It had been 18 years since my last time in Fiji, back then it was at Bega Island, all the way in the South. This time around, with help of google searches and gemini AI for some suggestions that were not full of commercials, or as biased, it suggested Taveuni as one Island that a mix of land activities and world class diving. Within that, Paradise Taveuni came well recommended. The resort was indeed quite nice, although its non diving activities were somewhat limited and the resort itself was very small with nothing walking distance, so I would not recommend it for someone not snorkeling or diving daily.
With that being said, the staff was lovely, so were the accomodations, and outside of totally screwing up our airport pickup and having no one to contact or any phone number that was answered, the staff was absolutely lovely on all levels.

Flying to Fiji not in coach turns out to be quite expensive since Fiji Airways is indeed the only way to get there, and while LAX has daily flights, SFO is not every day (and in a lesser plane as I found out later). So while I hate connections that can be skipped, about as much as I dislike connecting through LAX, after 20 years, LAX finally connected terminals on the secure side, so putting aside that it was a long ass walk, at least it was without doing security again

nicer plane from LAX to Nadi, just quite expensive

Once in Nadi, our plane was just a tiny bit late, and retrieving luggage took so long that it was 5mn too late for the connecting plane to Taveuni that was still there but boarding had closed. Thankfully the one 1h later had room, so not too bad except for Paradise Taveuni not reading or answering any messages and not being aware of the plane change. There was no one there to wait for us or anyone who tried to call me, or anyone to call. I managed to find a random driver for another company that new the driver I Was supposed to be with, and called him on the road to turn around and come back:

small plane :)

second smallest commercial plane I've flown in, but thankfully they were nice with luggage weight

After a snafu with pickup and a longish car ride around the island (over 1h ending on a crappy dirt road), welcome to paradise:

onsite farm for food

food was pretty good

made my own coconut juice :)

made a little friend :)

onsite activities included making fans and baskets:

nice dinner made the traditional way

still no complaints about food :)

They did have a nearby village visit as well as a nearby farm, which were both interesting:

And after 8 days and a bunch of dives, it was time to leave paradise. Thanks to all the staff that took great care of us.

So long: