The Nadi wharf, the Bora Bora lagoon, and every island in between.
Which lagoon day actually stops long enough to swim. What a 4WD run over the Moorea interior costs. Whether the humpbacks are still here when you land. Reviews of the tours you can book across twelve Pacific island countries.
The four days that decide the rest of a Pacific trip.
One in Fiji, two in French Polynesia, one in Vanuatu. What each costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The Fiji village dayJewel Of Fiji incl Fijian Village, waterfall & Lunch(Nadi Hotels)A Fijian village, a waterfall pool and lunch out of an earth pit, an easy run inland from the Nadi hotels. The day that is not about a boat.
02The Bora Bora lagoonFull Day Lagoon Group Tour in Bora Bora with LunchA circuit of the lagoon with lunch grilled on a motu, and long enough in the shallows with the rays to stop counting.
03The whale half-daySwimming with Whales in Moorea (Half Day tour)Humpbacks calve in the lee of Moorea from about July to November, and this puts you in the water beside them with a guide.
04The Vanuatu reef dayFull Day Snorkelling Cruise in Tranquility Island ResortOff Efate to a turtle sanctuary and a reef that sees a fraction of the traffic Fiji’s does. A long day and an easy one.
Eight island countries, and the best day out in each.
French Polynesia for lagoons, Fiji for reef days and village afternoons, Vanuatu for cascades and blue holes, New Caledonia for a lagoon on the world heritage list, Samoa and the Cooks for the quiet.
Four ways to spend a day in a Pacific lagoon.
Almost everything worth doing out here happens off a boat. What each kind of day costs a head, and which islands run it.
French Polynesia: the lagoon first, the interior second.
Everything in French Polynesia →
Half of everything on this site is Polynesian, and most of it starts at a jetty. The exceptions earn a day of their own: the Belvedere road over Moorea, the pineapple terraces under it, and a 4x4 crossing of the Tahitian interior.
The lagoon circuit, with rays
A slow loop of the lagoon with stops over the coral gardens and, on most boats, a long stretch in the shallows where the stingrays come to meet the hull. Lunch is grilled on a sandbar.
Up the Belvedere road by 4WD
The track climbs past the pineapple terraces to the lookout between Cook’s Bay and Opunohu, then drops back down through the valleys. Sit on the left going up.
In the water with humpbacks
Humpbacks come north to calve in the lee of the high islands and stay until about November. The guide reads the animal before anyone gets in; outside those months the boat is simply not running.
The most-booked days across the Pacific.
Every Pacific tour we have reviewed →The days more travellers take than anything else out here, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Cruisin Fiji: Authentic Fijian Day Cruise – Best Day in Fiji
Spend about eight hours cruising from Denarau to Mana Sand Bar, Monu Cove, and Monuriki Island. Swim, snorkel, enjoy a Fijian buffet, and visit the Cast Away film location. The family-run crew, including Mose, Ben, and Sam, keeps the day friendly and well organized, with drinks, snacks, equipment, and Denarau pickup included.
From · $145
Read our review →
2
Moorea 6-Hour Snorkeling and Lunch Shared Tour
from $138
3
Half-Day Muri Lagoon BBQ Lunch Cruise including Snorkeling
from $71
4
Full Day Lagoon Group Tour in Bora Bora with Lunch
from $184
5
5 Hours Tahiti Island Tour – West and East Coast
from $79
6
Reef Discovery Half Day Group Signature Tour
from $143
7
Moorea 4WD Tour Inc. Belvedere, Pineapple Farm, Magic Mountain…
from $70
8
Snorkeling excursion, discovery of the lagoon, small group.
from $118
In Fiji the reef is a ferry ride from the hotel.
Denarau marina empties towards the Mamanucas every morning: a sandbar with nothing on it, a bar moored over the reef, a village where lunch comes out of a covered pit. Inland it turns into river country, jet boats up the Sigatoka and mud pools under the Sabeto hills.
