mike78pl

Hi, I plan to travel with my wife to one of the islands of the South Pacific. It will be our first trip to this region and we plan to stay on one island only (10-14 days). So which island to choose if we want: beautiful beach, interior with some jungle and opportunity to experience some local south pacific culture ?
Regards
Mike

Diamantina

Mike, that's a pretty broad swathe of islands and the cultures they're home to. I am not qualified to compare them as I've only been to a few of them. Can you be more specific? One thing I will mention is that South Pacific cyclone season generally starts on November 1 and ends on April 30, which doesn't mean it'll necessarily be stormy at this time or that cyclones can't occur outside this time, but this is when the cyclones are most expected.

margo_oz

Well, obviously the BIG island - Australia

It has everything you're looking for.

Timing matters???

mike78pl

I've been in Australia and NZ also Now its time for one of south Pacific archipelago. It has been alwayes one of my travel dreams. Probably December

KayF

As mentioned already, December is in the cyclone season. There will likely be heavy rain and high humidity. Rain is often a sudden heavy downpour, then the sun comes out and everything steams a bit.

I've heard the Cook Islands are nice but harder to reach than other islands such as Fiji. There's been political unrest in some of the islands, such as New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands.

Diamantina

Mike, I think French Polynesia would be worth considering because it's relatively easy to get to. You'd have a lot of islands to choose from apart from the main island of Tahiti. I've only been to Tahiti, Huahine, and Moorea (which is just a short ferry ride from Papeete, Tahiti), but Raiatea, Rangiroa, and Bora Bora are also popular. The more adventurous explore the Marquesa Ils. and Tuamotos Ils. . As you can guess, the people of FP are mainly Polynesian and French.

I've not been to Fiji, but it is also relatively easy to get to with flights from NZ, Australia and the U.S.. It's home to mainly Fijians, who are of Melanesian ancestry, Indians, Chinese and Europeans. Like FP, they have a highly developed tourism sector. We tried to book a vacation to Fiji once, but found the best value places already booked up as we were making last-minute plans. It is a very popular winter destination for Kiwis and Australians, so book early.

I agree with KayF. New Caledonia is lovely, but it is harder to get to, and they have been having big political problems (protests, political unrest). These have been brewing for years. My husband and I been there a couple of times, and were headed there for a third time with the intention of spending part of our trip on the island of Mare, but got a call from New Caledonian friend alerting me to riots on Mare. So we modified our vacation plans. Unfortunately, we never made it, because on the day of our departure our early morning flight out of Dunedin, NZ, was delayed due to fog. In fact, flights were delayed for most of the day. Many people missed their international connections that day. We tried to rebook our flight ffrom Auckland to Noumea, but there were no flights available for the next two weeks. So we had to cancel. This was a reminder of what can happen when one books a trip to a destination that is not served by many international fights or airlines. Not many flights, lots of demand.

We've also been to Vanuatu, which we loved, and to the Cook Islands a couple of times--also a very nice place. Both places are easy to get to if you live in Australia or New Zealand.

Diamantina

Mike, just putting in a quick search for "airlines that fly directly from LAX to Papeete" I got Air Tahiti Nui, Air France, Alaska, Delta, and Qantas. Direct flights out of SFO to Papeete seem to include French Bee and Air Caraibes. If you're interested, I'm sure you'll have no trouble gathering more information for your trip..