I just had this issue yesterday and I believe this deserves either a mention in the guide, something like:
If you're using nvm, we will use the default version to install dependencies, not the currently selected one
Or ideally a fix, to try and use the currently selected node version by nvm.
React Native 0.29.2
OS X 10.11.5
nvm 0.31.0
% nvm ls
-> v0.10.46
v0.12.7
v6.2.2
default -> 0.10 (-> v0.10.46)
stable -> 6 (-> v6.2.2)
node -> stable (-> v6.2.2) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
I had to make 6 default while running react-native init.
If someone acknowledges this, I can try to fix it.