Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Weird thing happened - Met a guy, he warned not to go to Kiribas or Tuvalu Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
jvainio 14:07 UTC 17 Jan 2009 | He warned these places are so overcrowded that one should never ever go there! Absolute hellhole places, he said! I said well i'm searching for a paradise atoll dream kind of vacation, and he said i should not consider Kiribas or Tuvalu then, instead i should look into Fiji and the Cook Islands. We talked for about 10 minutes.. Had worked for a few months on Tarawa atoll and Funafuti atoll.. I actually was considering going to Kiribas and/or Tuvalu, but this really put me down now. What do you think about this? Very few people have actual experience about the places, and this guy had months on both and was saying that so i'd think i should really listen to him. The guidebooks offer very little information, and aren't probably telling the truth. -J |
wave2angela 21:31 UTC 17 Jan 2009 | Where to start? I have sailed in to all the places you mention but living on a boat gives me many advantages. Kiribati and Tuvalu (and their people) are my favorite, but I can see what the guy means. Being based on land and working in Tarawa or Funafuti, which are over-populated and polluted, it might be hard to see the traditional and romantic, life on a tropical island experience. They both have their charm and I'd go back in a heartbeat but they don't offer the 'paradise, dream kind of vacation'. You say 'the guidebooks offer very little information’, neither Kiribati nor Tuvalu have many visitors so there is little set up to help tourists get around, no visitor’s bureau, no tour desk. Most people are either on some kind of a fact-finding or consulting visit or working in a semi-volunteer capacity in health or education. Tarawa and Funafuti are not places you can crack the code by dashing in and out of in a week or two, you need time to settle in and relax and this might not be the kind of experience you are looking for. However, if it is - both have simple places to stay that don't get mentioned in guide books, you might need a night or two in somewhere ‘better’ while you find them. I met a few travelers who were having the best time, making local friends and not hanging out with other Westerners too much. The smaller islands and atolls are where I love to be, but it isn't easy to get out there. In fact, you might be discouraged because there is unreliable (and sometimes unsafe) transport, no western-style accommodation set up, no places to buy a meal and only the most simple food stuffs available. For many reasons, camping is not really an option; you would have to rely on meeting someone and being invited to go stay with their family and taking some food with you, you should not expect to be looked after for free by people already struggling to find food. Then there is the problem of 'nothing' to do. Some people find it hard to slow down enough, to just relax and let - whatever - happen; some can cope and some would find even a few days unbearable. I am happy to be caught up in the Great Pacific Eddy and hope never to be spat out I think the best advice might be to start off at the 'top' of the list; go where with infrastructure and see how far you can break away from it, and I prefer the Cooks over Fiji for this. Then you will be more equipped to find your own way in the 'harder' destinations. Over to the other regular contributors. | 1
aroundoz2 21:51 UTC 18 Jan 2009 | Agree totally with wave2angela. Kiribati is a very different destination. If all you see of Kiribati is South Tarawa then yes it is overcrowded and far from your idyllic island paradise but get away from there to the outer islands and even north tarawa and there is little population, little infrastructure and little to do. It is very easy to find yourself spending time swinging in a hammock under palm trees, swimming in the lagoon, wandering through the local villages......you have just got to be happy to do 'nothing' and just chill. | 2
islandboi321 13:51 UTC 19 Jan 2009 | I hate to say this, but it sounds like a typical ex-pat attitude that you'll hear anywhere in the world.... These people live in places for eons, complain constantly about how awful it it and have nothing good to say about it. Do more homework and let the bitter Betty's be. | 3
jvainio 02:57 UTC 20 Jan 2009 | Yeah i got the picture that he was mainly in South Tarawa, working as some kind of a Coast Guard boat mechanic.. Thanks to everybody for the replies, a few different viewpoints, from wave2angelas "Consider easier destinations first"+ to islandbois +"Do not be afraid because of one man" -reply. If anyone has anything to add, please do! -J | 4
Laszlo 08:36 UTC 21 Jan 2009 | If you are simply looking for a nice atoll vacation, you could almost certainly have it much more easily somewhere like French Polynesia. It has more atolls to choose from, and they are both easier to reach than the outer islands of Tuvalu or Kiribati, and have much better/nicer facilities for visitors. If you go to Tuvalu, you may very easily get stuck on not-so-paradisic Funafuti, and even Kiribati's outer islands are a hit or miss to reach. Some places look more enticing on a map than they can turn out to be when you get there. The views of that expat you've met are not unique, one person that advised me against going to Tuvalu was actually David Stanley, author of the Moon South Pacific handbook, who has certainly seen enough islands to compare... | 5
jvainio 01:53 UTC 23 Jan 2009 | Thank you Laszlo for the contribution! Stanley said that? Wow, i really need to scrape these places off the list then, ey... They look good in pictures and on the map, but the population density figures seem too high for me.. At least in England had very rude, invasive culture where pop. density is 230+ / sq km, i worked there for a while and i didn't like it, and these places seem to have some of the highest concentrations of people... I wonder how the culture is.. Ok, thanks everyone, i think my question has been answered, i will not consider Tuvalu or Kiribas any more! -J | 6