Nowhere on the planet does tropical quite like the islands of the South
Pacific. There’s nothing in the Seychelles to top the Tahiti archipelago,
with its jagged mountains dripping with rainforest; no coral reefs in the
Maldives to match the underwater magic of the Solomon Islands. And even the
cultural richness of Southeast Asia comes off second best to the
kava-drinking ceremonies of Vanuatu and the Huli Wigmen of Papua New Guinea.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t have a bad holiday in the South Pacific
— and it’s an awfully long way to go to mess up. So here is our essential
beginner’s guide, tailored to suit just about every kind of traveller —
whether you’re hopping in for a brief stopover en route to kangaroo country,
or lavishing several weeks on a full-blown tour.
All prices are per person, based on two sharing, unless stated otherwise,
and include flights from London and transfers
I'm only on a stopover
Beach life in Fiji
Fiji is a great place to stretch your legs en route to New Zealand or
Australia. The gateway is Nadi — little more than an airstrip, a main drag
and lots of tourists. You don’t want to be among them, and there’s no need.
From here, you can be whisked off in your chartered seaplane for a 35-minute
flight over the bright green bobbles of the Yasawa archipelago, which has
the best beaches in the country.
Remote Yasawa Island Resort hits the spot for pampered relaxation and
attention to detail — but at a price: £1,388 for three nights’ full-board,
plus seaplane transfer, with Turquoise Holidays (01494 678400,
www.turquoiseholidays.co.uk). You can have more or less the same experience
for a fraction of the cost; here’s how.
The Air New Zealand flight into Nadi arrives in the early morning. Take the
20-minute taxi ride to Port Denarau, and check in for the Yasawa Flyer
(www.awesomefiji.com), an air-conditioned catamaran that departs at 9.15am
daily. Three hours later, you will be lying in your hammock on an unspoilt
bay of ivory sand. Locally owned and managed, Botaira Beach Resort
(www.coconutsandcoral.com) on Naviti island has 10 thatched bures (boo-rays)
on a sunset-facing bay. Three nights’ full-board costs £272, including the
Yasawa Flyer transfer, but not international flights, with STA Travel (0870
163 0026, www.statravel.co.uk).
Blow the budget in French Polynesia
Bora Bora’s fantasy landscape has earned it near-mythical status, but it’s a
honeypot. As you read this, three more hotels are being built around the
aquamarine lagoon. So if you’re flying to Tahiti with Air New Zealand, or on
a round-the-world ticket hopping across the Pacific, it’s far better to
escape the crowds and admire Bora Bora’s outline from 12 miles away, at
Taha’a Private Island and Spa. Set on a sandy, uninhabited motu, the
resort’s romantic over-water bungalows have become a favourite nesting site
for lesser-spotted celebrities.
You can go straight to Taha’a from Tahiti’s airport (a 50-minute flight then a
30-minute boat trip) — a good bet, since Tahiti’s traffic-choked capital,
Papeete, is not pleasant. Once installed, while away the days relaxing on
your deck and snorkelling in the brilliant blue lagoon.
You can also tour Taha’a for a taste of the local lifestyle — it’s got
black-pearl farms built over the sea, a vanilla plantation and a 985ft-high
viewpoint. Abercrombie & Kent (0845 070 0615, www.abercrombiekent.co.uk)
offers a three-night stay at Taha’a for £959.
Simplicity in Samoa
Samoa’s newest and largest hotel, Aggie Grey’s Lagoon Beach and Spa Resort,
opened last year near the airport. But why spend big in a destination that
offers the breeziest budget beach accommodation in the Pacific?
Open-sided wooden fales (fah-lays), usually with thatched roofs and little
else but a mattress and mosquito net, have been popping up all over Samoa in
the past few years, mostly owned and operated by local families. On the main
islands of Upolu and Savai’i, the road runs adjacent to the beach — and the
sound of the sea is not quite as mesmerising if you’ve got buses chugging
past, albeit infrequently. The answer is Maninoa Beach Fales (fax: 00 685
31201), on Upolu, which offers beachside bliss away from traffic and can
also lay on boat trips to the reef for experienced surfers. Alternatively,
there is Namua Island Resort (00 685 20566), set on its own car-free island
just offshore — and look out for turtles on the 10-minute boat crossing (I
saw three). At both places, the price for a night including meals comes in
at less than £25pp.
At the other end of the scale, there’s Sinalei Reef Resort and Spa
(www.sinalei.com) — Samoa’s only upmarket boutique resort. Three nights in a
beachside villa cost from £629, with Transpacific Holidays (01293 567722,
www.transpacificholidays.com). All the accommodation on Upolu can be reached
within a 90-minute taxi ride from the airport — the fare shouldn’t be more
than £30.
