The Resort Seemed Perfect...Until the Birds!
- Digital Rabbit
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
I’m flying to Singapore in the fall. It’s halfway around the world, airfare is expensive, and the options are limited. The nonstop flight on United clocks in at nearly 18 hours. That’s a long time to sit still with one’s thoughts. The nonstop to London already feels like a marathon at just over 10 hours.
So I decided to take a different route: Fiji Airways, with an optional layover in Fiji before continuing on to Singapore. I chose a five-day stop. It won’t save money once hotel costs are factored in, but it offers something far more valuable—an excuse to experience Fiji.
Fiji Airways suggests several hotels for layover travelers, so I began there. Most are near the airport and designed for maximum fun: music by the pool, organized games, trivia nights, perhaps even a conga line if morale dips. All perfectly lovely. Just not my idea of a tropical escape.
I want Fiji in its quieter register. Less bingo, more breeze.
After some searching, I found what appeared to be the perfect solution: Matamanoa Island Resort. Adults-only. Its own island. White sand beaches. Just 47 rooms. It sounded like the kind of place where the loudest noise would be a palm frond considering its life choices.
Before booking, I did what I always do: I checked the reviews on Tripadvisor. A respectable 4.4 out of 5. Excellent. But as I read further, a theme began to emerge.
Birds.
Not just birds. Noisy birds.
I dismissed this at first. Surely these were travelers who found nature… inconvenient. The sort who expect a remote island to behave like a library.
But then I dug a little deeper.
Matamanoa Island, it turns out, is a nesting site for the night petrel, a nocturnal bird whose call is widely described as sounding like a crying baby. Not a metaphorical crying baby. An actual, full-throated, 2 a.m., “someone please make it stop” crying baby.
One guest even posted a recording. It was less “nature soundtrack” and more “haunted nursery.”
Naturally, I checked the timing. Peak nesting season aligns perfectly with my visit. And the charming standalone bures are located right in the middle of the nesting grounds. Front-row seats.
At this point, the resort began to feel less like a tranquil escape and more like an all-inclusive package featuring insomnia.
Fortunately, Fiji has many other small, secluded islands with quiet resorts that are not favored by birds with theatrical ambitions. I’ve booked instead at Royal Davui Island Resort, which promises serenity without the all-night vocal performances.
And so, once again, I am reminded: always read the reviews.
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