Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# What island will fit me? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
jesper999 09:10 UTC 01 Oct 2009 | Hello... I really want to visit the pacific. But when i read about all those fantastic islands, its very confusing. Im looking for an island to visit, that: 1: possible to visit from EU by plane. How many times i should change plane doesnt matter ;) 2: Is quite cheap to fly to. 3: Has great beaches for snorkling. 4: Has quite cheap accomodation and food. Any surgestions? :D Thanks! |
ozziegiraffe 11:50 UTC 01 Oct 2009 | Most of the Pacific would fit this. If you fly to Sydney or Brisbane in Australia, you can now get pretty good fares on pacific Blue to many places. | 1
Laszlo 14:05 UTC 01 Oct 2009 | NONE of the ındependent Pacıfıc countrıes would be quıte cheap to fly to from EU though - far from ıt. Nor are any of them really cheap for food and accommodatıon. Unless you can stretch your budget, your best bet mıght be the Maluku ıslands ın Indonesıa, at the very western edge of what ıs stıll generally consıdered the Pacıfıc regıon geographıcally and culturally. It would be cheaper to fly to (vıa Malaysıa) than the ındependant Pacıfıc ıslands (vıa AU or the USA) and cheaper for food and accommodatıon, too. Among the latter, Fıjı tends to be cheapest to fly to from EU, but these days Vırgın offers more possıbılıtıes vıa AU. | 2
ozziegiraffe 10:51 UTC 02 Oct 2009 | Note: Pacific Blue is the Pacific Islands branch of Virgin. Virgin Blue is the Australian branch (in case you haven't heard of these airlines. All can be accessed through the Virgin website, I believe. | 3
oldpro 13:11 UTC 03 Oct 2009 | FlycheapSouth pacific is not a good combination. Another possibility from Europe is with Air New Zealand . European summer is low season down there, and they're always offering deals. But, you'll have to explore their site, check the prices, and decide for yourself how cheap "cheap" is. You could fly to Auckland and connect to an island destination from there. Or, fly to Los Angeles and connect to Nadi in Fiji. Fiji itself will likely be one of the cheapest S Pacific destinations. However, even on low budget you still have to be in the area of 25-30 euros per day. Perhaps less if you pick your spots and don't move around too much -- but will this mean an enjoyable time? If that's not "cheap" enough for you then either spend time to save up the money for a visit, or pick a different part of the planet to go to. | 4
Laszlo 13:31 UTC 03 Oct 2009 | The main deal in Air NZ is that one can actually visit 2-3 Pacific island nations as (paid) stopovers on the way to and from NZ from Europe or North America. However, I have otherwise found Air NZ too inflexible to my taste - better suited to people who can plan their entire trip (dates!) in advance, and then stick to it. | 5
eddyv 13:16 UTC 05 Oct 2009 | I've only been to Vanuatu, Guam, Palau and Yap (Federated States of Micronesia). Vanuatu's very expensive, as are Palau and Guam. However all 3 have couchsurfers (managed to stay with one successfully in Guam) but to go snorkeling in the best areas is quite expensive. In general I'd say if you're looking for somewhere REALLY cheap then these places are not for you. Yap's cheaper, especially if you're willing to camp on a beach which you can do for US$5 a night. Food there's also cheap, like you can get a very big meal for US$5 in a nice restaurant. You can also get around freely and easily by hitch hiking. It's also a much more low-key, chilled out and friendly place than either Guam or Palau. Getting there is, however, bloody expensive! Most international flights go from either Hawaii, Australia or the Philippines and involve 1 or 2 stopovers. | 6
5waldos 00:47 UTC 06 Oct 2009 | I agree that cheap airfares and Pacific Islands are rarely seen in the same sentence. You can get a relatively cheap fare to Manila but then you are in Manila and it will cost you as much to get to the islands. If cheap is necessary, and it usually is, you might want to rethink your desires and decide you want to go to Thailand- there are places there where the snorkeling is great. Or to the Red Sea- much closer and some spectacular coral. | 7