Fiji Beachouse Resort – a hidden treasure

Sara being Sara looking towards the ocean at the Beachouse

After a two hour journey through Fiji country by bus, thanks to Henry’s fine directions, I arrived at Beachouse, http://fijibeachouse.com, recommended in actual fact by Henry.  I had to say, that after my embracing experience at Bamboo I did not expect to be as enthralled at the Beachouse.  But I was proven wrong.

The admittance was not quite a family friendly as at the Bamboo, but we are dealing with a much bigger establishment.  This resort is comprised of many detached buildings set on 8 hectacres directly on an oceanfront lagoon – aka paradise.  In actual fact, this resort was used by the British reality series Love Shack a number of years back.  So some of the infrastructure was invigorated by that experience.  A gorgeous garden of tropical plants surrounds each and every building.  The resort has been in business for 15 years.

The view along the Beachouse beach with the coconut tree swing

Aftrer a brief roam about to orient myself, I relished the fact that there was a pool to refresh in, a number of hammocks to chill in, numerous sitting and dining locales and a pleasant relaxing and gentle atmosphere.  As is always the case when you arrive at a new hostel, it takes a little bit of time to orient yourself, notice who else it there, what resources you have been provided and what you are likely to do with your time.

Slightly more expensive than Bamboo, with good reason, the dorm room was $35 FJD/night due to the referral from Bamboo, normally $40FJD/night.  Privates are also available.  Breakfast is included as well as an afternoon tea.  Drinking water is freely available and there is a cafe to order from throughout the day if you are hungry.  Prices vary from $8 – $20 FJD depending.  At night the dinner menu offers 3 or 4 specific dinner items priced between $14 – $20. Like all places in Fiji, there is happy hour, and Fijian beer is always a good deal.

Still healing my silly foot, I was ginger with my exploration of the beach and water although I did take a dip to cool off.  Beachouse, as I noted, is situated on an ocean lagoon with a coral reef.  Out towards the ocean, you can see the waves break as if hitting a shore.  I went for a swim the second day with my goggles on and was able to see many coral fish diving and ducking behind many coral features.

Beachouse lagoon and distant crashing surf

I met the owner, Andrew Brown, later that first day.  Andrew is a lovely man filled with ideas about what to do with his establishment and eager to branch out.  The two of us got to talking about natural house building – my specialty of course – and some of the plans he currently had underway.  I told him about my project and we discussed using local clay and fibre to help with some relief work he wanted to do in the bathrooms being added to the refurbished private suites.

Andrew Brown at Beachouse

Well the next day, night and following morning we continued to discuss the various building techniques I was experienced in and Andrew had one of his men go and find some clay in the jungle, which he promptly returned back with – lovely red ochre clay.  We then determined that the fibre from the inside of the coconut was ideal.  The next morning, this morning actually, we did a test batch.  Although he is using portland cement, I think we managed to come up with a good recipe which he can use.  It was a pleasure to be able to impart some of my knowledge in another country in a helpful way.  It was doubly fun to toss around ideas with such an open-minded and interested individual such as Andrew.

Andrew is very interested in eco-friendly approaches and his mind never seems to stop working as he comtemplates different directions he can take his establishment.

Needless to say and as you can tell from my review above, I quite enjoyed Beachouse and wish I had planned to stay there longer.  It definitely is a paradillic (is that a word I just made up?) oasis where you can be entertained quite easily at least for 4 or 5 days by yourself and longer if with friends or family.

I truly recommend it for it’s more established and developed atmosphere and still embracing a somewhat larger family like atmosphere.  I always like places where I have direct access and opportunity to meet and engage with the owner.  Beachouse offers that, just like Bamboo but in a more developed manner.