Fatboy’s Resort is located in the Vona Vona Lagoon near Gizo in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. Set on a small private island surrounded by calm tropical waters, the resort provides access to one of the South Pacific’s most diverse marine environments while offering a relaxed island setting. The surrounding region is known for healthy coral reefs, historic World War II wrecks, picturesque lagoons, and numerous small islands waiting to be explored.
The resort caters to divers, surfers, anglers, couples, families, and small groups seeking a quieter alternative to more developed island destinations. Its location allows guests to combine underwater exploration with cultural experiences, island-hopping excursions, and water-based activities, all within easy reach of Gizo.
Facilities & Meals
Fatboy’s Resort features an overwater restaurant and bar, guest lounge areas, private beaches, complimentary kayaks and paddle craft, boat hire, and dedicated facilities for diving and fishing excursions. The open-air restaurant overlooks the lagoon and specializes in locally sourced seafood, fresh tropical produce, and a combination of Solomon Islands favourites and international cuisine. Guests can also arrange private picnic lunches on nearby islands or secluded beaches for a more personalized dining experience.
Activities
Beyond scuba diving, guests can enjoy snorkelling, surfing, fishing, island-hopping, kayaking, paddleboarding, and guided excursions throughout the surrounding islands. Popular day trips include Kennedy Island, Skull Island, Kolombangara Island, Rendova, Simbo, Liapari, and Olosana, where visitors can experience local culture, volcanic landscapes, beaches, and historical sites.
Staying Connected
Wi-Fi is available in the resort’s common areas, although speeds and reliability may vary due to the remote island location. Mobile coverage is generally available but can fluctuate depending on weather conditions.
We Think . . .
Fatboy’s Resort is well-suited to travellers looking for a comfortable island base with easy access to diving, surfing, fishing, and island exploration. Its combination of overwater accommodation, relaxed atmosphere, and proximity to some of the Solomon Islands’ best dive sites makes it suitable for couples, families, and adventure travellers alike.
Fatboy’s Resort is situated within the sheltered waters of Vona Vona Lagoon near Gizo in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. This region lies within the Coral Triangle and is recognized for its exceptional marine biodiversity, clear tropical waters, and extensive reef systems. The lagoon itself is protected by surrounding islands, creating calm conditions while still providing quick access to offshore reefs and open-water dive sites.
The area also holds significant historical importance, with many Japanese aircraft, barges, and shipwrecks from World War II scattered throughout the surrounding waters. These historic wrecks have become thriving artificial reefs that attract both marine life and underwater photographers.
How to Get There
International flights arrive in Honiara before connecting to Gizo Airport via domestic services. Upon arrival in Gizo, guests are transferred by boat to Fatboy’s Resort, with the journey across Vona Vona Lagoon taking approximately 15 to 20 minutes depending on weather and sea conditions.
Fatboy’s Resort offers a range of accommodation options designed for couples, families, and small groups. Each room includes comfortable furnishings, private bathrooms, ceiling fans or air conditioning where applicable, hot and cold showers, in-room safes, and private outdoor spaces overlooking the surrounding lagoon or tropical gardens.
Deluxe Overwater Bungalow
The Deluxe Overwater Bungalow is the resort’s premium accommodation and one of the few overwater bungalows in the Solomon Islands. Positioned directly above the lagoon, it combines traditional island architecture with modern comforts. The bungalow features a double bed, an optional additional single bed, air conditioning, a lounge area, tea and coffee facilities, a refrigerator, a wardrobe, and a spacious private balcony with direct water access for swimming or snorkelling.
Family Bungalows
Designed for families and larger groups, the duplex-style Family Bungalows include a master bedroom with a queen bed and a second bedroom with three single beds. Each unit has a private bathroom with hot water, refrigerator, wardrobe, and a shared verandah overlooking the beach. The flexible layout allows adjoining units to be combined for larger groups travelling together.
Traditional Couples Bungalows
The traditional-style bungalows, Mara and Kusui, provide a peaceful retreat for couples seeking a quieter island experience. Both feature double beds, private bathrooms, kitchenettes, refrigerators, and private balconies with views across Vona Vona Lagoon. Mara sits slightly elevated above the shoreline, while Kusui extends partially over the water, allowing guests to enjoy uninterrupted lagoon views.
Beach House Apartment
The Beach House Apartment offers additional space for families or groups wanting greater privacy. Spread across two levels, the apartment overlooks its own section of beach with panoramic views towards Kennedy Island. Both levels include queen bedrooms, private bathrooms, balconies, refrigerators, wardrobes, and the option of interconnecting accommodation for larger groups.
