25 incredible South Pacific experiences you won’t find anywhere else

Nothing can prepare you for the other-worldly luminescence of Vanuatu’s blue holes. Surrounded by thick green forest, blue holes are littered throughout the island of Espiritu Santo. When it rains, the water from the mountains flows underground into limestone streams, where it’s filtered and becomes incandescent blue. One of nature’s rarest wonders, you’ll get to swim in blue holes all over Espiritu Santo, paying a small entrance fee for the three best known sites (Matevulu, Nanda and Ri Ri). See vanuatu.travel

Swim with manta rays in Fiji

Fiji is one of the best places on Earth to snorkel or dive with manta rays, which can grow up to five metres wide. You’re guaranteed to swim with them between May and October in the Yasawa Islands at a spot nicknamed Manta Ray Passage. They gather in large numbers in shallow water and are curious by nature (and safe) offering visitors one of the most spectacular marine creature interactions on Earth. Book a tour and sleep close by. See mantarayisland.com

Walk along the edge of an erupting volcano in Vanuatu

Stand on the edge of the world’s most accessible live volcano as it erupts – throwing dry lava as big as cars into the air around you. Mt Yasur, on the island of Tanna, has been erupting for hundreds of years, and expert local guides can take you close to the action. Book a day tour from Port Vila which includes flights to the island, or stay overnight and time your visit for sunset, when the lava show is at its most spectacular. See tannavolcanotransfertours.com

Spot the green flash on a Rarotonga sunset bar crawl

There’s no better place for sundowners in the tropics than Rarotonga’s picturesque west coast. Spaced evenly along this coastline at Arorangi are the South Seas sunset bars of your imagination, think feet on the sand, live music playing, coconut trees, cocktails at happy-hour prices. Work your way between local favourites like Wilson’s Bar & Restaurant, The Waterline (extra points for its tree-house vantage point) and The Shipwreck Hut. See aroabeach.com

Ride a supply ship through French Polynesia

Take a 12-day all-inclusive adventure to one of the most remote island archipelagos on Earth, the Marquesas Islands, on board one of the world’s last dual-purpose passenger and supply ships, Aranui 5. See what inspired former residents like Paul Gauguin and Herman Melville as you travel between tiny communities, hike mountain ranges and discover ancient Polynesian artefacts in forests as the crew unload cargo. You’ll also visit French Polynesian’s most revered islands, Bora Bora and Rangiroa. See aranui.com

Play on the world’s most pristine lagoon in the Cook Islands

Aitutaki is only 17 square kilometres, but its lagoon is more than four times bigger. Shaped like an equilateral triangle with 12-kilometre sides, it houses 14 tiny islands, and all but one is entirely uninhabited. Take a lagoon cruise and see how the concept for Survivor came about (the BBC series, Shipwrecked, was filmed here in 2000 and TV producer Mark Burnett conceived Survivor from that series). You’ll find world’s best bone fishing and world’s best kite-surfing, and stay overnight in a hut on a deserted island. See cookislands.travel

Sample the world’s most distinctive Indian food

Fiji offers the most unusual Indian cuisine on the planet. More than 40 per cent of Fiji’s population is of Indian descent (Indian workers were sent here in the late 1800s and early 1900s to work on sugarcane plantations) which has led to the emergence of a unique Indo-Fijian cuisine. Fiji mixes traditional Polynesian cuisine using ingredients like taro, breadfruit and cassava with traditional Indian curries and masalas to create its very own food style.

Charter your own yacht in New Caledonia

Home to one of the world’s largest sailing lagoons (more than 23, 000 square kilometres) and protected by the world’s second-biggest barrier reef, New Caledonia is considered the safest place in the world to charter your own yacht. There are over 140 islands to explore here. What’s more, you can do it in style: stock up on French gourmet food and wine in its capital, Noumea. Dozens of charter yacht companies offer all sizes of charter yachts. See charterworld.com.au

Stay on your very own island resort in Fiji

Nowhere on Earth does private island resorts quite like Fiji. In an island group comprising 333 tropical islands, there’s every chance to find your own - they are not just the domain of movie stars like Mel Gibson (who owns Mago Island). There are many islands for hire and for exclusive-use that aren’t as expensive as you think, with room for just you and your family (or friends). Or stay with a handful of other guests on the most exclusive private island retreats on Earth, like COMO Luacala Island or Kokomo Island Resort. See fijiislands.com.au

