Help me navigate the South Pacific please!

To Anyone Who Can Help:

For the whole of January I want to navigate Fed States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Isl, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Isl, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.

As you can tell this is a big wish list. I am leaving from Sydney and need to return to Sydney/Melbourne afterwards.

I am currently struggling with getting to Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau without spending days and days on planes. Ideally I would like to cruise because then I get to enjoy the beauty.

Another concern is for my personal safety - single 26 yr old female. Any advice on how safe all of these countries are, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Are you just looking to collect passport stamps and nothing else? To do those 11 countries in 1 month means that you'll be living on planes and will never have more than a full day in a country, not to mention spending an absolute fortune. Doing 2-4 countries in that month would at least give you some time to experience the places.

Troll? Nobody can be that stupid and yet, put Kiribati on their list. Stupid people don't know what Kiribati is, and normal people (i.e., non-travel junkies) don't want to go there.

One month would be a good length of time to tour Solomon islands alone. If you are interested in culture, it includes Melanesian, Polynesian and Micronesian cultural groups, the only country in the Pacific that has all 3.
There are no regular sea connections between countries within the Pacific, only within countries.
Check Our Airline which has flights from Brisbane to Honiara (Solomon Islands) Nauru, Tarawa (Kiribati) and Nadi (Fiji).
Also look for flights on Air Pacific, Solomon Airlines,and Pacific Blue.
The Pacific Islands are among the safest countries in the world, provided you respect local dress codes (eg no bikinis outside resorts, and wearing skirts that cover the knees. (Never short shorts).

Thanks very much Ozziegiraffe!

Hi

I am in the same boat.. Have been travelling around Asia alone for a few months and am in Australia over New Year, but id like to go to the Pacific islands for around 4-6 week after the first week of January..
I dont know where to start!
Travelling between them is not as easy as i thought it would be it seems!

You can do north of the equator, or south. Doing both is very very difficult. If you are going from Asia to Australia, I'd do the south. Getting up to Micronesia makes for another approach entirely. Now nova- if you were in Asia it would be possible to do Micronesia, then down to Australia, but once you get down there, you are south.

OP & Nova21: I find it easiest to break down the North and South Pacific options by major airlines.

On Continental, you can get to the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, and N. Marianas Islands (basically, the American-administered post-WWII UN trust territories). But to get to all of those places, you must pass through Guam, and to get to Guam, one typically must go through Honolulu or Manila (although I understand there are some direct flights to Guam on Asian carriers). The Continental flights are very expensive, as there are no competitors on these routes.

Air Pacific is Fiji-based, and can get you to many places including Samoa, Tonga, Kiribas, the Solomons, and Vanuatu. You can get to Fiji from Australia. The Bula Pass can make visiting multiple countries affordable, but I think you are limited to a 30-day period.

Then there are places served by Air New Zealand, such as Nuie, Samoa (for now), Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji and the like. Air New Zealand flights to some of these places run only once a week.

Qantus can get you to Fiji, French Polynesia, and PNG. People have posted that, with patience, it is possible to get from PNG to the Solomon islands by boat, giving you a potential link up to the Air Pacific flights.

Boat transportation between different countries is likely going to be sporadic (with perhaps, the exception of boats running between Samoa and American Samoa, which are very close by). As you can see, Fiji is the only real transit point, and it won't help you with getting to Micronesia (unless you head out to Honalulu).

Edited by: tilos

I notice both the Op and Nova 21 do not mention their base country in their profiles. Navigating the Pacific is often dependant on where you start from. I, for example, am based in Australia, and therefore would not be even looking at Continental to get to the Pacific, as Tilos (being US-based) does. In fact, I would probabl not even look at Qantas.
Pacific Blue is a Virgin sibsidiary, flying to a number of Pacific countries out of Australia and New Zealand.
If I was looking at Pacific travel, I would definitely consider getting cheap flights to either Australia or New Zealand, and working from there. (In Australia, Brisbane is the closest port to Melanesian countries (PNG, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia).

Good point, Ozziegiraffe; I was trying to assume people would be coming from Asia or Australia, but I didn't know about Pacific Blue. Are there other discount airlines flying in the Pacific? I'm planning a trip to NZ next year, and it would be helpful to know about (potentially) cheap side-trips.

The reason I mentioned Continental was because as far as I know, no other airlines are serving Micronesia. There was a discount airline with flights between Australia and Palau & Guam, but it isn't operating at this time.

11 countries in a month (and then preferably by sea) - the funnies post ever!
I can't believe people could take this seriously enough to bother replying.

Well- there is that laszlo- some of us kinda forgot the time and responded to just the travel aspect but you are completely right- it would barely be even possible but certainly not advisable.

Laszlo: I called out the troll in post 2, but I figured that nova21 is legitimate.

FAQ 29 is now available, listing which airline flies where in the Pacific. Nova21, check it out.

Edited by: tilos

Good idea, Tilos, but you missed Solomon Airlines, which links brisbane, Honiara, then, from Honiara, PNG, Vanuatu and Nadi.

Ozziegiraffe: Thank you for adding it. The list will need to be reposted from time to time with changes, as routes go away or get added, but I figured it would be a starting point. Sam has already pointed out that the Fiji to Wallis flight no longer exists, not withstanding what AirCalin's website says.

It DOES exist.
I was given a booking there for later this month! ;-)
(though i decided not to go now)

Now laslo- these are the islands. Just because you were able to get a booking does not mean that they would actually fly there ;-)

They may be islands but they (and the airline) are run by the French.
That flight has existed for many many years, so I'm quite reluctant to believe it simply ended just because someone who posted a rather silly OP reflecting zero knowledge of Pacific air travel thinks so.

Ok- I put the emoticon there- it was meant to be a bit jokey-it was mostly the notion that anything as logical as being able to book a flight would guarantee that it was still flying.

Well, that comment would have been - was! - perfectly justified in the case of new, local airlines offering services to Palau. ;-)

I try to warn everyone about them...