South Pacific: How Do I Get There?

The vast majority of visitors to the

Since the South Pacific encompasses many different countries, pick from the following for more details about it...

• French Polynesia (Tahiti)
• Fiji
• Cook Islands
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French Polynesia (Tahiti)

The hub for

Most accommodations have shuttle arrangements to get you to your accommodation from local airports. Car hire is possible, but they're quite expensive, and depending on the island you're on, they might not be that attractive of an option. If you're on a shoestring budget, you can go places by public transportation on Tahiti Island but keep in mind that many of the drivers there speak only French or Tahitian. Public Transportation ("Le Truck" or a conventional bus) is either nonexistent or not as reliable on smaller islands (including Moorea and Bora Bora).

Tahiti Island and Moorea Island have waterfalls. Hiring your car on these islands might not be a bad idea. It might also be possible to hire a car in Tahiti and take the ferry to Moorea for a little added flexibility. Talk to a travel agent to see what other options are available.

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Fiji

The hub for

Self driving is fairly straight-forward on Fiji, but there are taxi options, and some resorts may even offer complimentary shuttles. However, many smaller islands don't require additional transport to get around as they are actually self-contained resorts where you could literally walk around the circumference of the island in just a few minutes.

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Cook Islands

The hub for the Cook Islands is the airport in the island of Rarotonga (near the town of Avarua). From Los Angeles, it's typically a nonstop flight of around 8 hours (it does not cross the international date line). From Auckland, it's about 4 hours. However, you have to keep in mind that you will cross the international date line from there so you will lose a day if you're flying to Raro. This little fact tends to trip up a lot of people (us included) and can really mess up your travel plans if you don't have a place to stay to account for the change in time. The second most popular island, Aitutaki, is less than an hour's flight from Rarotonga.

If you're planning to check out Rarotonga or Aitutaki, hiring your own transport (typically a small car like a Toyota Yaris or a scooter) might be a good investment just so you can be flexible. If that's the case, your car hire company can issue temporary driver's licenses at a fixed cost per day, but you have to keep renewing it each day at the car hire company (which can be a hassle if you're staying far from them). Or, you could drive to the Police Station and get a Cook Island's drivers license, which is good for a year unless you buy one of the longer term licenses.

Even though there is a Cook Islands Express bus, you'll find having your own transport here lets you go where you want to go on your own time. The bus has limited hours on specific days and may not run on Sundays. Rarotonga is the largest island, and at the speed limit of 50km/h, you'll find it takes about an hour to go completely around the island.

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