I've got two weeks Fiji with the family
Most upmarket accommodation in Fiji, including the dream-resortified Vatulele
(www.vatulele.com), is “couples only”. Fair enough, but the Jean-Michel
Cousteau Resort bucks the trend. It has children’s activities, nannies,
even a separate and secluded pool for the little ones and their carers.
The Fijian staff will make your kids feel so special that they may well
desert you altogether. The diving is excellent (although the best involves
a sometimes-rough 90-minute boat trip) and the bures — at least those away
from the bar and dining room — are intimate and relaxing. They all come
with hammocks and decks, and no air conditioning, TV or phone. The
grown-ups get to chill out on day beds beside the adults-only pool. Once
you’ve exhausted your supply of holiday reads, the resort has a variety of
absorbing cultural and environmental outings.
It’s perfect, in other words, for parental unwinding while the youngsters
frolic. Nine nights’ full-board at the resort for a family of four, plus
one night at the new Westin Resort and Spa near the international airport,
costs £3,165 per adult, £780 per child, with Bridge & Wickers
(020 7483 6555, www.bridgeandwickers.com), including flights with Air New
Zealand via Los Angeles.
Sail into the sunset in Tonga
Sailing holidays come naturally in the South Pacific, and the place to cast
off is Tonga. Its Vava’u Group comprises 50 or so islands, many of them
blessed with natural harbours in secluded bays. There are consistent winds
and coolish evenings, and a handful of simple bars and lodges cater for
passing yachties. You may not have the bays entirely to yourself, however —
between July and November, humpback whales cruise in from the South Pole to
mate here. Sail away into the sunset from Neiafu, the Vava’u Group’s
one-street capital with its pretty harbour.
Ten days’ bareboat charter on a six-berth 37ft yacht costs from £2,650 per
boat, not including flights, from The Moorings (01227 776677,
www.moorings.com). The company can also fix up skippered sailing. If you
like being on the water but yachts don’t float your boat, consider a cruise
— in the South Pacific, most are aboard smallish ships holding no more than
100 passengers. In Fiji, Blue Lagoon Cruises (020 8545 2615,
www.bluelagooncruises.com) runs mid-priced (from £1,100 for three nights)
itineraries around the Yasawa archipelago. In French Polynesia, you can
push the (more luxurious) boat out with Bora Bora Cruises
(www.boraboracruises.com).
And this year, Lindblad Expeditions (020 7752 0000, www.expeditions.com) will
debut its excellent “expedition-style” cruises in the South Pacific, with a
long voyage aboard the National Geographic Endeavour between the Marquesas
Islands and Papua New Guinea. You can opt to hop aboard for just a two-week
stint; from £5,000 for 16 nights.
Going wild in Tahiti
Tahiti’s rugged interior is more impressive than its black beaches, and the
best place to explore it from is Le Relais de la Maroto (00 689 579029),
high up at the head of the Papeno’o valley. Here you are surrounded by
lush, jungle-covered peaks; rough tracks thread through the dazzling
mountains, the walking is easy, and there are sacred sites dating from
ancient times.
If you’re especially keen, you can hire a guide (Mato Nui Excursions, 00 689
789547; £87 per day) and hike up to 2,000 metres or more, sleeping out at
night on a simple platform. Then head to Fiji, via two days in the Cook
Islands (where you can do a 4WD safari (www.rarosafaritours.co.ck; about
£11), trek across the island and/or cycle around it. In Fiji, there are
some excellent river-rafting and kayak trips through gorges green with
hanging ferns and vines (www.riversfiji.com; from £75 per day).
After all this you deserve some beach time. Qamea Resort, with its thatched
beachside bures, is situated on a car-free island of impenetrable virgin
jungle. It is a 10-minute boat ride from the island of Taveuni, which has
several hikes and waterfalls if you still crave adventure. A 16-day
itinerary, with two nights at the InterContinental Resort, Papeete, three
nights at Le Relais de la Maroto, two nights at the Manuia Beach Hotel,
Rarotonga, one night at the Fiji Mocambo Hotel, three nights (plus a day’s
river rafting) at the Outrigger on the Lagoon in Fiji, and six nights’
full-board at Qamea Resort, costs from £2,635 with All Ways Pacific (01494
432747, www.all-ways.co.uk). The price includes flights with Air New
Zealand via Los Angeles, domestic flights and transfers.
