I Visited a Private Island in Fiji, and I’m Never Going Back to Regular Vacations
As an entertainment editor here at Cosmo, travel stories aren't typically part of my day job. But when I got an email about taking a celeb-approved trip to VOMO Island Resort in Fiji, I jumped at the chance. I mean, honestly, who would turn down an all-expenses paid trip...to Fiji?! And at a super luxe resort, no less. It looked like the perfect getaway to help cure my winter blues, and I'm nothing if not a lover of fancy, celeb-adjacent things.
The famous person in question is Rebel Wilson, who loves Fiji so much she just shot a whole tourism campaign for the country. She also stayed at VOMO Island Resort when she was there, and I got to basically copy her itinerary. And let me tell you, that gal knows how to vacation.
It's probably been a while since you've seen a friend vacationing in Fiji on your Instagram feed. That's because the country was closed to tourists for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it finally re-opened to travelers as of December 2021, which made it the perfect time to go. From the beautiful weather to the incredible people, you really, really need to put Fiji on your travel bucket list.
[Editor's note: This author received comp'ed meals, experiences, accommodations, and flights to be able to write this story.]
The Fiji packing list, for looking cute and being comfy:
How you're getting there...
If you're a little rusty on your geography, you might not remember that Fiji is really, really far from the U.S. Like, it's basically next to Australia. From New York, we flew six hours to Los Angeles and then another 11 hours from LAX to Nadi, Fiji. Between getting to the airport early and our layover time, we traveled over 24 hours to get there. Essentially, this is not a trip for the faint of heart, but it was worth it.
Part of what made the flight so enjoyable is that Fiji Airways hooked both my boyfriend and me up with seats in business class, which is their version of first class. Not only did we feel incredibly fahncy hanging out in the first class lounge at LAX, which was a perk of our tickets, but we each got seats on the plane that reclined all the way to make a bed. I have literally never been able to sleep on a plane (trust me, I've tried all the hacks) but I was able to get five full hours of sleep on the Fiji Airways flight. It was—simply put—a miracle.
We walked off the plane feeling refreshed instead of groggy, and we were able to actually use the first day of our vacation, instead of spending it napping or trying to fight the jet lag. It's definitely a splurge to pay for business class yourself, but if you wanna maximize your vacation, I highly recommend it.
Once we landed in Nadi, we had to get to our actual island, VOMO. There are two ways to do that: by helicopter and boat. We were lucky enough to take a helicopter, courtesy of Island Hoppers. You could say the view was nice!
Where you're staying...
Fiji is a country made up of hundreds of islands, and a lot of those islands are home to only one or two resorts, max. But what makes VOMO special is that there's only one resort on the island and there's nothing else. No grocery stores, no gas stations, nothing, hence the "private island" of it all. There are other people staying at the resort, but there are only about 30 villas total, which means you can go hours without seeing another guest. It helps that the individual buildings that make up the resort (the spa, the gym, the doctor's office, etc.) are spread out. And you can walk around the entire island without running into a fence that says, like, "Guests only beyond this point," or whatever. It felt like we had an entire island to ourselves. And this is what that island looks like:
You might be thinking, Wait, I'm pretty sure that picture is actually a desktop background from a Dell computer circa 2005. It's not though, I promise.
Another factor that contributed to the luxe, private island feel of VOMO is that there's a whole pool and bar that's just for adults. We spent a few afternoons there and saw hardly anyone else. VOMO has a day care and nanny service that guests rave about, but this adults-only area was a huge perk for the childless among us (read: me).
The other great thing about vacationing in Fiji in the year 2022 is that you do almost everything outside, except for sleeping. You even eat all your meals outdoors. And because we know that COVID doesn't transmit as easily in ~nature~, it feels really safe. If your whole vacation takes place outside, your likelihood of getting COVID theoretically goes way down. That made it the most relaxing vacation I've taken since March 2020.
What you're eating and drinking...
VOMO has two different restaurants, and all the food is included in the price you pay for your villa. When I say "all-inclusive," you might have a picture in your head of runny eggs and bad salads. That is def not the case here. The food is *incredible*. I ate more fruit in one week than I have in a year, which is embarrassing, but whatever. (VOMO also has a full vegetarian menu at every meal, so if you're into doing solely fruits and veggies at every meal you have more than enough options.)
Yes, that is fresh passion fruit. Thanks for asking! And the cocktails are just as good. Pro tip: Try the coconut margaritas. They're to die for.
Another island perk? The seafood. I mean, you’re…in the middle of the ocean so it makes sense. I had some of the best scallops I’ve ever had at VOMO. Also, maybe not something you'd ordinarily order back home, but you *need* to try the blueberry gazpacho bc it was was out of this world, trust me.
What you're doing...
Let's get one thing straight: I'm not a morning person. You're lucky to get me out of bed by 9 a.m. when I'm at home, but in Fiji I suddenly had the ability to wake up at 6 a.m. With all that extra morning time, we started each day with a hike or walk around the island. This was the view from the top of Mt. VOMO, an extinct volcano on the island. Again, I can't stress this enough, I almost never do stuff like this, but when in Rome Fiji!
The snorkeling is also a huge selling-point. VOMO offers tons of snorkeling and scuba diving trips daily, but I didn't have much snorkeling experience, so I didn't think much of it. But we were on a hike one morning with another guest and he couldn't say enough about the daily snorkel excursion, and I'm so glad we took his advice and went. The resort manager at VOMO even coordinated a snorkel trip where we got to swim with sharks. I don't have any pictures because I was too busy being, um, scared of the sharks, but it was unreal.
And when we weren't hanging out with water predators or scaling volcanoes, we were spending our time enjoying the insanely beautiful scenery. Case in point:
VOMO also set us up with some couple-specific activities. On our first day there, we had a jet lag recovery massage as a couple that truly brought me back to life, even though, as I mentioned above, those business class seats did a lot of the work for us. To say the spa at VOMO is serene would be an understatement.
But the most incredible thing we did on the trip was spend an afternoon on the private island across from VOMO, which is lovingly called Little VOMO (or VOMO Lailai). You might be saying to yourself, I thought you were already basically on a private island. Yes, that's correct! But VOMO also owns a little island next to theirs, and they bring people there for private picnics. The island in question:
So we got on a boat that brought us to this island, they gave us a walkie-talkie (so nostalgic), and left us there for a few hours. There were no other people there. It was one of those moments where you look around and you're like, "How is this place real?" Which, honestly, we found ourselves saying multiple times a day on our trip to Fiji.
I'm literally begging you and your S.O. to take a trip there to experience this romantic magic for yourselves.
The final verdict...
Fiji is an incredible place, and VOMO is where you should stay when you figure that out for yourself. Not only is it jaw-droppingly beautiful, but people go there to truly unplug. It took me a few days to realize that I didn't see a single TV in the whole resort. And I can count on one hand the amount of times I saw someone on their phone. I brought my laptop along and I think I opened it one time.
It's the kind of place where you can go and actually forget about the world, and after the last two years we've had, I can't recommend that enough.
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