Baldpacker

Nice! What are your plans for the South Pacific?

ironmanjt

Timor Leste, PNG, Samoa, Tonga, Solomons, Fiji, Tuvalu, Nauru and Kiribati....in just under 5 weeks.... Pray for me...

Forrest Bump

And for your credit card...that must be a daunting part of the world costs wise..

Baldpacker

Flights? Cruise? I must Admit I still haven't figured out an economical way to travel the South pacific...

ironmanjt

Flights...and they're booked...and it wasn't cheap. But also, I knew grouping it into one trip would get it as economical as possible. At least I might qualify for Air Fiji Global Services next year?

Baldpacker

I think for me the South Pacific will be the most difficult and costly area in general and planning to visit a bunch of islands in groups will be the cheapest way to see it. I've done some initial research and put comments for how I think the easiest / cheapest / best way to visit will be. I'd appreciate any comments or advice!

(X) means visited or already booked to visit.

X Australia
Bismark Archipelago (New Ireland, New Britain, Bougainville, Admiralty Islands) - Fly from Port Moresby
Chatham Islands - Fly from New Zealand
Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Penrhyn) - Cruise Ship?
Easter Island - Cruise ship or fly from Santiago.
Fiji Islands - Fly. Connections to lots of other islands from here so likely a hub for flights or cruises.
French Polynesia (Tahiti,Tuamotu, Austral, Gambier) - Hub for flights and cruises.
Galapagos Islands - Fly from Quito
X Guam
X Hawaiian Islands
Juan Fernandez Islands (Robinson Crusoe Island) - Fly from Santiago
Kiribati (Gilberts,Tarawa, Ocean Island) - Flight connections with Nadi, Nauru, Majuro.
Line/Phoenix Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland) - Cruise or flight from Nadi / Honolulu. MV Contraband from Apia goes to Canton and Tokelau for $5900.
Lord Howe Island - Fly from Oz. Must see Ball's Pyramid!
Marquesas Islands - Fly from Tahiti
Marshall Islands, Republic of (Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok) - United Airlines Island Hopper. Stop in Majuro.
X Micronesia, Fed.States of (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk,Yap,Caroline Islands)
Midway Island - Pain in the .... Military tour. Wildlife tour. Sometimes Cruises. Need to research as lots of travel restrictions. Access from Honolulu?
Nauru - Flights from Brisbane, Tarawa (Kiribati), and Majuro. Need visa!
New Caledonia & Deps. (Noumea, Loyalty Islands) - Lots of flights so shouldn't be tough to combine with other destinations.
X New Zealand
Niue - Fly from Auckland.
Norfolk Island - Fly from Auckland, Sydney, or Brisbane
X Northern Marianas (Saipan, Tinian)
Ogasawara (Bonin, Volcano Island, Iwo Jima) - 26 hour ferry from Tokyo.
X Palau, Republic of
Papua New Guinea - Easy to get to. Possibly a hub for other islands?
Pitcairn Island - Cruise Ship
X Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa)
Samoa, American (Pago Pago) - Flight or Cruise
Samoa (Apia) - Flight or cruise. Flights between American Samoa and Samoa. MV Contraband Cruise to Line / Tokelau $5900.
Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal, New Georgia,Tulagi) - Cruise or flights from Bris, Vanuatu, Fiji, PNG.
X Tasmania
Tokelau Islands (Fakaofu, Atafu, Union) - No flights, no ports, no harbours. Some boats from Apia. Best way appears to be MV Contraband from Apia via Phoenix Islands $5900.
Tonga (Nukualofa) - Flights from Auckland, Samoa, Sydney, and Fiji
Tuvalu (Ellice Island, Funafuti, Vaitapu) - Flight from Fiji $$$
Vanuatu (New Hebrides Islands) - Cruise or flight from BNE, MEL, SYD, AKL, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Solomon Islands.
Wake Island - Not open to visitors. Hope for Military Historical Tour.
Wallis & Futuna Islands - Flight from Nadi usually cheapest. Also from Noumea.

So much research to be done...

Kiwi Flyer

It is fairly cheap and easy to fly to the following from NZ:

Cook Islands (Rarotonga)
Fiji
New Caledonia
Niue
Norfolk Island
Samoa
Tahiti
Tonga
Vanuatu


Papua New Guinea is not a useful hub to visit other countries.

Baldpacker

Thanks - I'm going to do some more research on flight costs to get a better idea of what I could piece together. For PNG I guess "hub" wasn't the right word but it seems to be the best way to access the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands from what I've seen.

MatthewLAX

But there are logistical problems - like the once weekly Niue flights mean you either stay for an hour or stay for seven days, both of which are not at all attractive options.

Kiwi Flyer

Of the places I mentioned, only Niue has this issue. Others have more frequencies.

But, with Niue at least, there aren't many options.

rankourabu

In winter (16May-26Sep) - there are 2 flights a week (3/6) - making it much easier, although I suspect most country 'collectors' will opt for the 1 hour stay.

----------------------------------------------------------------
NZ 784 AKL 09:30 IUE 13:55 -1 320 0 --3--6- 03:25 I - 16 May 26 Sep

NZ 785 IUE 14:55 AKL 17:45 +1 320 0 -2--5-- 03:50 - I 15 May 25 Sep

As for other islands, as mentioned, cook islands, fiji, vanuatu and new caledonia were extremely easy (and cheap) to reach.

I have lots of Hawaiian and Alaska miles to burn, so I am planning next year to fly HNL-PPG, then onto Samoa, 17.5k AS reward to Tonga or Kiribati or both via Fiji. Maybe another place, and fly back from Tahiti to HNL.

It seems like a lot of the islands can be visited on points, because the cash prices are simply ridiculous, and IMHO, just not worth it.

DanielW

95% of all Niuean's live in NZ, so you might as well just extend your stay in Auckland instead.

Forrest Bump

I think with good running shoes in 1 hour Niue can be said "done".

Baldpacker

Great info. I could never justify the time and cost of just dropping into an airport for an hour just to say I was there but a week would probably be a bit much. A few days is likely perfect!

ironmanjt

Yeah, it's why I've opted to skip Niue this trip...just couldn't justify it...esp since it's not on the UN+3 list

Wed-Fri would be perfect...I might have to come back next year! Points are tough as I found... AA/AS awards on FJ just aren't that available...especially to Tuvalu. I ended up eating that one in cash which was very painful. Forget Nauru on points as well. I was very lucky to get TRW-NAN on FJ with 17,500 AS miles because they wanted north of $800 for that one-way two hour flight.