From Fiji to Micronesia

North of Nadi through sugarcane plantations and past the Sabeto Mountains is Lautoka, nicknamed the Sugar City for the local agriculture and its big processing mill. With a population of around 50,000, it's the only city besides Suva and, like the capital, has a pleasant waterfront. It's the sailing point for Blue Lagoon and Beachcomber Cruises but is otherwise unremarkable for tourists, itself having few hotels and fewer good restaurants. Locals recommend the city as a less-expensive place to shop for clothing, but note that it can take as long as 45 minutes to drive here. Legend has it that Lautoka acquired its name when two chiefs engaged in combat and one hit the other with a spear. He proclaimed "lau toka" (spear hit) and thus the future town was named.

Unlike Espiritu Santo with its raised coral reefs and white sand, Ambrym is a volcanically active island with dark sand beaches. Ambrym is known as the island of magic and is the source of five local languages that all evolved on Ambrym. This handful of languages contributes to the well over 100 languages of Vanuatu. Some of Ambrym’s magic takes place in the lush greenery of the local community of Ranon. Here the people perform a very special and traditional ‘Rom’ dance. Participants prepare their masks and costumes in secrecy and the dance is reserved for special occasions.

Port Mary is the name of the bay adjacent to Ghupuna, the main village in Santa Ana. A bright white sand beach with huge shade-giving trees runs along the shoreline in front of the tidy village. The houses here are made with local materials and most are built on stilts. Islanders generally welcome visitors with traditional songs and dances performed by members of the three different villages on Santa Ana. Some local people will also set up stands offering souvenirs for purchase. The Solomons are best known for strings of traditional shell money and elegant carvings based on local stories and legends.

Roderick Bay is a hidden cove on the northwestern side of Ngela Sule, a small verdant green island, and would be just like hundreds of similar coves in the Solomon Islands were it not for a shipwreck in the shallows of the bay. A small native village is located just around the corner from the ship and the locals offer a friendly welcome. Lianas from shore are beginning to encase the boat’s hull and seem to drag her back towards the forest. Snorkeling around the wreck provides a view of how the hull is now becoming a thriving artificial reef.

Njari is a small island almost entirely covered in trees with just a small sand spit at its eastern end. A labyrinth of reefs and coral heads make an approach only feasible from the north. The small beach invites one to relax, but swimming from the beach is almost impossible as the corals are too close. To enjoy the underwater world one has to enter the water from a small boat, a little distance from the shore, where an amazing array of fish and coral will be visible. Two hundred and seventy nine different fish species have been seen during a single dive; the fourth-highest fish count ever recorded. An indication of why this island is considered a top spot for snorkeling in the Solomon Islands.

Rabaul, the former provincial capital, has quite a remarkable location. The town is inside the flooded caldera of a giant volcano and several sub-vents are still quite active today! The fumes of the volcano Tavurvur can be seen continually and the town suffered greatly during the last major eruption of 1994 when some 80% of the houses collapsed due to the ash raining down onto their roofs. Rabaul has a Volcano Observatory sitting atop the town’s center, monitoring the 14 active and 23 dormant volcanoes in Papua New Guinea. A small museum opposite the bunker used by Yamamoto during World War II shows exhibits relating to Rabaul’s local, German, Australian and Japanese past from the 19th century to Papua New Guinea’s independence in the 1970s.

Chuuk Lagoon, also previously known as Truk Lagoon is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia. The cluster of 16 much-eroded volcanic islands have mangrove swamps along their coasts with rich rainforests in the central mountainous areas. The islands are hugely popular with scuba divers thanks to the incredibly interesting shipwrecks which have become foundations for new reef growth.

Pulap is an atoll consisting of three islands located in the Pattiw group in the Caroline Islands. The three islands are, Pollap in the north, Tamatam in the south, and Fanadik at the western fringe of the reef. The island is surrounded by a number of ghostly shipwrecks that are virtually intact, submerged underwater. This makes for great diving expeditions where you can explore the reef and its incredible marine life as well as the shipwrecks.

Lamotrek is a coral atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia, and one of the fourteen outlying atolls that partly makeup the island State of Yap. While the total land area is less than half a square mile, it encloses a reef that is 12 square miles in size. The atolls are considered somewhat separate from Yap proper, which is made up of three contiguous islands set higher along the Philippine Sea Plate. The population of Lamotrek is approximately 373, and the residents are accustomed to visitors but still maintain their own culture proudly. Visitors to this small island will be greeted with generosity and friendliness that makes up the essence of the Yapese culture.

Situated in the western Pacific Ocean lies Guam, the largest and southernmost island in the Mariana Islands archipelago. There is a wealth of history in Guam, it was ceded to the US by Spain in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. Captured by Japan in 1941, it was retaken by the US 3 years later. Come to the end of your expedition in Guam where you can enjoy local culture and visit the historic landmarks.