Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Island hopping 3weeks Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
liberty88 09:29 UTC 12 Jun 2012 | Hi I'm looking at group tours of the pacific islands and have only found sta travel for Fiji for 12days Wondering if there's any tours for the other islands, and how easy is it to get around? I'm from the uk and will have 3 weeks. Regards |
ozziegiraffe 13:02 UTC 12 Jun 2012 | It is not easy to do several countries in a short time unless you are on a cruise ship. And then you only have short, one-day stops, and don't really get to see the real country. Most countries have local tour operators, for example, look here for Solomon Islands. | 1
lagoon 19:34 UTC 12 Jun 2012 | You can fly from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti with Air Tahiti Nui then travel across to Rarotonga using Tahiti Nui code-share weekly service with Air Rarotonga. Air Raro flies to the outer islands of the Cook Islands with daily return flights to Aitutaki (4/5 depending on season). Air Raro also do a round trip Rarotonga - Aitutaki - Atiu islands once week. Near daily flights from Rarotonga to Auckland with Air NZ, and 4 weekly return flights to Auckland with Virgin Australia. Air NZ also have one weekly direct flight from LAX to Raro, and one weekly direct flight between Raro and Sydney. None of these services are group tours as such, but all these airlines provide good customer service. On occassion there are world group tours flying into Rarotonga on a chartered aircraft. These are a very expensive trvel option. Better to make your own way to island destinations and stay at guest-house accommodation where you get to know your hosts and fellow travellers well. I can certainly recommend places in the Cook Islands to stay. If you are keen to do a group tour of NZ, there are a number of tour options available for young adventurers, and the 50+ age groups. | 2