See whales just a few metres off the reef

Because South Pacific islands like the Cook Islands, Niue, French Polynesia and Samoa were created by volcanic activity, the sea floor slopes deeply immediately beyond the reef, meaning humpback whales come closer to shore than anywhere else in the world. Whales migrate past all South Pacific islands, so gather where the fringing reef is closest to shore and watch them pass by closer than you would on a boat tour in Australia. Better yet, sit at iconic seaside bar, Trader Jacks (in Rarotonga), and watch them breach. See traderjacks.co.ck

Experience Polynesian culture at its most traditional in Samoa

Samoans are regarded as living the most traditional of all Polynesian lifestyles. Known as Fa’a Samoa, many locals still live in wall-less huts in traditional villages ruled by chiefs. Guests can experience their traditional ways by joining village tours run by most resorts, even joining in on Sunday feasts by helping cook food in umu (earth ovens). Samoan custom and culture is more than 3000 years old.

Surf the planet’s best wave in Fiji

The South Pacific is a surfer’s paradise – with world-class waves breaking in Samoa, the Solomon Islands and French Polynesia. But the most consistent can be found in Fiji. Unlike Hawaii, you can surf year-round, though the most consistent swells arrive between April and October. A series of barrier reefs provide the perfect setting for waves across Fiji, but no wave breaks more consistently than Cloudbreak, on the barrier reef south of the Mamanuca Islands. Considered the world’s best wave, stay on your own island resort beside it. See namotuislandfiji.com

Swim in the world’s most unusual swimming pool in Samoa

The only way in is via a 30-metre-high ladder that drops into one of two sinkholes connected by a lava tube to the ocean. Climb down to a platform and dive into the world’s best swimming pool, To Sua Ocean Trench. Surrounded by lush vegetation in the middle of a lava field, the water that enters the sinkhole is remarkably turquoise. For extra thrills, have a local guide you through the lava tube out to the ocean, holding your breath along the way.

Watch the world’s first bungy jumpers leap in Vanuatu

Take a day trip from Port Vila aboard a small plane to Pentecost Island to watch the planet’s first bungy jumpers leap to earth to bless their annual yam harvest. Villagers jump as far as 30 metres from towers constructed of local timber and connected by vines which break their fall. First documented by David Attenborough in the 1950s, the practice inspired bungy jumping. You’ll have a front-row seat to the action. See airtaxivanuatu.com

Live like a Kanak in New Caledonia

Totally unique to New Caledonia, experience local Kanak culture by sleeping in a traditional hut within a Kanak village. Almost half of the country’s residents still live in clan communities. Book a home stay to experience their traditional way of life, offering rare insight into Melanesian culture. Or just take part in traditional tribal festivals held along the country’s picturesque Loyalty Island group (home to cruising hot-spot, Lifou Island). And don’t miss the Tijibaou Cultural Centre, just outside Noumea, for a history of Kanak culture. See newcaledonia.travel/au

Go where great artists and writers went before you

Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson was so besotted with the South Pacific, he chose to live and die here. Visit his grave and estate behind Apia in Samoa. The same goes with French artist, Paul Gaugin: visit his grave on remote Hiva Oa in the Marquesas in French Polynesia. US literary giant James A Michener based his novel, Tales Of The South Pacific (which became the musical, South Pacific) primarily on his time in Vanuatu. And the list goes on: Somerset Maugham, Jack London, Herman Melville – all South Pacific tragics.

Dive World War II wrecks in the Solomon Islands

With 992 islands surrounded by colourful coral reefs, little development, tough fishing laws allowing marine life to flourish and a whole ocean bed of wrecked planes, ships and other vehicles left over from World War II, the Solomon Islands are one of the best places to dive in the world. Most dive sites are easily accessible, water visibility goes up to 90 metres and there are small-scale dive resorts sprinkled throughout. There are also few other divers about. See padi.com/diving-in/solomon-islands

Dance on stage at a Polynesian Island Night

No other traditional music and dance performance compares to a Polynesian Island Night. Polynesian music is fast and furious, driven by six sets of traditional drums beating in unison to provide the tempo for dancers in costumes made of coconut leaves and shells. Most resorts in the Cook Islands hold Polynesian Island Nights weekly, with traditional umu kai (earth oven) feasts. The show culminates with lucky (or unlucky?) guests taken on stage to dance. See enjoycookislands.com