Name: Trees and Fishes Private Retreat
Address: Island Ring Road, Efate, Port Havannah, Hideaway Island, Hideaway Island, Hideaway Island, Vanuatu
Rating: 9

Air conditioning

Elevator/lift

Smoke-free property

Garden

Terrace

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Smoke Detector

Hairdryer

Rooms

Laundry

Dry-cleaning

Services and amenities

Coffee/tea for guests

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

English

Languages Spoken

Hiking

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Conference Hall

Business

Massage

Sauna

Beauty and wellness

Location

At the hotel

Bauerfield International Airport

Trees and Fishes Private Retreat

Hideaway Island

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

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18-beds

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2-beds

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4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

A group of 4 of us have just returned from a short three day trip on Ocean Blue and staying at Trees and Fishes retreat.

Positives
The location of this resort is exceptional and is everything you would imagine for a tropical getaway. Coral Reef at the doorstep to your lodge which you can snorkel any time.
The staff are very friendly and for the most part, deliver exceptional service. We thought Kevin was particularly outstanding. Very attentive and friendly.  Erin, the manager, was also very good.
The Fishing vessels and captain were very good. The boat is extremely fast, solid and capable in weather conditions, although with very limited sun protection. The captain (Alex) and guide of our boat was a very keen fisherman who wanted to catch fish almost more than we did! He tried his utmost which was greatly appreciated.

Negatives
The food is prepared by a chef and is tasty and of a high-quality. However, for 4 blokes returning from a days Fishing, the quantity served is not enough. We caught about 70kg of yellowfin tuna and we were given 3 very small slithers of sashimi each as a starter course. When we asked for more we were given another 3 slithers each!! We were given a grilled piece of the Tuna the next night which was very tasty but again could have been a bigger portion size. The fish caught is predominantly used for the locals and for the resort and some of it is sold. No fish can be taken home. 

Some of the spinning rods/reels on the boat are not in good condition and need repair or replacement.

I guess our biggest negative which has left a bad taste was the original booking we made. We booked a promotional offer pre-Covid which was not honoured after Covid when operations recommenced. This led to a significant increase in cost for the trip which we had not anticipated or intended making but we were not permitted a refund, just a credit, which they also put a deadline on taking. The outcome was that we ended up with half the Fishing time that we would have had and at an inconvenient time than if they had honoured their original promotional offer. Given the legal issues Qantas has had with putting deadlines on Credits before expiring them and keeping the money, I question whether their action is actually legal. It certainly does not speak to Goodwill for clients.

Good fishing in an idealic tropical paradise

Had an awesome time at trees and fishes, great fishing and food. The staff were very helpful, beautiful sunsets and cold beers. We had some windy conditions but managed a few good fish. The beds were nice. Can't speak more highly about the location

Fishing paradise

Our family of 5 recently  stayed at this amazing retreat for one week. Boys enjoyed 4 great days of fishing, catching wahoo, GT, barracuda and best of all… a decent sized  black marlin. Big shout  out to Eddie and Alex for all their efforts in finding the biggest fish. The girls enjoyed Pina Coladas and relaxing massage back at the resort (thank you Helen).  As a family we visited many local sites such as Raru Cascades, Blue Lagoon and horse riding at Club  Hippeque. Also hired a driver for a full day island tour… such gorgeous scenery. All staff and locals were very friendly and welcoming, and the food was first class and always fresh. Such happy beautiful people. A very big thank  you to Angelique, Erin, Ale, Brent, Kevin, Matu, Tatu, Jeanine, Anson and all the wonderful staff at Trees and Fishes.  Such a beautiful corner of the world… We will be back !

Great fishing in a relaxed setting

The team and fishing at Trees and Fishing Lodge were second to none, accommodating for all of our needs in a super friendly manner. 
My wife and I spent 4 days as part of our honeymoon, and had an amazing time together. 
Situated in a tranquil, tropical paradise it truly made for a romantic getaway for us both.
The fresh food and Island life was an incredible experience and we will definitely return.
Thanks to all the team for our special stay

Put Trees and Fishes Lodge on your to do list! You will not be disappointed.

Great staff , fishing was slow but the boat crew went out of there way to get us fish they couldn’t have done anything more.  Very happy with the overall experience. Food was unbelievable accommodation was very comfortable all the staff were so friendly.

Unbelievable place

We had a family get together at Trees and Fishes and went fishing with Ocean Blue. Our stay was excellent. Because there was 8 of us we stayed in the Villa Luca. The rooms were very nice, pool was great, privacy good. The staff and management could not do enough for us and went out of their way to organise activities if people did not want to go fishing for the day. It was so nice sitting beside the water around the fire having some quiet drinks after having to big day out. The team of Ocean Blue were also really good. We had very ordinary weather but the boats handled it with ease. The new Mercs on the back of the boats got us to our fishing locations quickly and in comfort. We all loved Island night (Friday) where we experienced the local food and customs (even some kava). I would recommend coming to this great location, relaxing and enjoy your time.

