In three separate trips, I hopped around all of the islands in the Pacific. It was expensive, chaotic, and mostly a lot of fun. Here’s my hot take on each country, in chronological order of where I went rather than by rating. But you can probably tell…
Papua New Guinea
Everyone will tell you PNG isn’t safe. And they’re not totally wrong, Port Moresby was pretty shady and it wasn’t comfortable to walk around there – I wouldn’t do it alone or at night. The tribal festivals however were incredible and something you should absolutely see. Travelling here in a group, and going for the Mount Hagen festival, is the best way to experience PNG. Highly recommended, great way to understand tribal culture in PNG.
Palau
Palau is arguably the easiest Pacific island to get to if you’re coming from Europe or the US. There are direct flights from Taiwan, Manila and Guam every few days, and new routes starting from Tokyo and Nauru. Known for its marine biodiversity, many people head to Palau for diving. Infamous amoung tourists is also the scenic flight over greenery covered islands and rock formations. I unfortunately didn’t do either of these, not enough time for diving and the torrential rain cancelled the scenic flight. The perils of only spending only a day here… But you can still have fun taking a boat trip to the Milky Way, a natural phenomenon of white clay on the sea floor. Smells TERRIBLE but is apparently good for your skin. Snorkelling is also great here, baby sharks and manta rays are common sightings from near the surface. I’d go back here and spend much longer for sure. Dry season is December – April, this is the best time to go, as when it’s rainy in Palau it’s pretty grey and miserable, and a lot of activities can be cancelled or end up cold and soggy.
Micronesia
Life in Micronesia is slow. There’s island time and then there’s Micronesia time. You can expect to wait hours for food, drinks, service, answers to questions etc. Chuuk in eastern Micronesia is a super famous spot for WW2 wreck diving. If that’s your thing, you should absolutely give it a go. The sites are excellent. Do some research on the dive centre though, in my experience the standards were pretty lax (no dive briefing, dive master didn’t understand English and couldn’t deal with basic safety questions, gave divers extra tanks in the middle of the dive when they ran low on air, instead of surfacing…). Some wrecks are only 5-6m deep too, so you can also snorkel here if you’re not into diving/not certified. There are some old WW2 sites above land too, including disused canons and abandoned light houses – worth checking out!
Marshall Islands
Upon landing in Majuro, Marshall Islands, you immediately find an American diner and dive bar attached to the airport arrivals/departures hall. Honestly such a vibe. Locals find it hilarious when tourists turn up here but also want to help you see their island, which is nice. Majuro itself is a little plain, there’s a main square with restaurants and market stalls, but that’s about it. The real highlight of Marshall Islands is the untouched atolls 30-60mins away from Majuro by boat. You can stay on your own private island too, now available on Airbnb! This really is a ‘sit on the incredible beaches and chill’ type place, which honestly I wasn’t mad about.
Nauru
There is quite literally nothing to do in Nauru except walk around the whole island, which of course I did. Nauru loves signs, there were some absolute corkers we came across about vaping… You can allegedly visit an old Japanese wartime prison, but nobody really knows where that is or how to get there. The beaches are too dangerous to visit due to the massive waves and ragged phosphate rocks. Other than one or two smaller, understated restaurants inside of brick huts, there aren’t many places to eat. You can’t buy beer on Sundays either – sad times.
Kiribati
Kiribati surprised me. On paper there’s not much going on, but somehow I passed 3 days here (in a group and with plenty beers) and didn’t get bored. You’ve got to get out of South Tarawa otherwise you’ll go stir-crazy. Best options are to take a boat 2ish hours to a deserted island. There are some basic resorts set up in some of these far-off islands, and it’s pretty nice to be so far from civilisation for a bit. Just make sure your crew have checked the boat before you leave… so it doesn’t break down in the middle of the ocean… with 4 hours afloat in the dark trying to get going again… North Tarawa is also lovely, and less populated. You can wander around northern islands and even find a bar and restaurant up there, as well as laying on the beach, jumping off jetties into the sea, and just generally playing around. It’s hard to arrange this stuff yourself – you’d need help from a guide or your hotel. Also – Kiribati had the most overt Kava Bars. Kava is a root based drink found all over the pacific (though frankly wasn’t that easy to find anywhere except Kiribati and Fiji). Give it a try if you’re there – it’ll make you mouth slightly numb and your head slightly light. Happy days.
