how does hawaii compare?

hi,

i took my vacation over the last 2 years in hawaii. one year exploring oahu and tbi, and the next year kaui and maui. what i like about most about hawaii is the variety of natural beauty. secondarily, is the laid back atmosphere, the weather, and swimming/waves, and interesting culture/history.

how will south pacific compare? i was thinking of seeing Molokai and lanai this winter, but if fiji/tonga/samoa/tahiti have more or different things to offer, i'd consider them. of course for an american, hawaii is much cheaper/faster to get to than south pacific, which is a big plus.

if south pacific will offer a lot more, how do you recommend i get around? which few islands should i hop between - and would those be flights?

thanks!

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<hr>if fiji/tonga/samoa/tahiti have more or different things to offer, i'd consider them<hr></blockquote>They may not have MORE to offer but different things for sure.

Fiji, Tonga and Samoa (and Vanuatu) are easily linked by fairly short flights - Tahiti is much further out.
Basically, you can get around by boats (and flights) within each country, but not between various countries.

However if getting somewhere cheaply and fast is a big plus for you, maybe you should just stick to Hawaii.

You will find the Pacific Islands very different to Hawaii, Fiji has over 300 islands but Samoa just has a few small islands and 2 large main islands.
I think it would be sensible to just go to one island group like Samoa and see how you like it.
Each group is very different but no where near as commercial as Hawaii and all are more laid back than Hawaii.
All have less crime against tourist's than Hawaii.

If you think Hawaii is laid back, the South Pacific will shift you into an even lower gear by a factor of five!

From mainland US, your main expense---and time consideration--will be the flights. Air New Zealand has a non-stop to the Cooks from LAX. You can spend a couple of weeks there, it is kind of like Hawaii was in the 1950's.

Or, you can go to Fiji on a couple of airlines, that is the main "hub" for much of the South Pacific. Easy to spend a few weeks in Fiji.

Or, you can hit Tonga and Samoa on air New Zealand, as it seems Silvanocat is doing (search around for her posts and Q's).

As you'll see if you can find a good route map, getting northeast to southwest is easy, it is getting from east to west and vv that is hard in the South Pacific. Most routes from the US are now mainly to NZ or Australia, with a stop in EITHER Tahiti, OR the Cooks, or Tonga/Samoa, OR Fiji, etc.

The eastern half of the South Pacific---from Fiji east, including Samoa, Tonga, Cooks, Fr. Polynesia---is easier and quicker to reach from N. America than islands west of Fiji, such as Vanuatu, Solomons, New Caledonia, etc.

As it seems you want a basic vacation, and liked Hawaii, I think you'd find the Cooks a good choice, second would be Fiji. Tonga and Samoa would be in the next level, as these have a much lower level of tourist infrastructure, and I'm not sure you want this. So you might try the Cooks OR Fiji (too hard to do both due to airline routes) on this first trip, and then Tonga/Samoa on another.

For a couple of weeks, the basic idea is to hit the main island, then one or two outer islands.

You also might want to get a copy of David Stanley's South Pacific Handbook, that will help point you in the direction of which country to start with.

Have fun!

When I was in Hawaii and staying away from Waikiki, there was nothing to tell me I wasn't in some suburb of Philidelphia except for the Coconut palms.

It's night and day betwixt Hawaii and the islands. As Raro said, prepair for a comatose state.

Hawaii is the real world, the islands someplace else altogether. Always amazed to hear people getting island fever in Hawaii- how is it possible?

I see I am going to have defend Hawaii some. It has all the things of American cities but if you get off the main roads in Hawaii and get up some of those country roads, you can still find Pacific island life here. The one thing about the islands in the South Pacific is that they are so much more tropical. Few places in Hawaii have that really green tropical growth. In fact many of the native plants in Hawaii are quite dryland tough grey leaf sorts of plants which is not what the average tourist expects. Walking through really tropical forest and plantations has a real big wow factor. Of course you will be covered in sweat from the humid rainy weather but that is part of the tropics. Aloha

hmm- one of the disappearing posts.

I love Hawaii- it has areas of real beauty, and yet the comforts of modern life. But it is very different from the more remote islands. I especially love Maui when the whales are there.