Anyone been? Thoughts? Better island in Fiji to visit?

We were right next door on Matangi. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Well I've never been to either so I'm just looking for basic information. Where does it rank on tropical/beach destinations that you've been to? Would you go again? Best and worst part of the resort and/or accomodations? How were food/drinks?

If you look back a few pages on the travel board you will find a thread where a guy is looking for recommendations between Fiji, Bora Bora, and Kauai - might be worth checking out for you.

I really like Fiji for a honeymoon, particularly the smaller private resorts. We also considered French Polynesia. FP was excluded though b/c there are some issues getting married there - our plan all along was to run off and elope. Also, it looked like we would get a little more for our money as far as the "exclusivity" of the resort. Not something I would care for usually, but for a honeymoon it was something we wanted. Certainly plenty of awesome places in French Polynesia, but the small resort on a private island was more tempting for us on that trip.

There were 20 or less guests on Matangi while we were there - I think Qamea is comparable or a little larger. The staff:guest ratio is insane, you get tons of attention and all of the staff were great. All of the staff gather and sing when you first show up on your boat and when you leave - maybe slightly cheesy but still really cool.

All food is included and AMAZING. You have to pay for drinks unless someone gets married (free and very strong tropical punch) or there is some other event. The drinks were really good. B/C of how small the place is everybody eats at roughly the same time in an open air beautiful dining area. They start banging on a big drum when lunch and dinner start, that is your queue to go eat.

If you go to Matangi, doing the day trip to the horseshoe lagoon is a must. They will take you around to that side of the island by boat, leave you with a picnic lunch, (optionally) give you a massage, and then leave you alone for the day. Probably the single most beautiful place I've been in, but unfortunately it was quite rainy off and on for us that day. Still, pretty cool that you get the entire lagoon to yourself. They stock the little cabin at the lagoon with scuba gear, kayaks, etc.

We did very little but sit on our porch, go for walks, and talk to the other guests. One or two events or excursions are scheduled every day if you want to do more. Many, but not all, are free. One evening they brought in some villagers from Qamea to put on a pre-dinner show, another day they would take you to Taveuni to hike to a waterfall (we passed, we live in waterfall country), scuba trips, etc. So, there is definitely stuff to do if you want it (we generally didn't). My guess is that on Qamea there are quite a few more hiking trails and parts of the island to explore due to the size.

We did 5 days at Matangi, and then 8 on New Zealand. I probably would have started to get a little bored on Matangi if we stayed a week or more, 5 days was perfect for us. If you are partaking in more of the excursions then longer might be nicer.

I can e-mail you a link to some of our pictures if you want. I don't want to share the link on here b/c I don't know how to get Picasa web albums to not show my name.

If you just want a nice beach there are plenty of closer and cheaper places to go to, Fiji (or other South Pacific) is more about the overall experience IMO.