Island hopping in the South Pacific

Hi all,

Me and my boyfriend are planning a trip to the south pacific islands next summer for around 3 months and we are going mainly to see the beaches/scenary and experience the culture...
Where are the best places to stay reasonably cheap and the best way to get from island to island?
We think we will mainly visit Fiji, Tahiti and the cook islands but any ideas would be amazing :)

Thanks x

Amazing YES...cheap NO

Check out the beautiful Yasawa Islands west of Viti Levu. The Yasawa Flyer is a reasonably affordable way to navigate the island chain. Eats and accommodation aren't going to be cheap in any of the places you mention.

It can be relativelycheap, but very basic, to travel within a country by the local boats used by the locals, but there is only air transport between countries.
Look for several threads in this branch about the same subject.

You should check out the air pacific "Bula" ticket. This allows you to fly to pretty much any island in the pacific for $99. We are in Ha'apai in Tonga, accommodation is inexpensive here and nice beaches are easily accessible on foot. It would be a good option for you combined with the Bula ticket. You can fly into Tongatapu and then take the new inter island ferry to Ha'apai ($T55 approx). Accommodation is about USD$15 per night but you can easily negotiate discounts for a longer stay. All you need to explore is a bike or a kayak which are available. Of course there are the Humpback Whales of Ha'apai that could make a great addition to your sight seeing or diving if your budget can stretch a little.

Hope this helps.

You need to tell us what your budget is.

Tahiti is certainly NOT cheap by any standards.

Cheaper island nations with a good dose of culture would be Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Solomons.

Where can I find out about this Bula ticket?

Here isa direct link to the Bula pass http://www.airpacific.com/Pacific-Destinations/Pacific-Bula-Pass.

Thanks,

Before getting too upbeat, note that the Bula Pass won't get you anywhere for $99 - it costs that much PLUS TAX, making it more like $270 for a RT flight to a country like Samoa (and Tonga, I guess). Still quite cheap by Pacific standards.

Bula pass is a great thing. Yes, you have to backtrack through Nadi every time you fly to a different island but the value you get is amazing. For USD 299 (plus another USD 300-400 in taxes) you can go from Fiji (and back) to Kiribati (Tarawa), Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu and Solomons in 30-days period. However, in order to be eligible for this pass you have to fly to Fiji only by Air Pacific, which costs about USD 500-600 from Auckland, USD 800-900 from Hong Kong and USD 1200+ from LA.