South Pacific Holiday Inspirations

Welcome to my comprehensive holiday guide for the South Pacific. I have 30 years experience living and exploring the South Pacific islands extensively and promoting independent holidays for travellers. I am also author of the travel guide books: Rough Guide to Fiji, Rough Guide to Australia and Eyewitness New Zealand and published two photographic books. The following are my favourite destinations for a beautiful holiday in the South Pacific islands:

# 1 Cook Islands

muri beach in the cook islands

Cook Islands holidays epitomise the South Pacific Islands - small, charming, exceptionally laid back and of course offering fantastic beaches. Head to stunning Aitutaki lagoon or enjoy the fantastic restaurants and beach resorts on Rarotonga.

# 2 Solomon Islands

waterfall in solomon islands

Remote travel destination with incredible scuba diving, the most friendly people in the South Pacific and beautiful traditional villages. Come here to experience a very different way of life.

# 3 Fiji Holidays

castaway island fiji

The most popular tourist destination in the South Pacific islands, there are loads of beach resorts in Fiji for both families and couples. The islands offer excellent scuba diving and snorkelling plus plenty of day tours and cruises to keep you busy.

# 4 Hawaii Holidays

waikiki beach

When it's hot and humid in the South Pacific (Dec-Apr), it's nicely cool north of the equator in Hawaii. Despite the tackiness of Waikiki Beach and being brashly American-ized, there's world class surfing, pristine golf courses, magnificent hiking trails and breathtaking scenery.

# 5 Vanuatu Holidays

tribal dance vanuatu

Boasting a fascinating culture, Vanuatu offers exciting adventure holidays with traditional villages to visit, active volcanoes to climb, dense rainforest for hiking and beautiful coral reefs for scuba diving including WWII wrecks. Port Vila resorts are popular too with families..

# 6 Tahiti Holidays

traditional tahitian wedding ceremony

French Polynesia is vast and the majority of visitors arrive on honeymoon and stay in one of the many lavish over water bungalows on Bora Bora or Moorea islands. Enjoy striking tropical scenery and snorkelling / diving in the lagoons.

# 7 Samoa Holidays

waterfall in samoa islands

Popular with backpackers for its charming beach huts, Samoa has some interesting sightseeing with amazing waterfalls, lava fields and ancient star mounds. Apia is a lively seaside town but the locals are not as hospitable as its Pacific neighbours .

# 8 Tonga Holidays

  • Tongatapu
    uninhabited islands to explore
  • Vavau
    snorkelling and whale watching
beach in tonga islands

The tiny Kingdom of Tonga is a tourism backwater as unfortunately the country is absorbed by Christendom, its King and Chinese politics. Despite this there are plenty of remote islands for travellers to explore and whale watching is outstanding.

Other Pacific Islands

coconut palms in the south pacific islands

From the affluent French colony of New Caledonia to the massive atolls of Kiribati and the utterly remote speck of Pitcairn Island ... the lesser known South Pacific Islands are a treasure trove for explorers

beach at a popular holiday resort in fiji

Beautiful South Pacific Holidays

South Pacific holidays are the stuff of dreams. Whether you're looking for a laid back beach escape in the Cook Islands, a family holiday in the Fiji Islands, a more adventurous trip exploring the cultures and kastom villages of Vanuatu, or marvelling at the world famous coral reefs in the Solomon Islands, you're at the right place to find all about the beautiful South Pacific Islands:

It's that simple – we are local experts so planning your holiday to the South Pacific islands has never been more reliable.

If this is your first time visiting the South Pacific islands and you need help selecting a destination, we suggest you start at our South Pacific Holiday Comparison Chart which gives a great overview of what each island has to offer compared to its neighbours. Or if you’re more of a reader, then find out more from our detailed South Pacific Holidays Planner

Latest Video: Exploring the Solomon Islands

Explore our Beautiful Pacific

map of south pacific islands holiday pictures

South Pacific Resorts & Accommodation

picture of beach holiday in fiji islands

We have visited over 400 resorts in the South Pacific islands from the most luxurious private island retreat to locally owned holiday homes and tribal huts. All hotel reviews you read throughout this website have been written first hand to ensure an unbiased portrayal of each property.

To find a suitable place to stay simply view our accommodation directories for each destination and we'll provide you with our personalised review about each resort including all room category prices, our own pictures plus instant quotations providing the best deals available on the Internet.

South Pacific Holidays Guide

picture of the rainforest in the fiji islands

If you've ever watched Castaway or Mutiny on the Bounty and fancied swimming in that clear blue sea or sitting on that secluded beach, then you should look at our inspiring South Pacific Islands Overview to get an idea about what's unique about each island destination and from there you can start planning where to stay for your next holiday. Whilst cloud-less skies, uninhabited islands, swaying palm trees and friendly locals are all stereotypes, they are associated with the islands because that's what you get! Of course there's a lot more to do than just relax around the beach. Surprisingly, the islands offer a great variety of activities, not just snorkelling and scuba diving but world class surfing, whale watching, rainforest hikes and white water river rafting. If that's all too much to get your head around then head to our South Pacific Tours page to see exactly what each destination offers in the way of activities.

Within the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean there are literally thousands of tiny coral islands circled by sublime turquoise lagoons teeming with reef fish and dressed in colourful corals. You can swim in these unpolluted warm lagoons so clear that you can see a full 30 metres to the sandy bottoms or simply unwind on its exquisite soft white sand beaches under the cool shade of the iconic coconut tree. It's certainly no overstatement by saying the South Pacific Islands offer the best beach holidays in the world not only for honeymoons or getting married, but for families too.

Rising majestically from these pristine lagoons are steep rugged islands with volcanic mountain ranges, dense tropical rainforest and mysterious traditional villages offering great scope for adventure holidays. The people living in these delightful islands are by no coincidence amongst the most peaceful people in the world living a stress-free, happy-go-lucky life - a true paradise.

picture of local fishermen on a south pacific island

"I just wanted to tell you that your website offers absolutely the best tourist information on the South Pacific. It blows all of the others away. I am so happy to have found it"

Shane & Matt, Australia

We hope you too enjoy reading all about this exotic destination to find out the best things to see and do. Hopefully we have inspired you enough to make a booking through one of our affiliated booking agents promoted on each of our detailed hotel information pages ...