Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# South Pacific Uninhabited Islands Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
js1ngs 15:42 UTC 27 Oct 2011 | Hey there! Im going to be visiting the South pacific on my way down to NZ, and am looking for that ultimate south pacific experience. What I would really like is to set up camp on an uninhabited island for a few nights and really disconnect from the world. Anyone have any suggestions for the best place to do this? I feel like there are enough islands I could possibly do this for free as long as I go out of the way a little bit....? Thanks Justin |
watsoff 17:12 UTC 27 Oct 2011 | Try Cook Islands - there are four motus off Muri Beach and 15 in Aitutaki Lagoon. | 1
agingaquarian 18:19 UTC 27 Oct 2011 | First, I don't think camping is allowed in the Cooks. And those motu are not in out of the way places. Second, all land is owned by someone. Why would you think you should be allowed to do things for free? By all means look for places in outlying areas, but bear in mind the difficulty of reaching them and, of course, finding the owners, asking permision and probably negotiating a rate. | 2
api 04:48 UTC 28 Oct 2011 | There are a few places in Vava'u, Tonga where you might be able to arrange this - but it doesn't really come cheaply. The boat transport alone is fairly expensive (at least when I did this a few years back). If you book for a few nights at one of the island "resorts" they may be able to arrange permission for you to camp on a nearby island (as said above - you would be camping on someone's land and need permission to do this). All the ones I knew of were not really resorts - but simple accommodation on an island. The ones that appear still to be running are Mounu Island (expensive, but they could take you to some beautiful islands where you will not see anyone), Euaiki (don't know the name of the resort), Blue Lagoon on Foeata (he will only help if he likes you, but the adjacent island started accepting campers at one time and is really lovely. It is fairly big, with nice reefs off-shore. The "owners" started coming across for payment if they saw anyone there, but you would need to check whether it is still allowed), Vaka-eitu (looks like Popao Resort is still listed. Vakaeitu is big and you could always camp in another spot - just seek permission first). | 3
h2ooh 15:52 UTC 28 Oct 2011 | The terms "ultimate South Pacific experience" and "free" are mutually exclusive. Also finding an "uninhabited" island with reasonable access is pretty hard to do as well. If it's easy to get to you'll probably have company. But if what you want to do is "disconnect" from the world I'd recommend some place like Gina's Akiama Beach Lodge on Akiama motu in Aitutaki Lagoon. I think it's about $300/night including transportation. The owners own about half of the motu. There's one other accommodation on the motu. You shouldn't have any trouble being alone because if the other place has guests they will likely be seeking solitude as well. Be careful what you wish for. If you were to find it, a couple of nights on an uninhabited SP island could be more than you bargained for. 48-72 hours can be an eternity in bad circumstances. | 4
watsoff 17:29 UTC 28 Oct 2011 | There are many uninhabited islands in Solomon Islands, but they are all owned and you'd need permission to land on one. However, not a good choice or be very careful because some are inhabited, some overrun, by salt water crocodiles. | 5
pago 17:31 UTC 28 Oct 2011 | Many years ago a DJ from Ohio settled on an small island in the South Seas, forgot which one. He lasted 3 days....No water. | 6
h2ooh 20:39 UTC 28 Oct 2011 | Your destination of NZ offers a lot of choices to camp out alone... Doubtful Sound.would be a good choice, solitude, free public use and no crocs.... but a few white pointers in the water! | 7
js1ngs 16:14 UTC 29 Oct 2011 | Cool! Thanks for the info everybody. I guess it is easy to dream, while practicalities are another story. J | 8
api 04:29 UTC 30 Oct 2011 | It's a nice dream too. Not sure I would want to camp alone, but I have done this many times (including in a forming cyclone, which was very scary but didn't deter me from camping - I just paid more attention to the weather). If budget isn't a massive problem then its worth pursuing, but it won't come cheaply. I did have permission though (it was for work). | 9
melbar 05:22 UTC 30 Oct 2011 | Lost Island Fiji would be an idea. its on Yanuca Leilei island, can be reached in 20 min from Levuka. They get a few guest only a year and you basicly will have the island for yourself..... | 10