Which are the most interesting Pacific Islands?

Hello, my name is Clara and I'm 18 years old and I live in Denmark. This summer I will finish high school, and then I'm going to work a bit, before I'm going to travel the world in 2013 (so exciting!!).

I'm planning on backpacking in Asia, then Australia and after that the Pacific Islands, Hawaii, through to New York and then head home (Denmark).

However, it has been a bit difficult for me to plan the trip to the Pacific Islands, because I'm having some problems with choosing which islands I should go visit! And therefore I was looking for some help.

What I am searching for with visiting these islands is (of course) a beautiful view: paradise, wonderful beaches, which sweeps you off your feet. But that's not all of it of course! I would also like to do some diving (I'm planning on taking one of those courses, that teaches you how to dive, in Australia before heading to the islands). Then I want to see some "tourist attractions" - historical monuments etc., all the classic things. But I also want to "get down" with the local people and experience the culture, if you know what I mean.

But like a lot of cities and beaches in Spain are very much alike with a lot of beaches and cities in France, I would imagine, that also a lot of the Pacific Islands is very much alike with each other.

And therefore I would like to ask you which islands YOU would recommend, that I would go visit. Which islands do YOU think will satisfy my expectations, if I only had to choose some destinations. Which of these islands stands out and are their very own and on which islands would I be able to make the most out of it and the most out of my trip?

I've read a lot about the different places on the internet, but it doesn't really give me a real impression of the islands in the same way, that advice from people who have explored the islands can give me.

You can keep in mind, that I am (sadly) not a billionaire. I am not expecting it to be cheap though, but of course I don't have the money to stay on islands that only have 5-stared hotels and where everything is expensive.

I was thinking about going for 2 months and maybe 4-6 destinations depending on which destinations it should be, how does that sound? I've checked the weather, and I've concluded that the weather will be warm all year around, but that I should probably try to avoid the rain period between December-March.

I was thinking more about the South Pacific and Melanesia and Polynesia, but I’d like the Philippines though. But in the end I'm looking for those islands, which would be most convenient for me and which will accommodate my wishes best, be it 4 weeks on Fiji or 4 weeks on 4 small different destinations/islands.

Any suggestions for which islands I should check out and maybe a route?

And thank you very much for your help and time, I really appreciate it!

One possible route would be Brisbane (Australia) Solomon Islands (famous diving destination, as well as varied cultures) Vanuatu (similar to Solomon Islands, but more touristy in parts, Fiji, then one of the Polynesian countries (Cooks, Tahiti, Tonga or Samoa), Hawaii, Los Angeles.
Check which airlines do the last 3 legs here.

Cook Islands is a Polynesian destination which can be reached from Australia, NZ or Tahiti (all direct flights). Aitutaki in particular is a most beautiful unspoilt island with a magnificent lagoon area with friendly, welcoming people and an easy going culture. While the range of accommodation is not as big as Rarotonga, the main island, it still has a really good choice for all budgets. Either book a rustic beachfront hut for NZD$62.00 per night, or stay at one of the guesthouses starting at $30.00 per night. To get to Aitutaki from Rarotonga international airport, you need to fly north to Aitutaki with Air Rarotonga. Air Rarotonga also operate a weekly air service to Papeete, Tahiti.

How much money do you have for your flights? I love Palau, but the flights might be prohibitively expensive.

Right now, I have a lot of money, beacause I've been saving up for a long time. But I'd like to spend the money over as long time and on as many things as possible, so I'll get the most out of it.

I'm expecting that my trip will end up costing me 1500-2000 USD per month for everything - transport (flights etc.), food, accomodation, experiences/trips and so on. So if I want to spend about 2 months on the Pacific Islands, I will have about 3600 USD to everything during that period. But I don't know, how much money I should expect to be living for on the Pacific Islands with local transport, food, accomodation? How much money can I live for in one day approximately?

In Solomon Islands you would be paying from $30 US to $100 or more a day for accommodation, depending on the type of accommodation. Inter-island transport is cheap but very rough on the inter-island ferries, and more expensive on planes. If you want to travel by outboard, prices go up due to the cost of fuel.
Local food, bought at markets, is cheap. Imported food is expensive.