Pacific island bliss at the secluded Kokomo Private Island Fiji – warm waters and an even warmer welcome beckon, as unhurried local staff go big on hospitality

“Bula”, says my guide Tony as we weave our way through lush tangles of tropical flora. It’s more than just a greeting. In Fiji, this word is sung out by almost every local you pass. It means “hello”. But it can also mean a transfer of positive energy. Or the idea that you have truly seen someone and that you wish them well.

In any case, a few nights on the luxurious Kokomo Private Island Fiji – owned by Australian billionaire property developer Lang Walker – would make anybody want to wish others well. Drop-dead beauty can have that effect.

Fiji is made up of more than 330 islands, and while many share Kokomo’s silky white sand, crystal-clear turquoise water and coconut palms gently swaying in a warm breeze, arriving here is to feel truly transported.

The journey started with a 45-minute private seaplane ride from Nadi International Airport. Bobbing through tufts of white cloud, we passed over first archetypal jungled islands, then the Great Astrolabe Reef – the world’s fourth largest barrier reef – that abuts Kokomo, before the descent to the resort. These scenes seemed simultaneously familiar and surreal, painted entirely in primary colours.

Eventually, we reach our destination, a vantage point to soak up the vista of the piercing white sands and blue waters of the South Pacific. We can even see the island where the French version of Survivor was filmed.

My guide Tony says guests always feel the island as soon as they arrive. Hardly surprising given arriving on the island means being welcomed in song by the resort’s entire staff, an experience that is surprisingly moving. Especially when you realise that everybody, from the receptionists and head chef to the marine biologists who keep an eye on the island’s many conservation projects, all lend their voices. Bula, indeed.

Fiji has always suited holidaymakers across the generations, and that goes especially for Kokomo. We spy honeymooners who hold hands at every available opportunity, jumbles of extended families – grandparents enjoying precious time with sandy toddlers, sisters-in-law gossiping on sun loungers with the kids happily in the Kaji Club – and retirees sitting in companionable silence while they enjoy another sorbet sunset.

The chic and spacious open-plan one-, two- and three-bedroom villas all have private infinity pools and Fijian design touches in the woven matting and wooden details, as well as colourful abstract paintings by Australian artist Chris Kenyon (who lived and painted on the island for six months). There’s a hammock under a palm tree, a peach of a beach at the end of the garden and a minibar that even holds house-made dark chocolate-covered honeycomb which I’d consider requesting as my last meal on earth.