difficult to choose the good country for a first trip in pacific.....

Hello,

We plan one month trip in september/october 2019 in the pacific
We have travelled a lot before and we like to take our time (not visiting all pacific islands in 2 months)

We have difficult to find which country will be better for us
Diving, culture and nature are the main focus

After reading,it seems for us (but maybe we are wrong) that :
-French polynesia and micronesia are too expensive for our budget
-American samoa too american
-Fiji seem to be too touristic (we don't want go so far to have a bit the feeling of southeast asia backpackers)
-New caledonia seems a little to french for us and not so "beautiful" (come from belgium)
-Tonga don't have nice diving (except for the whales)

Then Solomon and Vanuatu are the last two island in the list

Some people prefer Vanuatu to Solomon and for others is the opposite :-(

Maybe two country in one month if the travel is not too expensive and esay to do

Could you please give us informations to choose and maybe also corrected us about our conclusion

Thanks

The only part of Fiji with a busy backpacker scene are the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands. In most of Fiji there are no tourists at all.

New Caledonia is stunningly beautiful, especially its smaller islands, but Noumea itself is perhaps the prettiest city in the region, exactly due to the French influence.

You could visit both Vanuatu and the Solomons in a month, but would see more if sticking to one country.
I much prefer Vanuatu where I found the people much nicer and the traditional culture much stronger.

I agree with Laszlo on both Fiji and NC. All countries are expensive, but Fiji a bit less so.
In NC there are cheap campsites. You can rent a car for a week and tour the main island, which is surprisingly untouristy. If you like hiking, the GRNC1 is a multiday camping trek in remote, wild territory.

Hello,

Thanks to both of you for your answer
We'll read more about Fiji,NC.... and Vanuatu
We'll come back to you when we decide and have more questions :-)

Last question : are you diver ? If yes,which it's the best of three for diving ?

Thanks a lot

hello,

and what about Papoua ?
It seem have a great cultural aspect and great dive too

Do you recommend it ?

Thanks

Both Indonesian Papua and independent Papua New Guinea are great travel destinations, though PNG can be very pricey.

things to consider about 2 or more pacific islands is connectivity, how direct is travel between the 2 and what does it cost. Vanuatu and Solomons are easy in that respect.
Also consider how you get to them, which route you need to take.
You should have a look at Samoa

I wouldn't rule out either American Samoa or Samoa. Yes, American Samoa is very American in some ways (we have been living here since the summer), but its far from touristy on the main island (Tutuila) so if you take a few minutes to get off the main track then you have the prime spots to yourselves. A 15 minute moderate hike earns us a private beach in a secluded cove. There are some really nice hiking trails in the National Park that are very low traffic. There are a few marine reserves for good snorkeling/diving. If you venture out to the Manu'a Islands in American Samoa you can have an extremely quiet, no tourist kind of stay and superb reefs. Google images of Ofu Island and its beaches. The reefs there have not been hit with bleaching, and they are discovering coral heads (Named Big Mamma and Big Poppa) that are 500+ years old.

Samoa (the independent country) will give you the most authentic, traditional experience for an easier to get to location.

Let me know if you have any questions :)
Meredith

Yes....Independent Samoa is the best of all and just as beautiful as any other Pacific island. Take time to go to the country areas and to Savaii.

I didn't find Fiji touristic at all. Most tourists stay on a couple of small islands, so the bigger islands feel quite off the beaten track. It's the only place in the South Pacific to experience city life. The cities, however, are not pretty - except of Levuka on Ovalau Island, which has been preserved its colonial appearance.
Fiji is however not a very typical representative of the South Pacific - it is rather big, with good infrastructure, and the culture is a unique mix of Melanesian, Indian and Polynesian.
I recently wrote a blog entry which might give you some impression.

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