Hiapo Cockett's 2009 Fiji Trip
Jean Michel Cousteau Resort

In the entire world, there are few people who truly love children the way the Fijian people do. And in all of Fiji, the one place that has the best reputation for children is Jean Michel Cousteau. Not only do kids stay and eat free (up to 2 before an extra charge applies), but their enormous varieties of activities are mostly included without additional charge also. Now when I say they love children, I do not mean in a passive-aggressive way where some caregiver smiles until you turn your back, there is love to be seen in every gesture and smile of the Fijians. This morning during breakfast I saw a child of perhaps 2 years collecting plumeria flowers from the ground, she clearly needed one more, but she had cleared the ground of all flowers. Along comes a Fijian, not one who was assigned as nanny, but just one of the crew cleaning around the deck, and she reaches up into the plumeria tree and plucks another flower for the little girl.

For the children, there is a “Bula Club” full of activities ranging from arts and crafts to “edutainment” teaching them about the native plants and their uses. They have a family pool (separate from the adults-only, aptly named “tranquility pool”), which has a water slide. For the adults, they have snorkeling and diving trips led by their own live in marine biologist, who was our personal snorkel guide, pointing out the unbelievable variety of fish and coral.

Here is the conundrum. When most people think of the term “family resort”, they think of a family Club Med, perhaps a Beaches Resort (nothing wrong with either of them), or (if more upscale) one of the better Disney resorts. Sadly, this conjures visions of screaming, ankle biting, rug-rats, dragging their exhausted parents around by the arm. Nothing could be further from that image here and Jean Michel Cousteau. Here, the family dining hours are (slightly) separated from couples dining hours, and the family dining area is on the far side of the main dining room, so even during breakfast, you do not have couples with the families, AND if mom and dad need a little “us time”, the loving Fijians take the kids and give mom and dad a much needed inoculation of love. And OH IS IT ROMANTIC! The “tranquility pool” is lined with brightly colored daybeds, each with it’s own individual ceiling fan above it, at night, the pool transforms into the romantic dining area of your dreams: surrounding the pool are kerosene lanterns, the lighting in the rest of the room is subdued, allowing each table’s candlelight (candle lanterns with a collection of local tropical flowers) to become the focus point.

And when it comes to dining, WOW! You typically have “dinner specials”, how about “breakfast specials”? Well presented, every meal is a delight to the palate, where fresh local ingredients are combined by some of the best chefs in the Pacific. Every night, the “Bula Boys” sit around their Kava bowl and sing, not only the local Fijian folk songs, but also some of your favorite covers (I heard some Clapton, U2 and even a Bob Marley song).

The rooms follow the color themes of the pools with bright linens, open airy spaces, large dark wood cupboards, and standard bedding for 3 in the entry level rooms (roll away beds supplied for a second child). Their ocean front rooms come with 2 person hammocks and several of those also come with a second room raising the occupancy up to 5 (6 with a roll away bed).
 
Their Point Reef Villas have the best views on the resort and are quite a bit larger coming standard with a king bed and 2 single beds and a wet bar. One of them even has a private Jacuzzi on the deck overlooking the ocean.

At the end of the resort, with the best view is “The Villa”. This is arguably one of the nicest rooms in the Pacific and has their ultimate luxury appointments: two rooms, one is a seating area with convertible sofa (perfect for traveling families), besides a bathroom with a stone shower and dark polished wood everywhere, it has a small kitchen with refrigerator (stocked with soda, milk, water, fruit, candies, beer and wine), it even has a washing machine and dishwasher built into the sink (not that you would be expected to use them). Between this room and the master suite, there is an open atrium with a dining area, several lounges, a huge day bed under a thatched roof and ceiling fans over everything. There is also a hot shower at the edge of your deck, just so you do not have to rinse the salt water off with cold water. The centerpiece to this area is a large, horizon edge plunge pool overlooking your own chunk of beach with chairs and a hammock. This is a great place to hang out and enjoy a sunset cocktail with snacks (complementary every evening) and watch not only a perfect tropical sunset, but also the cute little toads and land crabs that scurry about at that time.

Then comes the real “wow factor”. The master suite is entered through sliding louvered doors. The first thing that meets you are the twin, large, glass bowl sinks separated by a stone staircase. On the far side of the room is another stone shower, this one with two showerheads. The centerpiece of this room is a large stone Jacuzzi with room for two to lie down side by side. Both the shower and Jacuzzi face one wall of the suite composed entirely of floor to ceiling glass, this faces your own private courtyard. In your courtyard is a waterfall supplying a perfect sound to carry you off to sleep. Also in the courtyard is ANOTHER shower, again with 2 showerheads (were they worried I might ever get dirty?). Another dining area rounds out the courtyard. Ascending the stairs brings you into the boudoir, complete with a four-poster, curtained bed with it’s own ceiling fan, twin walk in closets (with automatic lights), and an iPod dock, and CD player that supplies hidden speakers throughout the villa. 

If you can’t find your own “happy place” at Jean Michel Cousteau, you just aren’t trying!

Hiapo Cockett

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