Hawaii to South Pacific

I am thinking of attending a meeting in Hawaii - and was curious about travelling on from there to South Pacific island destinations. Seems like this is not as straightforward as I had imagined. Air Canada, Quatas and Air New Zealand all fly from Vancouver or Los Angeles to Australia and NZ but no longer seem to fly between various South Pacific Islands. One has to fly each time back to a major OZ or Kiwi city before heading out to, say French Polynesia.

What I am trying to do, however is to fly from Hawaii - as I will be already there - and carry on from there, to say Tuvalu or Cook Islands before heading home to Vancouver via Honolulu - and not include Australia or New Zealand in this particular trip.

Has anyone any experience with this type of itinerary?
Cheers, Max

Take a look at Air Pacific's route map:
http://www.airpacific.com/flights/route-map

I have used Hawaiian air & air pacific to get around the pacific- but mainly to fly from Hawaii to Samoa, Tonga & Fiji, getting to other islands can be more expensive and less direct than just using Auckland or Sydney as a transit. Flights to Rarotonga from Auckland are not that expensive- maybe you could find one that connects with a flight from Hawaii

Getting to Tuvalu would certainly be very expensive, but ASFAIK, Air Pacific still has a direct link from Hawaii to Christmas Island in Kiribati.
Fiji and American Samoa are also well/linked to Hawaii by direct flights.

Ditto Micronesia: the Marshalls, FSM, Guam.

Note sure about others, bu that's already quite a few to choose from.

If you want the Cooks ANZ is your best bet.

You may want to consider flying from HNL to LAX and then nonstop LAX-RAR.

That would make it YVR to HNL to LAX to RAR to YVR (or reverse).

Probably about the same in-flight time. ANZ partners with United.

It all depends on the specific places you want to visit and the time you have available (and your budget as flights aren't cheap). An example of a route you could make without going through Australia and NZ:

Honolulu-Papeete-Rarotonga-Papeete-Noumea-Port Vila-Honiara-Nadi-Apia-Pago Pago-Honolulu.
Out of Nadi you could make side trips to Wallis, Nauru, Nuku'alofa... Direct flights to Tuvalu are out of Suva.

Take a look at Hawaiian Airlines, Air Tahiti, Air Calin, Air Vanuatu, Solomon Airlines, Air Pacific, Samoan Air, Inter Island Airways, Polynesian Airlines...

Excellent suggestions, Everyone! Thanks kindly for the helpful pointers.

Nice to be back at the Thorn Tree, by the way - even if I managed to accidentally delete my earlier posts.

As things crystallize with this itinerary, if I have anything of interest to say, or follow-up questions to ask, I'll get back to you all.

Happy trails, Max.

Recently completed my exploratory trip from Hawaii to the South Pacific. While my itinerary became somewhat less extensive then I had first imagined, I am glad to have taken these first steps - and definitely plan on going further afield next time, as I now have a much clearer sense of how to travel in this extraordinary region. As promised - here's a brief follow-up:

From Honolulu I flew to Pago Pago, American Samoa with Hawaii Airlines.

Important to note, I overlooked completely - until the day of my departure (!) - that Canadians are required to have a visa to travel to American Samoa. In a panic, I called the Government of American Samoa office in Honolulu. They were enormously helpful and arranged everything on the spot.

I spent one week exploring the American Samoan island of Tutuila before boarding Polynesian Airlines' twin prop to Apia, (Western) Samoa - thirty minutes away. Spent a week in Samoa, including a ferry to the country's less developed island, Savai'i. American Samoa and independent Samoa share the extremely friendly and welcoming Samoan hospitality and culture amidst equally stunning scenery. I am glad to have travelled to both.

On the return leg of the trip, an unseasonable tropical storm resulted in all flights from Apia to Pago to be cancelled. After considerable chaos, a day and a half late, and without luggage, I eventually arrived in American Samoa. Bags did eventually arrive two days later. Tip: if at all possible, insist on placing your bags on your lap - as do the locals - in spite of officials telling you that all luggage must be checked - in.

The small, colourful, local buses with wooden benches, playing amazing music, are a terrific way to travel around American Samoa - friendly, efficient and great fun! Staying in a traditional, seaside thatched hut (fale) in Savai'i was also an excellent experience.

To cope with the post-trip blues, I am already planning a follow- up journey to the Samoan archipelago that will include going further to French Polynesia and Easter Island.

Nice to see you posting back!