Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

which island to visit ???

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea

Hello,

We plan to go 4 to 5 weeks visit an island (or 2) Pacific (excluding Australia and New zealand)

Not knowing at all what corner "lost" our beautiful planet, I appeal to your knowledge on different places

We are interested in beautiful beaches, local culture, nature, archaeological sites if exist and especially diving seems extraordinary that a certain endroits.Then a trip + / - complete not only a relaxation journey

It is a little difficult to see the difference between the new caledonia, the French polynesia, the cook islands, Vanatu, Papua new guinea, Tonga, Samoa, etc. ..........

The only islands which, after several opinions seem already too touristy are some islands of Fiji and French polynesia as Bora Bora therefore not interest us too

At first glance Papua new guinea seem fuller in the kind of trip we are looking but are open to all proposals

In addition, knowledgeable asia, pacific islands they worth really worth knowing that the price of such a trip is quite High

thank you in advance for all your info

You might find Solomon Islands meets your needs. Smaller and safer overall than PNG, but with a similar Melanesian culture, world class diving, and not overrun by tourists.

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Papua New Guinea is indeed the most culturally and geographically diverse and almost certainly most adventurous destination in the region, however it can be quite expensive for domestic flights and city accommodation.
Of the other, smaller countries, I found Vanuatu the most similar to it, though the Solomons are more budget-friendly.

Archeological sites are not a strength of this region, with the only really noteworthy ones being the statues of Easter Island and the ruins of Nan Madol in Micronesia. There are also interesting statues in the Marquesas in French Polynesia, plus marae temple ruins throughout Polynesia.
Marine biodiversity and thus the diving is best in PNG and then gets poorer the further east or south you go from there.

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