Likuliku Lagoon Resort: Island life in Fiji's luxury overwater and beachside bures

Likuliku means "calm waters" and it's fair to say that the limpid seas beneath Fiji's Likuliku Lagoon Resort can have a soothing efect on one's soul.

From fussing over work and school commitments back home, I find it oh-so easy to slip into island mode the moment I hear the floral-shirted singers' serenade upon my arrival. Resort manager Tulia Seru is on hand, accompanied by a canine companion wearing sunglasses. Coco, the resort's resident golden labrador, wags her tail furiously, perhaps excited by the knowledge of what lays ahead.

At the adults-only resort – on Malolo Island, 25 kilometres west of Nadi – there's a choice of staying in 45 traditional-design garden, beachside or overwater bures. There are 10 overwater bures, complete with glass floors for observing the tapestry of coral and colourful reef fish found in the waters below one's feet. They're even floodlit at night, so you can watch shy creatures, such as octopus and shellfish, venture out from their hidey-holes to feed. Each overwater bure also has its own ladder so guests can lower themselves into the water to swim or snorkel.

I'm assigned a deluxe beachside bure on the opposite side of the bay from the overwater bures. While it doesn't have glass floors, and it's not suspended above coral reefs, it is shaded by towering fig trees and pandanus leaves and has its own plunge pool. The pool is an accessory I'm determined to make the most of and one which I find is best enjoyed with a fruit cocktail or glass of chilled bubbly, sipped slowly while reading my novel on a private sun bed.

I soon realise that my room's lavish accoutrements quell my natural instinct to rush around doing everything the resort has on offer. Kayak across the lagoon? That can wait. Hike up to Yadra Vula ridge? Not today, thanks. Snorkel? Uh-uh.

Instead, after lunching on a delicious coral lobster accompanied by baby fennel, red chard and a dill and mustard vinaigrette, followed by a dessert of bush lemon tart, Fijian vanilla and citrus creme, I'm content to laze beside my pool and allow that island vibe so many talk about when visiting Fiji, to weave its beautiful spell.

I read a bit. I swim in my pool. I read a bit more. Then I nap. And before I know it, it's time to eat again. I order seared mangrove jack this time, then a sweet Musket Cove mango, pineapple, mint and blueberry bavarois.