What started as a backpackers lodge to accommodate off-the-beaten path adventurers in search of the best diving in Fiji back in the 90s, has evolved into the award-winning, four-star boutique resort Volivoli is today, still owned and operated with the heart and soul of the original owners—the Darling family.
The Darling family moved to Fiji in 1993, when Steve Darling Senior took a contract to finish the last 35km of Fiji’s main highway, The Kings Road, from Rakiraki to Suva. He moved his family—his wife Gail and two sons Steve and Nick—with him from Murchison, New Zealand to Rakiraki, Fiji and immersed them in island life. The boys went to a local school, and learned to dive at a small dive shop, Ra Divers, on nearby island Nananu-I-Ra.