Three trips. Fourteen countries. It was expensive, logistically chaotic, and mostly a lot of fun. I honestly loved visiting the Pacific, but some countries were just better than others in terms of travel experience. Here’s my honest hot take on each Pacific nation, in the chronological order I visited them rather than by ranking.
For the full picture on getting between these islands, see my Pacific airlines ranking → it’ll save you a lot of grief.
Papua New Guinea
The tribal festivals here are genuinely extraordinary. Some of the most remarkable cultural experiences I’ve had anywhere. The Mount Hagen Cultural Show and Goroka Show bring together hundreds of tribal groups for multi-day sing-sings. Spending time in the highlands at lodge stays with various tribes is 1000% worth also doing while you’re there, making the trip something special.
Port Moresby is a different story and not somewhere I’d wander independently, especially at night. There are nice locations around the city, including the museum, but there is not loads.
Either way, go with a reputable tour company for this trip. The hassle of the logistics, the Port Moresby safety, and transport around really remote highland areas just make it not worth it to try independently.
👉 Full guide to PNG tribal festivals →
Palau
Arguably the easiest Pacific island to reach from Europe or the US, with direct flights from Taiwan, Manila, Guam, and Tokyo. Famous for its marine biodiversity and diving, and also for a scenic flight over its iconic rock island formations. Not that I can comment on that… the rain very much meant that the legendary plane flyover just wasn’t happening for me.
What I did manage: a boat trip to the Milky Way – a natural phenomenon of white clay on the seabed that’s allegedly great for your skin. The smell suggests otherwise, but we move. Snorkelling is also genuinely excellent here, with baby sharks and manta rays common from near the surface. I’d go back and spend longer, and probably do diving. Palau also has great seafood and a cracking karaoke dive bar scene – check out The Canoe House if you don’t believe me.
If you’re feeling adventurous, Ngerulmud replaced Koror as Palau’s capital in 2006 and is about an hour’s drive away. It’s worth the detour purely for the story. When Ngerulmud opened, 5,000 people attended the ceremony. Then everyone went home. It has no permanent fixed population, making it the least populous capital city of any sovereign nation in the world. You won’t find much there, just a government palace, but you can grab a selfie as proof you made it – and frankly that’s enough.
Dry season (December to April) is the time to go. In rainy season it’s grey, activities get cancelled, and you’ll spend a lot of money being rained on.
Micronesia
There is island time, and then there is Micronesia time. Expect to wait – for food, drinks, service, answers to questions. Budget accordingly in terms of patience. And in terms of actual budget – Micronesia was fairly expensive.
Chuuk (also called Truk) in eastern Micronesia is where we visited. One of the world’s most famous wreck diving destinations – the lagoon contains the sunken remnants of a Japanese WWII fleet and is extraordinary. Some wrecks are only five to six metres deep, so snorkellers can access them too. Worth doing your research on the dive centre first though, standards vary significantly. If you are a diver though, dive here. It’s incredible.
There are also WWII sites above ground including disused cannons and an abandoned lighthouse you can climb to the top of and get *incredible* views of the island. Worth checking out if history is your thing.
Marshall Islands
Landing in Majuro and immediately finding an American diner and dive bar attached to the arrivals hall is a genuinely brilliant introduction. Locals find it quietly hilarious when tourists show up and are also very willing to help you actually see their island, which is a good combination.
Majuro itself is fairly plain – a main square, some restaurants and market stalls. The real highlight is the untouched atolls accessible by boat 30 to 60 minutes away. Private island stays are now available on Airbnb out here, which is as good as it sounds. This is firmly a sit-on-extraordinary-beaches-and-do-very-little destination, which I found I was not remotely upset about.
Majuro is still pretty rustic. It’s a ‘ride in the back of a pickup truck to your accommodation’ type vibe. The airport is chaos. Expect to be sitting on the floor unclear when you can actually check in for a good couple of hours. It can also rain a lot in the summer months, expect tropical downpours and hefty winds, pack accordingly. Go with friends to this one, thank me later.
Nauru
There is quite literally nothing to do in Nauru except walk around the entire island, which of course I did. Because everyone does. Claim to fame – duh.
The beaches are too dangerous to access due to massive waves and sharp phosphate rocks. Restaurants are sparse. You can’t buy beer on Sundays. There’s allegedly an old Japanese wartime prison somewhere in the middle of the island, but nobody seems entirely sure where it is or how to find it. We ended up at a disused (or still used? unclear) satellite station on a hill instead. There apparently used to be wild dogs roaming, making it too dangerous to walk the island loop without a giant stick for protection… but this was not the case in 2024. Bonus.
What Nauru does have: some genuinely excellent signage about vaping, lots of Chinese-owned convenience stores that also sell tapestries, and a certain charm that comes from being somewhere so completely off the tourist map.
