South Pacific
 Tonga Sunday is the perfect day to go to the beach in Tonga – if you're a visitor; an islander found swimming on the Sabbath is subject to a fine. Yes, they do take their religion seriously in the "Friendly Isles."
Tonga, like its neighbor to the west, Fiji, is not just one island, but an entire archipelago of far-flung isles. In Tonga's case, the islands number about 170 (only about 45 are..
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 Islands of Fiji An unspoiled corner of Fiji, Kadavu is a beautiful mountainous island with waterfalls, rounded hilltops, outstanding beaches and high rocky cliffs. It offers interesting bush walks, charming rockpools, luxuriant native trees and fascinating birdlife, particularly the famous red and green Kadavu parrots.
Kadavu (pronounced Kahn-da-voo), has a population of approximately 8700 and lies only 88 kilometers..
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 New Caledonia This is an Ile des Pins story: During the world windsurfing championships held in New Caledonia in 1999, board sailors suddenly stopped in the middle of the competition and dropped their sails to take in the sheer beauty of the Isle of Pines…Yes, another contender for the most-beautiful-island-on-the-planet title.
Capt. James Cook named it in 1774 for the tree-rich landscape, but it’s the gloriously..
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 Several islands lay claim to their own “Bali Hai,” but it was on Vanuatu’s largest island, Espiritu Santo, that James Michener, gazing over the blue Pacific toward a nearby island during WWII, found his original South Pacific inspiration.
Like Fiji, Vanuatu is not actually an island but rather a chain of islands. Once known as the New Hebrides, the archipelago is an endless chain of fine beaches,..
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 At the very center of Polynesia, Upolu and Savaii are the twin islands that truly fulfill the South Seas vision of palm-lined, white-sand beaches and blue ocean beyond the reef. And in the capital of Apia, which has at least some of the trappings of a modern city, you’ll also find a slightly timeworn, sultry townscape out of the old South Pacific.
Until 1997, the country was known as Western Samoa..
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 Marquesas Islands It's never been all that easy to get to Hiva Oa – and that was part of the attraction for the likes of Paul Gauguin (who came here to escape the "Western influences" in the Tahiti of 1901), and Thor Heyerdahl (who, a decade before sailing Kon Tiki across the Pacific, came here with his young bride to live the "simple life. " And some things haven't changed – particularly the drop-dead natural..
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 Solomon Islands If this outpost in the western province of the Solomon Islands isn't the final frontier of diving, it's at least in the neighborhood. As Aussie divers have known for some time, Ghizo's underwater world is filled with great reefs, staggering numbers of fish both large and small – and some vivid reminders of the World War II, including wrecks of a Japanese transport ship and an American..
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 Cook Islands Rarotonga is one of those islands that old South Seas hands recalled fondly when the talk around the bar turned to the quintessential island paradise. Fact is, the island can still lay a pretty good claim to that title. Long a favorite with sailors, Rarotonga, with its volcanic landscape of jagged peaks and deep valleys, is the only mountainous island in the Cook Islands. Its interior is mostly lush..
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 Cook Islands If you are seeking a place that has buildings no taller than a coconut tree, a country which only received it's third ATM in 2004, a place that boasts beautiful, deserted white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, and some of the friendliest people in the world, then Cook Islands is for you.
Aitutaki is the second most visited of the Cook Islands, only a 50-minute scenic flight from Rarotonga..
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 South Pacific The "secret island" or "rebel island", there is no shortage of adjectives to indicate the wild but attractive nature of this island known for its fierce warriors and its resistance to change. Consisting of two islands, Huahine Nui in the north and Huahine Iti in the south, separated by a narrow hollow channel said to be the god Hiro's canoe.
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 South Pacific Moorea island with its trident shape and its two famous bays (Cook and Opunohu) was formerly called Aimeho (or Eimeo). It emerged from the water 3 millions years ago. Today, it counts 12,000 inhabitants concentrated in the many villages located seaside – Maharepa, Paopao, Haapiti, Afareaitu (the administrative headquarters) and Vaiare. Its surface is 134 km². The island features 8 mountains (the highest..
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 South Pacific Tahiti, Otahiti for the first Europeans, the "Island of Love", the "New Cyther" for Bougainville, the myth of paradise, of Rousseau's good savage, all those names to describe the same beauty of this island, symbol just by itself of the entire French Polynesia.
Two volcanos emerged from the waters compose the island of Tahiti : 3-million year old for the Tahiti Nui (the Big Tahiti) volcano,..
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