NEW YEARS in the Pacific

Kia Ora,

I am a kiwi (26) and my flatmate is pommie (33). We are two single ladies looking for a great activities and great holiday. We have tried researching what island that would best suit, but have come away more confused. We are thinking Fiji, Cook Islands or Samoa. We are both sporty and dont want to waste the whole time sunbathing and all islands cover all the day activites we are wanting to do, so it seems to be the night life and accommodation and cost which we need to get right. Our trip will be for 7 days. We dont want to be around teenie boppers but dont want to be in a retirement village either. We are wanting more of 28 - 40yr age group. Would love some suggestions on who thinks what Island offers the most, below are some other wants

-Not too couply or family orientated
-Not Expensive
- Not quiet, somewhere with a buzz but enough to ignore if your recovering
-Safe
- Most bang for your bucks

Your suggestions are much appreciated

Rarotonga sounds like it would meet most of your wants. But things are very slow over Christmas/New Yrs, several restaurants close down as not many tourists arrive (most seats from NZ are taken up by CI'ers living in NZ returning home to visit relatives for the holidays). But, there is enough going on for most tastes. Check www.ck for more general info.

Thanks Raro, I am certainly leaning towards Rarotonga, its not as commerical as Fiji and not as undeveloped as Samoa. I hear you can do a pub crawl? Well I am looking forward to drinking a beer in the sun!

Yes, there are pub crawls organized by a couple of the backpacker places, as well as maybe the Edgewater Resort, and a couple of other places. Many are on Thursday nights.

One cannot actually legally drink beer in a public place, such as the public beach at Nikao (NW) or the park near the rugby field at Muri Beach (SE), But if the place you are staying is on the beach, then most of that beach--up to mean high tide---is owned by the accommodation, so you are OK.

You should know that Dec 25, Dec 26, Jan 1, and Jan 2 are public holidays, so all the pubs are closed on those days. They are all also closed on Sundays.

There are a lot of reviews of the backpacker places on this TT branch, probably worth checking them out. One decent place is Aremango, it's small, but only an 80m walk to a great area at Muri Beach. If you book in advance you may be able to get a two-bedded room all to yourselves. [The same may apply to some of the other backpacker places.]

Have fun!

PS--On NYE itself there may be organized fireworks in town, and also at Muri Beach, as last year. It's a fun night. But no alcohol is sold on Jan 1 or 2, so get some extra beer in advance for those days!

I'd say come to Ofu Island in Manu'a, American Samoa. I'll be there for Christmas & New Years Eve, but I don't think Ofu will live up to your "buzz" desires, though it pretty much meets/exceeds your other requirements.

If you show up, I'll buy the first round of Vailimas ;-)