👉 Full Nauru guide – walking around an entire country in a day →
Kiribati
Kiribati surprised me. On paper there’s very little going on, but I passed three days here without getting bored – in a group with plenty of beers, admittedly. You’ll land in south Tarawa, and if you’re in the market for sights, you can visit the island’s highest point – which is 3 metres above sea level. Funny, but a bit of a morbid reminder of the risk from rising sea levels. If you have a tour guide, and it’s off-season, you might also be able to visit the parliament, which honestly is pretty cool.
The key though, is getting out of South Tarawa, which will drive you stir-crazy. Best option: take a boat two-ish hours to a deserted island. Easier said than done, obviously, but tourist-oriented hotels will be able to advise on a contact that can arrange it. There are some basic resorts on the more remote islands and the removal from civilisation is genuinely restorative – assuming the boat doesn’t break down in the middle of the ocean in the dark, which ours did. Four hours drifting. Not ideal. Still hilarious though.
North Tarawa is also lovely and less populated. It’s pretty deserted, but there are some smaller options to stay in wooden hut accommodations in a true ‘off the beaten path’ fashion. You can find a bar and restaurant up there too (if you know a guy), plus beaches and jetties to jump off. Again, hard to arrange independently; you’ll need your hotel or a guide to help.
Also – Kiribati has the most overt kava bars of anywhere I visited in the Pacific. Kava is a root-based drink found across the islands, it makes your mouth slightly numb and your head slightly light. It is also served in a washing-up bowl with a giant ladle. Go figure.
Fiji
Unpopular opinion: I didn’t love Fiji. The islands are undeniably beautiful and the food is genuinely good, but the hype significantly outpaces the reality unless you’re staying in a high-end beach resort. Nadi and Suva don’t have much going on, and Suva in particular felt uncomfortable to walk around in the evening, albeit seeing the British colonial architecture was interesting. I’m glad I went, and I suspect a luxury beachside resort on an island off Nadi would change my view of visiting Fiji. But having spent a substantial amount getting around all fourteen Pacific nations, that experiment will have to wait.
You should absolutely check out the Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple in Nadi – the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere, known for its ornate carvings, colourful Dravidian architecture, and peaceful atmosphere. It’s a genuinely surprising thing to find in the middle of Fiji, but it makes sense when you know that Fiji has long been home to a large Indo-Fijian community whose ancestors migrated to work on sugar plantations in the late 1800s. Small entry fee of $5 FIJ. They will even give you a cover-up if you’re wearing shorts, so you can enter without showing your knees.
If you’re in Fiji, try Kokoda, the national dish. Raw fish cured in citrus and served cold in coconut cream, essentially Fiji’s answer to ceviche, and insanely good. You also can’t go wrong with a Fiji Gold beer. Small mercies.
Tuvalu
If Nauru has nothing to do, Tuvalu takes that and commits fully. There are no real sites, no town centre in any conventional sense, and the beaches are coral – not swimmable. The main activity is hanging out on the runway, which operates two to three times a week and becomes a community gathering space the rest of the time. This part is quite cool, who else can say they’ve watched the sunset from an active runway?
A motorbike hire and a ride the length of the island is genuinely worthwhile. Or walking it, kills more time. But you can see the island best this way.
Practical notes that matter here: book accommodation very far in advance because it sells out. Everything – and I mean everything – shuts on Sundays to the point where getting water is a challenge. Filamona Lodge opens briefly at lunch and dinner; get there within the first 15 minutes or the food runs out. Filamona is generally the place to eat – there isn’t much else, save for a couple of very small Chinese restaurants with basic menus. Also there is a mandatory 15-minute communal silence every evening at 18:45 – no speaking, no walking around outside. The whole island stops. Don’t try and bypass it, the police will see you and make you sit on the curb. I speak from experience.
You can hire a boat in Tuvalu and go out and snorkel, but again, you have to know a guy. Filamona Lodge can help with this, there aren’t any tour agencies.
All of that said, it is very cool to have been to the least visited country in the world. It’s enough to make it worth it. You can even buy a T-shirt, again from Filamona. That place really has everything.
👉 Full guide: Is Tuvalu worth visiting? →
Tonga
Most people go to Tonga for whale watching. I couldn’t align my trip to coincide with whale season but went anyway, and didn’t regret it. Tongatapu doesn’t have an enormous amount going on in terms of sights, but the people were some of the warmest I encountered in the Pacific.
The highlight: the Friday night feast and cultural dance. This is not a tourist performance – it’s a genuine local tradition, and watching the Tongan dances while locals tuck tip money into performers’ clothing is the kind of thing that stays with you. The Ha’amonga ‘a Maui trilithon, a UNESCO tentative World Heritage Site and one of the most significant ancient structures in the Pacific, is also worth the trip out. There are a few other sites and beaches dotted around the island that are worth seeing too.
Sunday is observed strictly in Tonga, most things close and church attendance is near-universal. Plan around it rather than against it.