Fiji
Unpopular opinion – I didn’t like Fiji. Actually the more I talk to people the more I realise this isn’t such an unpopular opinion. It gets a lot of hype thanks to the promotion of the beachside resorts and the infamous Fiji Airways. But honestly you can go to a similar resort pretty much anywhere for a fraction of the cost. The islands are undoubtedly beautiful, and the food is great, but there just wasn’t much going on in Nadi, or Suva. Suva actually made me feel a little uneasy as I walked around at sunset, and crime rates are reportedly high. I’m glad I’ve been, and maybe I just need to stay in a luxury beach side resort to have my mind changed… but I already paid far too much to fly around all of the islands so I guess I’ll never know.
Tuvalu
There really is nothing to do in Tuvalu, and I mean that truly more so than when I said it about Nauru. There are no main sites and no town center so-to-speak. The beaches are all coral and you can’t really sit on them or go off into the sea. The main thing to do here is hang out on the runway, which is only used 2-3 times per week and becomes a community centre the rest of the time. You can also hire a motorbike and drive the length of the island – or walk it . I have heard that hiring a boat and going off to other nearby islands brings more joy but that’s fairly hard to arrange. You also need to book way in advance because accommodation sells out. Everything, and I mean everything, is completely closed on Sundays to the point that you can’t even get water (thankfully, Filamona Lodge does open for an hour at lunch and an hour at dinner but if you don’t get there within the first 15 mins the food sells out and you will starve). Take snacks if you go here. There is also a mandatory 15 minute downtime every night at 18:45 where you’re not allowed to speak or even walk around on the streets. All in all, its very cool to say you’ve been to the least visited country in the world, but that’s about as far as it goes.
Tonga
Most people go to Tonga for whale watching. I couldn’t align my diary to make that work, but I went anyway. Tongans were incredibly friendly people, and though there wasn’t much to do in the town of Tongatapu, or that many sites to see, it was still super nice to see the island. The beaches are especially beautiful. As are the sunsets. The Friday night feast and cultural dance – a popular tradition among locals – was definitely the highlight. Not a ‘tourist thing’ at all and a great way to see popular traditional Tongan dances. You’ll also experience the slightly quirky culture of people going onto the stage and tucking tip money into performers’ clothes… The UNESCO tentative WHS of Ha’amonga ‘a Maui, basically one lone rock arch formation, is slightly underwhelming. But if you’re there anyway, you might as well visit. But seriously try to go to Tonga for whale watching and spend an extra day doing the rest.
Samoa
I absolutely loved Samoa. I can’t put my finger on why, there was just something about the vibe. It might be my favourite pacific country. It’s deceptive – at first glance as a tourist you’d think there’s not that much to do aside from touring around the island, but there’s much more to it. Samoan people were very friendly, and there was a fun energy to Apia. Food was great, lots of sweet treats available, beers were decent. Good options for accommodation and places to hang out. The scenery is also breathtaking – the To Sua Ocean Trench is absolutely worth the hype, and the other main sites around the island are great. The Lalomanu beach is stunning. Honestly I could’ve spent way longer here just hanging out at the beach. Would happily go back. I’d go as far as to say I could see myself living here…..!
Vanuatu
Vanuatu is nice. And green. And one of the easiest ones to visit, especially if travelling from Australia. The tourism infrastructure is better here, card machines everywhere, decent service industry, and super friendly people. The best way to see the main island of Efate, home to the capital Port Vila, is to rent a car. Blue Lagoon and Top of the Rock are great sites, and you can drive around the island in a couple of hours. Watch out for the insanely jagged pot holes though, they’re threatening your tyres at every turn. If you’re feeling adventurous, take a ferry to Hideaway Island, home to the infamous underwater post box. There is so much you could do in Vanuatu if you’ve got lots of time, but it requires taking flights to other islands that only go once or twice per week, so realistically is not feasible if you’re island hopping. Same with diving, there are many WW2 dive sites here but you need several days with dive/flight times if you want to do it properly.
Solomon Islands
There is honestly not that much to do in the Solomon Islands. Especially in the capital Honiara. And everything is expensive – as with much of the pacific but for some reason it hurt more here. I did a Honiara tour (for the small fee of $130 for two hours in a car with no AC…) and within two hours I’d seen the main sites of the city, which were predominantly WW2 memorials. You can obviously go further afield and see waterfalls, shipwrecks, and nearby islands, but this will cost you BIG TIME. We’re talking $300-400 for a day trip-type big time. You can fly to other provinces too, the most famous of being Gizo for diving and (very basic) water bungalows. But again it’ll cost you and the flight situation is super unreliable, so you’d have to leave buffer days. People also pestered me in the street here, some guys grabbed me, and locals warned me several times about my valuables being on show because they’d be like be stolen. They weren’t, and it was fine, but I likely won’t be back anytime soon.
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