South Pacific Beaches Pictures
Tahiti, Moorea, Rarotonga, Fiji Photos

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An uninhabited island just off Moorea's coast [French Polynesia], inside the lagoon. Click to see Tahiti Pictures or select other South Pacific beaches pictures from the list below.

South Pacific Beaches Photos and Information: Tahiti | Moorea | Bora Bora | Rarotonga | Fiji

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The South Pacific is etched into the traveller's sub-conscious as a series of glorious, sunny, relaxed palm-fringed beaches surrounded by kaleidoscopic fish, soft coral, sensual girls and muscular, tattooed guys. And it was thus - in Gauguin's time a hundred years ago, but that perfect combination of Polynesian assets is very difficult to find these days unless you have a big wad and jet into a five star bubble. Even then you'd be missing out on both real local culture and the thrill of discovering your own private little South Sea paradise.
Our aim with this gallery of pictures and beaches information is partly to reduce expectations by clearly illustrating some downsides with text and recent reality photos, and also to point the majority of travellers who don't have a fat wallet to areas where they may have a chance of finding some measure of peace, plenty and privacy.

Some simple South Pacific points:

- French Polynesia [e.g. Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora] is generally the most expensive area of the South Pacific, and, need we say, French speaking?

- Fiji and its many islands are the best value group of South Pacific islands, English speaking, not so far from Australia or New Zealand and well set up to look after backpackers and their needs.

- Probably the most beautiful, well-sorted [i.e. sporting superb resorts, hideously expensive of course] 'paradise' beaches in the South Pacific are on French Polynesia's Bora Bora, The Cook Island's Aitutaki, Tonga's Foa island [Ha'apai islands group] and Fiji's Yasawa Island. We couldn't afford to go to these places so cannot offer pictures or subjective information on them.

- Culturally the most interesting easily-accessible island group is Fiji, though Rarotonga, Moorea and Samoa all have valid culture tours or shows.

- The Pacific's best snorkelling and scuba diving are North Fiji's Somosomo Strait [speciality soft coral, best visibility May-Oct], French Polynesia's Rangiroa atoll [a huge cluster of tiny islets northeast of Tahiti, hotels available, best Dec-March for sharks] and Tonga's Ha'apai [terrific caves and canyons] and Vava'u islands [May-Oct for humpback whales. Superb sailing too].

French Polynesia:

Tahiti is past its sell-by date, overbuilt and short of interest, both scenically or culturally.
It is also expensive but hosts an international airport [Faaa] and frequent flights that arrive late so many beach freaks have no choice but to stay over en route to far more appealing Bora Bora, Moorea or other islands.

Bora Bora, a short flight from Tahiti, is a stunning French Polynesian holiday spot in an amazing setting and sporting one of the world's best beaches, but it's costly to both get and stay there and is divorced from real life.

Moorea lacks massive beaches but is nevertheless closer to a tropical dream destination than Tahiti.
It's calm, with no urban centre, encircled by crystal seas, white sand beaches and a mature coral reef. At the core of this small island is a magnificent cluster of lush mountainous peaks.
Moorea is what Tahiti may have been 30 years ago.
Prices are fair, the circular road is placid, the people are amiable, facilities are comfortable and a huge variety of marine activities are available.

The Cook Islands:

Rarotonga is a quiet, better value, English-speaking version of a French Polynesian island, 900 kms west of Tahiti and ringed by a fractured reef.
Some beaches are superb but others are rubbish, particularly along the north east shore. Rarotonga has a fine variety of places to stay, but when booking your hotel it would be advisable to ask about the sand quality of nearby beaches.

Aitutaki, accessed by a pricey flight from Rarotonga, is the Bora Bora of the Cook Islands, a gorgeous 5 sq. mls [8 sq. kms] coral atoll necklaced by an azure lagoon and 21 talcum sand islets, 225 kms [140 mls] north of Rarotonga. The big action on Aitutaki involves either hiking to the top of 124 metre high Mount Maungapu for an overview of the area, snorkelling, fishing or scuba, with lunch served on one of the coconut tree shaded, white sand islands.
The most popular island in Aitutaki is touted as one of the world's best beaches, One Foot Island aka Tapuaetai, a 20 minute boat ride from the main island.
Although the flight here is pricey [several 50 min flights a day], accommodation is not too bad, ranging from the expensive Aitutaki Lagoon Resort to some reasonable guest houses and backpacker lodges.