Honestly, Tonga was a nice vibe.
👉 Full guide to things to do in Tonga →
Samoa
Samoa might be the most naturally beautiful island I visited in the entire Pacific, and that’s a bold claim given the competition. To Sua Ocean Trench lives up to the hype of every photo you’ve seen of it. But the highlight for me was Lalomanu Beach, with fresh seafood and white sands that made it almost impossible to leave. ou can rent a fale (beach hut) here for the night if you want to spend more time by the ocean.
Apia also surprised me. It’s a proper little capital with things to actually do – a grand cathedral, a flea market worth a visit, and enough restaurants and bars to fill an evening. For a small Pacific capital it punches well above its weight.
👉 Full guide to visiting Samoa and Upolu Island →
Vanuatu
One of the most underrated Pacific islands and genuinely one of the easier ones to visit from Australia. Efate has a great island circuit – Blue Lagoon, Eden on the River, Top Rock, Eton Beach — that makes for a brilliant day out, and the diving is world-class if that’s your thing. Visit Hideaway island and see the iconic underwater postbox. Just… do it early in the day, don’t show up at 4pm like me, as there are unlikely to be any ferries to take you.
I only had one day and it was not enough. Espiritu Santo (home of the famous Blue Lagoon) and Tanna Island (home of the active volcano Mount Yasur) are both on my list for next time. You have to take domestic flights and have patience with unpredictable flight schedules to get there, but I’ve heard it is worth it.
👉 Full guide to visiting Vanuatu and Efate island →
Solomon Islands
Honiara is not a polished destination – the infrastructure is limited, the heat is relentless, and the internet is a genuine ordeal. But the WWII history here is compelling, and there’s something about being somewhere that genuinely doesn’t expect tourists that makes it feel like a proper adventure.
One to two days in Honiara is enough. You can get out of the city to nearby beaches to see WWII shipwrecks, but be prepared to negotiate with taxi drivers, and probably still pay a hefty fee. Getting beyond the city to places like Gizo requires significant time and flexibility. And budget.
👉 Full guide to visiting Solomon Islands and Honiara →
New Zealand / Australia (as Pacific island bookends)
Not Pacific island nations in the traditional sense, but two of the 14 sovereign countries of Oceania. Worth acknowledging as the practical hubs for any Pacific island-hopping itinerary. Auckland is the Air New Zealand hub and the easiest jumping-off point for Tonga and Samoa. Brisbane is your gateways to Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and PNG (and then beyond!).
You should obviously visit both in their own right. I have barely scratched the surface of Australia, just a few days across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. Perth was the most chill. Brisbane weirdly reminded me of London. Need to go back and fulfil my dream of campervanning around the outback.
I gave New Zealand a good go though, and honestly loved it. South Island is a gem; Queenstown is one of those places that made me consider never leaving. New Zealand is surprisingly enjoyable as a non-hiker – see more here →
Is visiting every Pacific country worth it?
Yes! Especially if you’re an every country person. Or just love visiting rarer destinations. But go in knowing what you’re signing up for. It’s expensive, flights are unreliable, and some of the countries are genuinely light on things to do. The moments that make it worth it are the ones you can’t plan: the runway community in Tuvalu, the kava bars in Kiribati, the tribal festivals in PNG, the extraordinary WWII history in Solomon Islands.
For the full logistics of getting between these islands, see my Pacific airlines ranking → and my Pacific internet connectivity guide →
FAQ
How many countries are in the Pacific? There are 14 sovereign nations in Oceania recognised by the United Nations: Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Cook Islands and Niue are often confused for sovereign nations but are associated states of New Zealand.
What is the least visited country in the Pacific? Tuvalu consistently ranks as the least visited country in the world, not just the Pacific. Read my full Tuvalu guide → for everything you need to know. Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and Nauru come in close behind. Read my full Nauru guide here →Â
What is the easiest Pacific island to visit? Palau, Fiji, or Vanuatu are easiest to get to from well-connected hubs. And have the best tourist infrastructure.
How long does it take to visit every Pacific country? I did it in three separate trips over nine months. Realistically you need at least three to four weeks if doing it in one go, with a very flexible schedule to absorb flight delays and cancellations.
What is the best Pacific island to visit? Samoa for natural beauty. Vanuatu for accessibility and things to do. Palau for diving and scenic flights. Tonga for whale watching (in season). Solomon Islands or Marshall Islands for history. Papua New Guinea for tribal culture. I could go on. Just visit them all!
Also worth reading:
- Pacific airlines ranked – honest guide to flying Oceania →
- Rating internet connectivity across all 14 Pacific countries →
- Is Tuvalu worth visiting? →
- Papua New Guinea tribal festivals →
- Full Nauru guide – walking around an entire country in a day →
- Full Vanuatu guide →
- Full Solomon Islands guide →
- Things to do in Tonga →
- Visiting Samoa – Upolu Island guide →
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