Visit the South Pacific

Fiji holds a special place in my work as a travel advisor. I visited several times, because during the first time I immediately fell in love, with the landscapes, the warmth of the Fijian people, the food, and the extraordinary range of experiences packed into an archipelago of more than 300 islands. I have returned multiple times since, earned my Fiji Specialist certification, and built relationships with properties and local operators across the islands. Planning a Fiji itinerary is genuinely one of the highlights of my work.

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Fiji's two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, anchor the archipelago and contain most of the population and infrastructure. Viti Levu is home to Suva, the capital, and Nadi, the main gateway. But the outer islands, the Mamanuca and Yasawa groups to the west, the Lau Group to the east, Taveuni to the north, are where Fiji's most extraordinary experiences are found.

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For honeymooners, Fiji sets a standard that few destinations can match. Private island resorts, overwater bungalows, and maybe the world's most attentive hospitality create an experience that is genuinely romantic rather than merely marketed as such. For families, Fiji works equally well, major resorts offer dedicated children's programs, calm lagoon beaches, and enough variety to keep every age group engaged. For divers, the Somosomo Strait off Taveuni, known as the Rainbow Reef, is a top soft coral dive sites in the world. And for travelers seeking something beyond the resort, village stays, kava ceremonies, and volunteer programs offer genuine cultural immersion.

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Accommodations span an extraordinary range, from village homestays and budget bures to the South Pacific's finest private island resorts.

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Fiji highlights:

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• Private island luxury in the Mamanuca and Yasawa islands

• Rainbow Reef diving off Taveuni, world-class soft coral and exceptional visibility

• Village stays and kava ceremonies for authentic Fijian cultural immersion

• South Hemisphere's largest Hindu temple at Nadi, reflecting Fiji's rich Indo-Fijian heritage

• Family-friendly resorts combining lagoon beaches, snorkeling, and kids' programs

• Volunteer work in local villages for travelers seeking a deeper connection

Vanuatu is one of the South Pacific's most compelling and least visited destinations, an archipelago of 83 islands stretching across 1,300 kilometers of the Pacific, where active volcanoes, world-class wreck diving, and some of Melanesia's most intact indigenous cultures exist side by side. As travelers increasingly seek experiences beyond the familiar, Vanuatu is emerging as a serious destination for those who want adventure, authenticity, and natural drama in equal measure.

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The anchor experience for most visitors is Mount Yasur on Tanna Island, one of the world's most accessible active volcanoes, where you can stand on the crater rim and watch lava exploding from the caldera below at close range. It is one of those rare travel experiences that genuinely cannot be replicated anywhere else and that stays with you long after you return home.

Beneath the surface, Vanuatu's diving is extraordinary. The SS President Coolidge off Espiritu Santo, a large and accessible wreck dive draws serious divers from across the globe. The surrounding waters offer exceptional visibility, healthy coral, and diverse marine life including dugongs, turtles, and an extraordinary variety of reef fish.

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On land, Vanuatu's kastom (custom) culture is among the most intact in the Pacific. Traditional villages on Tanna, Malekula, and Pentecost maintain ceremonies, spiritual practices, and ways of life that have changed little over centuries. The Naghol land diving on Pentecost Island, the ritual that inspired bungee jumping, performed every April and May, is an extraordinary cultural spectales.

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Vanuatu highlights:

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• Mount Yasur volcano on Tanna: standing on the crater rim of this active volcanoes

• SS President Coolidge wreck diving off Espiritu Santo - a world-class dive site

• Kastom village experiences on Tanna and Malekula: traditional ceremonies, music, and daily life

• Naghol land diving on Pentecost Island (April through May)

• Dugong and turtle encounters in the marine-protected waters around Espiritu Santo

• Blue Hole freshwater swimming at Matevulu near Luganville, a beautiful Pacific natural pool

New Zealand captivates from the moment you arrive. Few countries pack such dramatic and varied landscapes into a relatively compact geography, glaciers, fjords, volcanic plateaus, ancient rainforests, and some of the Southern Hemisphere's finest wine country, all within reach of a well-planned itinerary. Add a rich Maori cultural tradition and an outdoor adventure infrastructure and New Zealand consistently ranks among the most complete travel destinations on earth.

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The North Island and South Island offer distinctly different characters and are both worth visiting on a longer itinerary. The North Island holds Auckland, the geothermal wonders of Rotorua, the Hobbiton movie set in Matamata, and the dramatic coastline of the Bay of Islands. The South Island is where New Zealand's landscapes reach their most spectacular, Fiordland and Milford Sound, the glaciers of the West Coast, the wine estates of Marlborough and Central Otago, and Queenstown, the adventure capital of the Southern Hemisphere.

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New Zealand highlights:

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• Milford Sound: a fjord of extraordinary scale and beauty, best seen by cruise and by air

• Rotorua's geothermal landscape: geysers, boiling mud pools, and Maori cultural performances and hangi feasts

• Hobbiton in Matamata: the fully preserved Lord of the Rings movie set in its original pastoral setting

• Whale watching and dolphin encounters at Kaikoura on the South Island

• Multi-day Great Walks: the Milford Track, Routeburn Track, or Abel Tasman Coast Track

• Wine touring in Marlborough's Wairau Valley or Central Otago's dramatic schist landscape

Australia operates on a scale that demands careful itinerary planning. It is the world's sixth-largest country, meaning the distances between its great experiences are themselves a consideration, and a well-designed Australian itinerary is one that accounts for travel time without sacrificing depth. The reward for that planning is a destination of staggering variety: one of the world's great coral reef systems, an ancient and sacred interior, vibrant cosmopolitan cities, unique wildlife found nowhere else on earth, and a food and wine culture that has come into its own over the past two decades.

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The east coast, Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Hunter Valley, Brisbane, the Whitsundays, and Cairns as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, forms the backbone of most Australian itineraries. But Australia's greatest experiences often lie further from the well-worn path: the ancient Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, the wildlife sanctuary of Kangaroo Island off South Australia, the red center and Uluru at sunrise, and the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.

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Australia highlights:

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• The Great Barrier Reef: snorkeling, diving, scenic flights, and liveaboard expeditions from Cairns and the Whitsundays

• Uluru at sunrise or sunset: the ancient sandstone monolith at the spiritual heart of Australia

• Kangaroo Island: kangaroos, koalas, sea lions, and pristine beaches in a largely unspoiled natural setting

• The Daintree Rainforest: a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the world's oldest tropical rainforests, with river cruises for crocodile spotting

• Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and the coastal walks of Bondi to Coogee

• Tasmania as an extension: wilderness, world-class food and wine, and MONA, one of the world's most extraordinary private museums