Simon Buckby was a London-based BBC and Financial Times journalist, among other things, before running communications consultancies. He has lived in Hong Kong and Dubai, and is currently based in Bangkok.
Fiji can be the most perfect South Pacific destination in Melonesia: calm turquoise oceans gently lapping at the white sandy beaches of remote blissful islands reached by adventurous seaplanes or romantic catamarans. All under a baking sun and with a warm vibe. This is especially true in the spectacular Yasawa chain.
New Caledonia is one of the most beautiful countries on earth. Simple as that. Yet often overlooked even by travellers to Melanesia. We found almost no foreign tourists here at all.
In Vanuatu you can peer over the lip of an active volcano. There is also an American luxury ocean liner that usually rates in the world’s top five wreck dives. Plus interaction with traditional villagers with ancient customs and a subsistence living.
The Solomon Islands in the South Pacific are usually just passed over on the way to even more glamorous destinations. Yet for the most intrepid visitors, there awaits an authentic culture almost untainted by tourism, along with many Second World War wreck dives.
Not many visitors make the effort to explore what is surely everybody’s idea of tropical paradise, with the turquoise Pacific Ocean, blue skies and white beaches.
Once the shock of the 2019 bombings has settled, adventure travellers will return to Sri Lanka, where the biggest attractions are along the routes ignored by mass tourism in the years since the end of the civil war: the remote north (the cultural home of the Tamils and the battlefield sites) plus the secluded east (with its quiet golden beaches).
There is brilliant diving on all three islands, especially on Bonaire, there are awesome beaches on Aruba, and in Willemstad on Curaçao there is a colourful old colonial city to explore.
Only three of the islands are inhabited and they feel remarkably different to each other. Rota is a very quiet, pristine and friendly place that attracts almost no visitors; Saipan is a long-standing magnet for Japanese and more recently also Chinese tourists looking for neon fun amid a slice of Americana; and Tinian has been left as a memorial to the horrors of World War Two.
Guam is a brash Hawaiian mini-me, with beaches backed by high rise hotels and glitzy shopping malls; US naval and airforce bases are thrown in too. It is under US jurisdiction and proud to advertise itself as “America’s western border”. In practice that means it is also the frontline of potential conflict with North Korea.
It’s only fair to warn you that Palau has far more than its fair share of natural wonders, especially the spectacular Rock Islands and world class scuba diving, and there’s a very good chance you will be overwhelmed by their mind-boggling splendour. What’s more, they’re all easily accessible off the south coast of this tiny Micronesian country, once you finally get all the way here.
