Makare Spa at Musket Cove Island Resort in Fiji. Photo / Christopher Reive
From traditional bobo massages to floating bars in turquoise seas, Fiji proves the ultimate place to relax your body and mind, writes Christopher Reive.
Face down in the dim light, I felt the stress slip away.
In this environment, it’s an easy thing to do. Beneath the massage bed, hibiscus flowers float in a bowl of water. A faint floral scent wafts through the room as the sounds of an acoustic guitar whisper out from a stereo. The ambience is fitting for the traditional Fijian bobo massage; a technique passed down through generations, which uses long, gentle strokes and targeted muscle manipulation to aid in relaxation and enhance circulation.
Strolling into Makare Spa at Musket Cove Island Resort for my appointment, the ambience is set immediately. From the reception room, you are taken on a short walk through the facility, past bures with thatched roofs, and the vibrant green leaves of palm trees and other plants to an area to wait while the room is prepared. Here, guests are offered cold ginger tea – sweet, refreshing and full of flavour – and a scented face cloth should you wish to cool off, which, given the consistently balmy climate in Fiji, is a welcome offer.
As someone who hasn’t received many full-body massages, I’m surprised by the request to completely disrobe. Yet, as a staff member later explains, guests are welcome to keep their underwear on; extra layers just make massaging around the glute muscles a little less effective.
It’s an awkward motion, swinging one’s naked body on to the table then trying to feel around for and position the sheet over you, but for the next 50 minutes, it’s the last thing I have to think about. I’m staring through the hole in the headrest at the bowl of flowers when the masseuse returns and the bobo massage begins.
Starting with the neck and shoulders – the key area for someone like myself who makes a living sitting at a desk hunched over a keyboard – before slowly working down the back all the way to the feet. I’m then asked to flip myself over, before the front (quads, arms and chest) is targeted. The description of the massage is bang-on, too; firm enough to ease tension whilst still being relaxing, and I come out feeling loose, refreshed and in better nick than when I entered.
I’m perfectly set up, then, to undo all of that with a spot of active relaxation, jumping off the top of Cloud 9 – the floating bar anchored at the Ro Ro Reef off the coast of Malolo Island. Among the handful of additional activities available to guests at Musket Cove, Cloud 9 sits just a short boat ride away with a morning and an afternoon trip each day. It’s everything I had expected when I heard the term floating bar.
The wooden structure sits on the horizon like a mirage in the wide blue sea. Stepping on, you’re almost immediately at the counter where a wide-ranging drinks menu awaits. However, I have much more important business to attend to before parking up with a cocktail, and moments later, I hurl myself off the top level into the waiting arms of the ocean below, before gearing up with snorkelling equipment available at the bar. Soon, I’m surrounded by fish, as they crowd around the occasional pizza scrap that falls into the water, holding firm to the guide ropes against the strong current.
If you don’t want to take a dip, there is plenty of room on the top level, where you can indulge in the extensive drinks menu and freshly made pizza from the wood-fired oven, while watching fish and sea turtles glide below. There are certainly worse places in the world to watch an afternoon pass you by.
FIJI
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Nadi direct with Fiji Airways.
DETAILS
Musket Cove Island Resort and Marina | musketcovefiji.com Cloud 9 | cloud9.com.fj
New Zealand Herald Travel visited courtesy of Tourism Fiji.