Going Local - Navutu Stars Resort

It’s the friendly faces and being great hosts that captured my heart from the beginning of this wonderful adventure.

Navutu Stars Resort is a boutique resort nestled in the northern tip of Yaqeta Island in the Yasawa group. We boarded our 6:30am boat from Marine Drive in Lautoka and headed straight to our destination. What may seem to be a treacherous adventure (if you encounter rough seas) is well rewarded once you approach the sun-kissed hills of Yaqeta Island and the complimenting teal and cerulean seas.

On arrival, the staff on the island serenaded us with songs from the Yasawas and welcomed us with a fresh coconut drink (bu) decorated with a beautiful pink hibiscus flower. What a welcome we had! Our Bures were spacious and well decorated with art and wood details. Apart from the very high ceiling, the light fixtures and saloon door was a very unique touch to the accommodation and it showed me that the owners gathered inspiration from their travel around the Mediterranean and Asia.

Reapi Nayacakalou, the famous personality of Navutu Stars Resort based on the mainland of Viti Levu. She hosted me and the team on the island and, together with her team, made us feel at home even when the negotiations for a ‘famil’ trip began. Besides the ambiance of the resort (and the pool of course), I need to highlight the food and just talk about just how fascinated I was with what I was being served during my two-day stay. The chef, Moape, and his assistant, Venaia, curated a set, multi-course menu especially for our trip.

Here are my top 3 dishes throughout my stay and if you ever visit Navutu Stars Resort you must try these out.

1. Breakfast - Cconut Toffee Rolls

Made entirely from scratch using local produce, this pastry reminded me so much of my childhood. You remember the toffee your neighbor down the road would sell for like 20cents? That was exactly the filling in the roll I had for breakfast. The bread was the perfect texture and complimented by the slightly burnt taste of the coconut toffee fudge that worked like a ‘Nutella’ on bread.

2. Lunch - Navutu Eggs Benedict & Fish with Waitunu

It was a tie for me. Our first meal on the island was lunch and we were served with a whole smoked fish, garden salad and ‘waitunu’ (salt water, lemon and chilies) that locals use as a type of dip or added seasoning. The Navutu version of the Eggs Benedict was another favorite that came straight after a hectic morning fashion shoot. The cheesy white sauce over the perfectly cooked eggs on a bed of toasted wholemeal slice was it for me. It was visually pleasing and tasted as good.

3. Dinner - Baked Lobster with Sweet Potato Mash

If I were to choose, it would be crabs over lobster for me, but this time around I didn’t leave any leftovers on my plate. Every dish has had a generous amount of portions but to get two lobster tails on a sweet potato base was more than I asked for. It was smothered with salted butter and garlic and was as moist as they come. To be eating lobsters and sipping on a mojito while watching the sun set is the true definition of paradise.

While the food may have been a highlight, Navutu Stars Resort also offers majestic views and a gorgeous and sophisticated pool area that reminded me of something from an Instagram post from Santorini or Mykonos with the white cemented pool-side and egyptian sea-water pool.

Everything about this resort, but it was the hospitality that got to me and made me shed a few tears when the staff started singing the farewell song ‘Isa isa’. On our final night our team and the resort staff sat around a tanoa filled with kava, spoke about how badly Covid affected our tourism industry, spent a few minutes re-introducing ourselves and talk about the work that we do as a team and , because it was Sunday, we sang church hymns together, harmonized and built a more deeper relationship with the resort staff.

In a time like this, when the Covid climate has changed the narrative completely, a smile from those affected the most is a sign and promising gesture that one day soon this ‘new normal’ will be but a mere expression. The farewell the team and I received was like no other I’ve experienced. You hear the pain in their voices but you never see it in their eyes and so that tells me that the Bula Spirit, no matter what situation we’re in, will soldier on no matter the circumstances.

With this blog post I urge everyone reading to help support local tourism. At a time like this, we need to help each other out. If you have extra cash for a weekend getaway or if you feel like treating your family over Christmas, book into a resort and enjoy your family time there because what you may not know is that what you’re doing is giving a job back to somebody who lost it a few months ago who has kids to feed and rent to pay.

Vinaka Navutu Stars Resort for an amazing adventure.

Travel local and support local tourism.