Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Which island? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
takes 15:19 UTC 05 Oct 2010 | Hi, Somewhere around April/May I will visit Fiji. After that I would like to visit a more "off the beaten track" Pacific island which is not too expensive to get to and get around. Any recommendations? Is Samoa a good choice? Thanks. |
prioritymail 18:45 UTC 05 Oct 2010 | I don't think of Samoa as being 'off the beaten track' but I'm sure there are interesting things to see and do there. | 1
miketelemark 21:04 UTC 05 Oct 2010 | American Samoa is definitely off the beaten track and well worth the effort to get there, especially if you can visit Ofu Island. Photos of American Samoa: http://www.michaelandersongallery.com/gallery/samoan-islands/ Lodging on Ofu: http://www.vaotolodge.com/ | 2
islandboi321 01:25 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | Samoa is fully on the tourism radar... Want to get off the track? Think Niue, Tokelau or the Fijian outer islands... Yes, and American Samoa, too... Almost no tourists there, shamefully. | 3
prioritymail 02:10 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | islandboi - agreed. Palau and Yap are two I've always wanted to see. As well as Bikini Atoll :) | 4
Laszlo 02:15 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | I think you could actually find some of the least touristed islands in the region right in Fiji. In all my life I have only ever met one westerner who has been to anywhere in the Lau Islands, for example... they are less touristed than Niue, American Samoa, and probably even Tokelau. Samoa is popular, and and with only 2 sizeable islands, there is not much scope for getting really far from other tourists. | 5
prioritymail 02:45 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | Or how about Rotuma - 36 hour boat ride that happens once a month! That oughta limit the tourists! | 6
mandja 05:07 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | Im not sure if it qualifies for "off the beaten track" (for me it does) but consider the Isle of Of Pines in New Caledonia. | 7
Laszlo 08:07 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | ASFAIK, Rotuma is also accessible by much more frequent flights from Suva. Still hardly a touristy place, of course. To me, mandja, the Isle of Pines certainly would not qualify as off the beaten track - but definitely as one of the most gorgeous isands anywhere! | 8
ozziegiraffe 12:32 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | Isle of Pines gets visited by just about every Australian cruise ship. I would recommend Solomon Islands. There is a weekly flight from Nadi, as well as daily flights from Brisbane, Australia, and there is a huge variety of cultural experiences. A number of islands are now easily accessible by boat from the capital Honiara. Much of the country is not touched by commercial tourism. | 9
watsoff 18:44 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | Got pipped at the post by Ozziegiraffe, I also recommend Solomon Islands. | 10
mandja 22:11 UTC 06 Oct 2010 | "Isle of Pines gets visited by just about every Australian cruise ship." - yes, that is true but we are talking a few hours maybe 1 per week and invariably the passengers stay on Kuto beach, so Ive been told by friends who have been on those cruises. | 11
tch7 16:15 UTC 07 Oct 2010 | I don't recommend Samoa. American Samoa is awesome though. | 12
islandboi321 17:13 UTC 07 Oct 2010 | Oh, and anywhere that is going to be "Off the beaten track" in the South Pacific will be REALLY expensive to get to and leave from... | 13
Laszlo 05:26 UTC 08 Oct 2010 | Except for the bits that are in Indonesia. | 14
ozziegiraffe 10:50 UTC 08 Oct 2010 | #13 if the OP is already going to Fiji, there are numerous places in the Pacific that can be reached easily, and not too expensively. Also, since the advent of Pacific Blue, fares are much cheaper from Australia (I am now paying about half of what I used to pay for return flights Brisbane to Honiara.) travel to the remote parts of Solomon Islands can be very cheap if you travel like the locals within the country. | 15
miketelemark 15:16 UTC 08 Oct 2010 | Besides my earlier recommendation of Ofu Island in American Samoa, I can second OzzieGiraffe's recommendation of the Solomon Islands. It is last frontier for paradise in the South Pacific, it has just enough tourism infrastructure to be comfortable but still feel WAY off the tourist track, and there are endless opportunities to explore even more remote areas. The Solomon's are just plain amazing. One more area that looks incredible is the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. I'm off to explore that area later this month and will report back here when I return. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jxrCaJnJWY | 16
Laszlo 00:02 UTC 09 Oct 2010 | New Ireland is one of my favourite corners in the Pacific so far, and I actually liked it much more than any place in the Solomons! | 17
takes 12:49 UTC 10 Oct 2010 | Thanks for all the comments. It's gonna be difficult to choose just one place to go to :) | 18