Dive Services
Fatboy’s Dive Resort has an onsite dive centre, offering guided scuba diving, free diving, and snorkelling excursions throughout the Gizo region. Boat dives are organised daily according to weather, tides, and diver experience, allowing access to both nearby reefs and more distant offshore sites. Equipment rental, guided dives, refresher courses, and dive packages can be arranged, while snorkelers are catered for with visits to shallow reefs and lagoon environments suitable for all experience levels.
Diving Location Features
The waters surrounding Fatboy’s Resort are among the Solomon Islands’ most diverse diving destinations, offering coral gardens, steep reef walls, sheltered lagoons, historic wrecks, and offshore reefs. Situated within the Coral Triangle, the area supports remarkable marine biodiversity, with healthy hard corals providing habitat for hundreds of reef fish species, turtles, reef sharks, rays, and countless macro subjects.
One of the defining characteristics of diving around Gizo is the combination of pristine reefs and wartime history. Numerous Japanese wrecks from World War II lie scattered throughout the region, now completely transformed into colourful artificial reefs covered with corals and marine life. The variety of dive environments makes the area equally appealing to underwater photographers, recreational divers, and those interested in maritime history.
Best Time to Dive
Diving is available throughout the year, although the dry season from April to November generally offers the best overall conditions. During these months, seas are typically calmer, underwater visibility commonly ranges between 20 and 40 metres, and weather conditions are well-suited to both reef and wreck diving.
Water temperatures remain warm year-round, averaging between 27°C and 30°C, allowing comfortable diving in a lightweight wetsuit. The wetter months between December and March may bring occasional rain and reduced visibility at some inshore sites, although marine life remains abundant and diving continues throughout the year.
Dive Sites
Japanese WWII Wrecks
The waters surrounding Gizo contain one of the South Pacific’s largest collections of accessible World War II wrecks. Japanese transport vessels, barges, and aircraft now support thriving coral growth that has developed over decades. These artificial reefs provide habitat for glassfish, lionfish, groupers, sweetlips, snappers, moray eels, batfish, and numerous macro species, making every dive a combination of history and marine biodiversity.
Grand Central Station
Grand Central Station is regarded as one of the region’s signature reef dives, where several reef systems intersect to create strong fish activity. Currents attract large schools of fusiliers, trevallies, barracuda, tuna, and reef sharks, while the coral-covered slopes provide shelter for butterflyfish, angelfish, wrasse, surgeonfish, and countless smaller reef species.
Toa Maru
The Toa Maru is a Japanese cargo vessel resting upright on the seabed after sinking during World War II. Today, the wreck is covered in hard and soft corals, with schools of soldierfish, snapper, batfish, and glassfish occupying the cargo holds and open deck areas. Divers frequently encounter moray eels hiding within the structure, while nudibranchs, shrimps, and crabs can often be found among the coral growth.
Reef Walls and Coral Gardens
The reef systems surrounding Vona Vona Lagoon feature healthy hard coral gardens that gradually descend into deeper walls. These reefs support colourful communities of butterflyfish, parrotfish, damselfish, triggerfish, anemonefish, and surgeonfish, while hawksbill turtles, eagle rays, reef sharks, and schooling barracuda regularly patrol the deeper sections. Excellent visibility and relatively calm conditions make these sites suitable for divers of varying experience levels.
Lagoon Reefs
The sheltered lagoon surrounding the resort offers relaxed diving and snorkelling among coral bommies, sandy patches, and seagrass beds. These shallow habitats support octopus, cuttlefish, gobies, garden eels, blue-spotted stingrays, pipefish, juvenile reef fish, and a variety of colourful reef invertebrates. Night dives reveal hunting crustaceans, sleeping parrotfish, decorator crabs, and other nocturnal marine life that remain hidden during daylight hours.
Pricing for Fatboys Dive Resort
| Valid to 2026 | AUD | ||
| 7 Nights Overwater Deluxe Bungalow Double with 10 dives | 3030 | ||
| 7 Nights Beach House with 10 dives | 2890 | ||
| 7 Nights Family Bungalow (Double/Twin) with 10 dives | 2855 | ||
| 7 Nights Family Bungalow (Quad) with 10 dives | 2365 | ||
| 7 Nights Honeymoon Bungalow (Double) with 10 dives | 2820 | ||
| Inclusions: Transfers to and from the Airport or Gizo Town Complimentary water is provided daily in all bungalows. |
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| The per person pricing above is indicative only: we show 7 night with 10 dive packages at high-end and lower-end rooms for the purposes of comparison. We can give you a price (and availability) for any combination of nights/dives you wish to undertake, which will include any discounts due to you as part of that package, and any exclusions, or items payable at the resort. Please use the [Enquire Now] tab to give us your exact requirements and we'll give you the best deal we can. | |||
