got it figured out and things were handled professionally enough. The entire process was frustrating and time consuming. Then, we closed out our tab the morning of our checkout and it wasn’t till we were on the Yasawa flyer hours later that we got a call. They made a mistake and forgot to change us for other things we purchased. Can I read off my credit card information to them while I stand in a room of other travelers to settle my bill? Needless to say, I had been relieved to leave and was even more so after that phone call. Additionally, I know the resort has no control of Mantas entering the channel allowing us to snorkel with them. But multiple times we went to the drive shop and had to ask so many questions to get somewhat conflicting and confusing information on how the process worked. For a resort known for Manta excursions, it was all very unclear. Overall no one was terribly rude and the resort had events and was clean. If we go back to this area we will find another place to stay.

Amazing snorkeling and lovely scenery. The staff were so friendly and kind. The food was good quality. The experience was great.

Barefoot Manta was a paradise with amazing crystal clear water. The staff were friendly and extremely helpful. Many delicious food options for different tastes. Great entertainment every night. This is my second time visiting Barefoot Manta. Will definitely be staying at this place again.

Incredibly friendly staff, plus location was out of this world amazing!

Awesome for snorkeling right off the beaches. Easy access to sunrise and sunset beaches. The Bures' on the sunrise side are breezy but great for dry cleaning clothes and sleeping cooler. The food was great although I was expecting more fish dishes. Lamb, beef and chicken are the staples, the rice is cooked to perfection and very flavorful. Staff are great and will show you culture and happiness.

Out of our 2 weeks in Fiji, this was our favourite place to stay of the trip! We absolutely loved it there! We are a family of 3 with a 9yr old and we booked a Beachfront Bure, it was perfect! We faced the Sunrise beach side which tends to be a little windy at times. But it was great to hear the waves crashing not far away as you go to sleep. They added a single bed for our child to sleep in and we still had enough space. The outdoor bathroom was kind of neat! We hadn’t experienced that before. The beds were way more comfortable than I was expecting, we had a nice little lounging area outside to relax and were steps from the beach! This resort is on a fixed meal plan, there is no other option. We paid $129 FJD/ adult and $65 FJD/ child. We were quite happy with the meals that were provided. Meals are set up with in a time frame. Breakfast and lunch buffets were set up. Go early for the best selection! At lunch they show you the dinner menu for that evening and you make your selection so they know what to cook in advance. There were usually 3-4 options, 1-2 being vegetarian. Kids had their own repeat menu to choose from for dinner and ate at the same buffet for breakfast and lunch. The resort itself is excellent. We really enjoyed the size because it wasn’t too big. There is no pool here but you have 3 beaches to swim and snorkel from. Sunset beach always seemed to be the calmest but snorkeling is best during high tide. We absolutely loved our stay here!