Some of the Cook Island's outer islands also have flights from Rarotonga so diehard adventure travellers could find places with few or no other visitors and isolated atolls. Accommodation of some sort - even with local people - is always available. These islands are among those that have flights:
Manihiki [north], aka the Island of Pearls, is one of the prettiest of the Cook's with a 4km wide lagoon - dotted with 40 islets - that provides top snorkelling, swimming and black pearls.
Pukapuka [north] is small, remote and has habits and customs similar to Samoa. Swimming and snorkelling are good.
Mangaia [the most southerly island] offers stunning rock formations and caves, so climbing, caving, interesting drives, biking and horse riding can be added to the usual snorkelling activities.
n.b. Rarotonga and Aitutaki are in the southern island group.

Fiji:

Of all the South Pacific island groups Fiji is one with the lowest prices and greatest variety of travel, activity, beaches and accommodation options, so the most popular with budget-conscious backpackers and flashpackers [a term coined in New Zealand to mean low-level travellers who have a slightly fatter wallet and are ready to pay a bit extra for comfort or unusual experiences]. The country is also English-speaking.

The Yasawa Islands, a chain of a dozen up to four hours from Viti Levu by the Yasawa Flyer waterbus are - with the exception of the furthest, Yasawa Island itself - low cost and low profile resorts, providing basic services and activities, with snorkelling and kayaking topping the list. The islands are visited daily - [again, not Yasawa Island] by the Yasawa Flyer catamaran, lugging backpackers and flashpackers to and fro, some staying their entire time on one island, some hopping from one to another every couple of days.
For those prone to seasickness the waters around the Yasawa Islands are partly protected and the ride not too bouncy; maximum trip time to/from the furthest island is four hours.
The Yasawas are mostly powered by electricity generators so lighting is limited and air-con nonexistent; islands offer simple thatched bungalows and communal meals. In other words these places are totally tuned into backpacker's needs.
Beaches are generally small and unmanicured but pleasant, with pretty fair coral right near the beach, though these are not by any stretch of the imagination the world's best beaches. However...

Yasawa Island sports some of the best beaches in Fiji and possibly in the world, with its northerly beaches coming out on top, visited by the famous and costly Blue Lagoon Cruise ships. Otherwise Yasawa Island is home to an expensive hotel, the Yasawa Island Resort that needs to be reached by plane or via several hours on a water taxi.

The Mamanuca Islands - on the way to the Yasawa chain and just off Viti Levu are perfect for the time short or very sea sensitive. They are a slightly more sophisticated and comfortable cluster of tiny islands than the Yasawa chain - with air conditioning and mains electricity - that can work as a day trip or overnight stay. The Yasawa Flyer only takes 30 mins to South Sea, 5 more minutes to Bounty and Treasure, another 10 minutes to Beachcomber Resort. Easy peasy. The next island, Kuata, takes another hour.
The Fiji pictures are mainly of Yasawa and Mamanuca Islands beaches, not of Fiji island or Yasawa Island due to time constraints.

Some Downsides:
- traffic: these islands experience varying amounts of road noise on their limited roads; even Bora Bora suffers from scooter whine.
- tropical islands can see some cloud and rain on a regular basis due to the heat and humidity, so don't expect endless sunshine even in the dry season [May-Oct].
- the South Pacific has a some thieving from hotel rooms, even in good resorts.
- mosquitoes will always be on the prowl for fresh blood, though they're not normally malarial, so take precautions.

Best months: May, June, September, October. The South Pacific lies in the tropics so all islands are warm and humid year round. The dry season is climatically best, May to October, with less humidity, cloud cover, rain, wind, rough seas and seaweed on beaches. However, July and August get very crowded with visitors, especially Australians and Kiwis escaping winter back home.
Beware the November to April wet season. Don't believe travel agents who tell you it only rains for an hour a day. Not true! It may rain for an hour, it may rain for days on end, and even when it doesn't cloud cover could spoil the sunshine, winds make boating unpleasant, choppy water makes snorkelling water murky and beaches wear a coat of seaweed. Hurricane force winds [cyclones] may also occasionally make an appearance.

South Pacific Beaches Pictures Tahiti, Moorea, Rarotonga, Fiji Photos