Sensational location, excellent staff and great facilities.

Hut was haunted. We all ended up with "Bali belly"we think it maybe the ice. Staff were great, food  was good  except for  lunches. Hot water was hit and miss. Bar is a bit expensive. I guess  everyone is  struggling  post the scamdemic because  we had our fishing was cut by a day and an extra admin fee which was uncalled for. Great skipper on the  boat. 

Didn't  live up to expectations. 

I would not recommend this place to anyone 
absolutely not up to any standard.
No No.
Lucky for the owners the staff are fantastic and the country is beautiful.
Trees and fishes is definitely not what they show on their website.


Very bad.

We had a family booking in December for 3 nights to celebrate a milestone birthday. This also included a fishing charter with Ocean Blue. With the Air Vanuatu aircraft bungle and the inability to even leave Australia to arrive in Vanuatu, Trees and Fishes gave no ability to rebook, credit or refund a very large amount of money. They simply just took it and cancelled. Travellers considering this resort need to be aware and think twice of any booking as they are in no way flexible when circumstances are out of the guests control. Given Air Vanuatu are again unable to fly tourists to this country, one would think they would be trying whatever they could to entice people to return. Not so as it seems however, they just take your money and don't communicate again. Highly recommend to avoid this resort and fishing charter and save your money..... find a more suitable, less expensive resort that can provide an excellent service and one that is flexible in circumstances outside of your control.

Warning to travellers to watch this Resort - no credit given for airline bungle

This review is about the Ocean blue fishing charters who work out of trees and fishes retreat. 

Don’t do it !!

This is our second fishing charter with ocean blue Vanuatu. The first being in July 2019. Both of our charters were four and a half days fishing. 
Unfortunately that is where the similarity’s end. 

They get you to sign a liability waiver at the very start of your trip.
Ocean blue has forgotten they have a duty of care to their clients to at least provide a safe environment to start with. 

The Boats. 
These boats are worth over 250k each, the absolute tragedy is that they are now not even sea worthy. If this company operated in Australian waters they would be shut down because of safety and mechanical defects. 
Peruse the following list of faults I found on board:

— Seacocks leaking seawater into the bilge causing the bilge pumps to cycle on and off very frequently, we were told that was ok because the pumps were new….. Ok until they stop working

-  Constant water in fuel issues on all three boats causing breakdowns after breakdown.
Fuel filters would block one or two hours after installation. Upon investigation we found that the rubber o-rings that seal the fuel fill caps on all three boats were perished and cracked allowing sea water and deck wash water into the fuel tanks. We advised the crew who said there was no o-ring seals available to fix this and still sent the boats out on charters.

On one boat there was a bolt missing from the fuel level sender unit which left a 6mm hole for deck water to flow into the fuel tanks.

The crew were emptying the water/fuel separator bowls directly into the bilge!!!!!!!
We explained how dangerous and environmentally damaging that was, they then caught the fuel/water mix in plastic bottles.

Ocean blue still sent these boats out on charters!

- Emergency inflatable life rafts missing on all three boats, they were there in 2019. However not now, we were told they were on order….. handy to know if the boat sinks at sea !

- No fire extinguisher on board !!!
Remember the crew were dumping the water/fuel separators directly into the bilge!!!!!!!

- Both radio Ariels broken, held together with gaffa tape and zip ties 

- Safety running light broken off with bare wires exposed to short out

- Fuel gauge not working, one boat ran out of fuel at sea and we had to go and tow it back to base

- Engine cowling covers missing of the outboards motors

- Zip ties holding outboard engine cowlings together as the bolts were missing

- Covers on the engine steering units missing 

- The starboard side gunnel was very loose, this gunnel holds two game fishing outfits in its rod holders and we believed the whole gunnel would rip off if there was a blown drag or the drag set incorrectly.
 
- Down rigger broken, the down rigger is a very important bit of kit when your targeting DogTooth!!

- Toilet not working

- seating ripped and with mould growing in the foam

So we spent over $14k to come to Vanuatu fishing to find that ocean blue has turned into a sh#tshow. 

We spent our fishing holiday fixing boats, rescuing boats and being very anxious about if we would make it back to shore alive.
Throwing poppers onto a reef break with an onshore wind blowing beam onto the boat, thinking that any minute the engines could get a gutful of dirty fuel and stop is very nerve racking!!  Never again !

Client safety should be at the top of ocean blue charters priority list, these boats should have been like new after the near 27 month covid break.... ready to SAFELY take clients out to sea fishing.

Boo to you ocean blue Vanuatu 

Ocean blue you have dropped the ball and should get your fleet fixed before recommencing your charters.

Trees and Fishes Private Retreat

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