Tawali Leisure & Dive Resort

Was the only guest during their quiet period. Very well looked after by Kathy and team. Food very fantastic and very generously served. Very peaceful location. Snorkelling was absolutely fantastic and Nathan was a helpful guide. Enjoyed the skull caves. Would be very happy to go back, but maybe not in January when I hear the ocean is often choppy.

Stayed at Tawali over the Easter weekend. It as advertised as a 3 night stay but our flight to Alotau was cancelled on Good Friday - so we only got to stay 2 nights. Flight was good - and was picked up by their bus at the Alotau airport - travelled for about 1+ hours to then board a boat to the resort. Was accompanied by an armed guard the whole trip and felt very safe. A lovely warm welcome on arrival and although it was drizzling with rain on the first afternoon -my husband and I ventured for a swim and a snorkel at the home reef. Great visibility and some beautiful fish - really enjoyed the afternoon snorkeling. Drinks and dinner on the deck - food was plentiful and tasty. Met some other travelers and we were entertained by some local dancers. We booked a snorkeling trip the following day along with some other guests - was perfect weather and we explored the coral garden. Magnificent snorkeling. My advice would be to take some money with you - as the locals paddled out selling lovely shells - but I was not able to buy any as I did not take cash (because snorkeling!!). The rooms were adequate - not luxurious by any stretch but we enjoyed the tranquil surroundings -room was serviced daily. Staff were lovely and very helpful. I would definitely go again. I think 2 nights was not enough. You really need minimum of 3 nights to see everything.

Huge disappoin**ent, from A to Z unfortunately, with only a very few positives to report. Overall, the resort seems to be under a lot of economic pressure, due to low number of travelers, and that has unfortunately impacted services and business approach. It started with the shuttle service, for which guests are being charged, that took almost 2 hours (instead of one) since after airport pickup other guests needed to be picked up from an oil palm plantation that was located in the opposite direction. They could have easily been picked up in advance, instead of having all other travelers driven 2 hours back and forth. Upon arrival I was informed that the resort made in error with my invoice - which I had pre-paid - now more than doubling my room prince. Not even a small discount was offered for an error totally beyond my control. I ended up paying 3 full extra nights that were ‘overlooked’ during booking. Rooms are not up to standard. The most annoying thing is that the floor is shared with the adjacent bungalow and hence all movement, steps and everything else (!) happing next door is also felt in your bungalow half and vice versa. Zero privacy is the result. Food quality is average and over the Chris**as holidays hordes of day tourists arrived, playing loud music on the beach and ruining any aspirations for a ‘getaway’ holiday in a ‘remote’ resort. Some days we sat on the back porch since loud day tourist groups occupied the main dining area. Not even the highly paying longer term guests were prioritized. We needed to pay for an expensive day trip by boat to a remote little uninhabited island just to have a day of calm. The large dive boat is broken dawn, rusting at the jetty and used as bunk bed hostel for large package groups. Divers are being taken out in small boats. There is no safe in the room. The list is long, but unfortunately this is the bitter truth and experience we had. Avoid going during holiday season, try the off season - if at all - as you will otherwise get the opposite of calm, remoteness and nature you have paid for. No value for money. Staff other wise friendly and carting. There’s a local replacement cook that is much better than the expatriate regular cook. Cocktails are good, though expensive.

Tawali's location is really peacefull and amazing, surrounded by untouched wilderness and crystal clear water. Spacious and comfortable rooms that might deserve a slight refreshing. High quality service for housekeeping, meals, guided tours... We were not yet OW certified at that time so we only snorkeled but it was already great ! We will definitely come back to explore diving spots there.