Chossing between Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa

My husband and I are planning our postponed honeymoon for May or June of this year. We plan to fly Air Pacific and take advantage of an extended layover in Fiji. We will then continue on to Vanuatu, Solomon Islands or Samoa. We will be traveling for a total of three weeks.

I would love any advice that might help us choose which country to visit and what we might want to do. We are looking to get the best bang for our buck. We aren’t really the resort type and would like a variety of experiences.

As you don't say what your interests are it's really not up to us to make the decision for you :-) However, Solomons (my hands down favourite) is probably the most basic in respect to accommodation and infrastructure. It is a fascinating country to visit. Solomons is great for diving. Vanuatu, Pt. Vila especially, is somewhat more upscale, and there's always the volcanoes (off Efate Island) to visit. But both countries are equally interesting IMO. Others will differ, and rightly so. Samoa is more upscale again, a totally different atmosphere and culture as it is a Polynesian country while the other two are Melanesian. Beware of roaming dogs in Apia ... don't know if it's still a problem as it once was. I should think Samoa is more of a honeymoon destination, if beaches are your thing, which it seems they aren't. But it is also an interesting destination.

Samoa isn't really a honeymoon destination, nor are the beaches particularly great (though some are). Snorkelling was a bust.
Dogs were around, but not an issue (in American Samoa, they were an issue). Outside of the accommodations, I found the people to be unfriendly and overly money hungry. I don't recommend Samoa. I don't regret going as there were many good parts to it, but I don't have any desire to ever return.

I can't comment on Vanuatu or the SI, but I will say that Fiji and American Samoa were fabulous - great people, scenery, activities, etc...

My vote goes for Vanuatu, as it has the friendliest people and diverse islands to explore or to choose from.
It also has better facilities than the Solomons, which are more for adventurers than for honeymooners, I would say. They do have resorts in Western Province, but Vanuatu has more.

Samoa would be my last choice, for reasons outlined by tch7 above.

You are likely to get a bigger variety in Solomon Islands or Vanuatu, as they are much bigger, and include many more different clutures than Samoa. Solomon Islands has Polynesian cultures on some of the outling islands, although Rennel is probably the only one easy enough to get to in our time frame. (It has a World Heritage lake).
Look at Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau for ideas of what is available there.

Thank you!

We have narrowed it down to Vanuatu or Solomon Islands.

We are really interested in just about everything except diving. Our general travel regimen is exploring and/or doing an activity (hike, snorkeling etc.) during the day and returning to our accommodations at night enjoying a cocktail and dinner. We enjoy cooking and are happy to prepare our own meals, but it seems that meals are often included. Also, we enjoy trying local favorites.

Am I correct in thinking that it is more expensive and harder to get between the islands in Vanuatu?

Has anyone stayed on Tanna? Can you recommend a place? How much time do you think we would want to spend on this island?

In the Solomon Islands I am most interested in Malaita Is. Rennell Is. And New Georgia Is.

In Fiji I am most drawn to the Yasawa group but would want to spend some time on Viti Levu as well.

I believe that I am being a little too ambitious in wanting to see everything! Our trip may be most enjoyable if we spend less time island hopping and instead choose an island or two in each country where we can stay for a few days. In each location it may be ideal to find an accommodation which we can do day trips from to experience the island. Anyone who can share some ideas of places to stay that would serve as a good home base, is greatly appreciated.

On Tanna, we stayed at the Evergreen Bungalows - a bit rustic for a mid level price range(2006) but I would recommend it. I doubt that you would find self catering places on Tanna. We spent 3 nights there which allowed us to visit the volcano, check out the town and do some exploring and snorkeling.
I can also recommend Tradewinds in Pt. Vila - we had a lovely apartment with all the necessities included - again a mid priced place but well situated as a base for exploring.

As for Fiji you could have a look at Nananu-i-ra Island - a short boat ride off the northwest coast. There are several bungalow style accommodations that will let you self cater - there are hiking trails and good snorkeling. You could plan to stop along the way to check out Lautoka or Raki Raki - you might also have a look at Voli Voli as a place to stay. In the Yasawas I can recommend Waya Island - we stayed at the Octopus Resort but there are a couple of smaller places there as well - again, hiking and snorkeling are great!

You really can't go too wrong with whatever you choose to do - have a great honeymoon!

Getting around the country is much easier in Vanuatu, where flights are more frequent and more reliable than in the Solomons. I could easily spend a week on Tanna - it's an amazing island.
Tanna and Santo are probably the most interesting and accessible islands for those with limited time in Vanuatu.

Your choices for the Solomons are fine (they were my choices, too) but getting to Rennel can be hard. Malaita and New Georgia are easy.

The only place on Malaita where you could come home ot cocktails is Auki, and even there it is more likely to be a Solbrew Beer. There is very little actual tourist infrastructure, though Auki would be the best base for day or 2-3 day trips. There are no cars there available for hire, only locally-driven taxis, mini-buses, trucks or outboards.
However, there is now a reliable, comfortable fast boat service daily, on 360 Discovery.

Thank you for all of your help!

We have decided on the Solomon Islands! We will spend two weeks here and have a few days in Fiji as well!

We are thinking that we will probably spend a fair amount of time in the Western Province. I would also like to make it to Rennell, but it is pretty out of the way. Any advice on traveling to Rennell (how many days should I budget?) is greatly appreciated!

The main issue with Rennel could be getting on the flights (and having them materialize).
Otherwise, 3-4 days on the island could be enough to explore th lake and maybe a few beaches along the coast.

It looks like because of limited flights, we will probably not be able to fit Rennell into our travel plans.

Has anyone taken the MV Pelican Express from Honiara to Gizo? Is it pretty scenic?

I was thinking it might be worth taking the boat up then flying back. However, looking into flights back, there seems to be a pretty large discrepancy in price based on where you fly out of and on which day. I tried to access schedules through Flysolomons but was unsuccessful. I am thinking it would be worth planning our time in the Western Province so that we could end our adventures in a town that would be less expensive to fly back to Honiara from. Any insight on this?

I am thinking we would spend approximately a week and a half in the western province and then make a trip to Savo Island for a few days.

Thanks again for all of the helpful information!

There are daily flights from Munda and Gizo. These are also more reliable than the smaller airfields like Seghe.
You need to factor in the cost of outboard fuel and boat hire between places if you are moving around.
I have travelled on Pelican Express, but not as far as Gizo. It is pretty much enclosed, limiting the view, but much more comfortable and faster than the larger boats like Bikoi.