Bora Bora is a lagoon with a mountain in it. Book the water.
Otemanu is the postcard and you will see it from everywhere without paying for it. The day itself happens out on the lagoon: coral gardens, a motu lunch, and the shallow patch where the rays come to you.
Every Bora Bora day out →
What a day out in the islands actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs a head. The Pacific has a reputation for the price of it; a good share of the best days come in under a resort dinner.
Airport runs, short reef trips, village visits and the half-day circuits out of Nadi and Papeete.
The standard full day: lagoon circuits, island-hopping cruises, 4WD crossings and the whale boats.
Private charters, small-group days with the guide to yourselves, and the once-a-trip splurges that earn it.
Inland, uphill and into the village.
Past the beach road these islands get steep fast. Pineapple terraces and lookouts on Moorea, a jet boat up the Sigatoka, caves and ziplines behind the Coral Coast, and village afternoons where lunch is dug out of the ground in front of you.
Three things that only happen in the Pacific.
Reefs and beach bars exist all over the tropics. Swimming beside a humpback, a bar moored on a reef an hour offshore, and a fire dance that is still a family’s to perform do not.
Swimming with humpbacks
Humpbacks run north out of Antarctic water to calve in the warm lee of the high islands, and French Polynesia is one of the few places that lets guided swimmers in beside them. The boat reads the animal first: a settled mother with a calf gets a slow approach, an unsettled one gets left alone and nobody goes in. The season opens around July and is finished by late November.
- 1Swimming with Whales in Moorea (Half Day tour)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 264 reviews
- 2Whale Watching Tours in Bora Bora★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 250 reviews
- 3Humpback whale watching and marine life in Moorea★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 199 reviews
Bars built on the reef
An hour out of Denarau the water turns to glass and there is a platform sitting on it: a double-decker pontoon with a bar, a wood oven and a ladder straight into the blue. You arrive by catamaran, you leave when the catamaran leaves, and there is nothing else in sight the whole time.
- 1Malamala Beach Club – Full Day★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 684 reviews
- 2Day Trip to Cloud 9 Floating Platform Including Food and Beverages★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 450 reviews
- 3Malamala Beach Club Private Island Day Pass & Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 413 reviews
Fire dancing and the meke
The fire knife came out of Samoa and the meke out of Fijian villages, and both are still performed by the families they belong to rather than by a hired cast. Most evenings pair it with a lovo, pork and root vegetables steamed in a covered earth pit, opened up in front of you at the end.
- 1VOU Fiji Shows: Fiji Untold, From Fiji With Love & More! Dinner!★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 258 reviews
- 2Robinson Crusoe Sunset Cruise Including Dinner, Cultural Show & Transfers★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 177 reviews
- 3Sunset Cruise with Dinner and Fire Show★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 118 reviews
Four Pacific bookings that will not wait.
Most of an island fortnight can be arranged over breakfast. These four run on seasons, small boats and single daily sailings that take no interest in when your flight lands.
- 01Swimming with Whales in Moorea (Half Day tour)The humpbacks are only here from about July to November, and each boat takes a handful of swimmers. Outside the season the tour does not exist.
- 02Day Trip to Cloud 9 Floating Platform Including Food and BeveragesOne platform, one catamaran run a day. When that boat is full it is full, and the next one is tomorrow.
- 03Full-Day Bora Bora Lagoon Cruise Including Snorkeling with Sharks and StingraysBora Bora runs on small boats and there are only so many seats on the water each morning. The lunch-on-a-motu days go first.
- 04Captain Cook Cruises Fiji – Sunset Dinner CruiseA sunset departure is one sailing a day, and in the dry months it is gone several days ahead.
When the wet season lands and the boats stay in.
The cyclone months bring warm afternoon rain and enough swell to cancel a reef trip at an hour’s notice. Everything inland keeps running: the mud pools above Nadi, the waterfall valleys, the village afternoons, the temples and gardens. Put the water in the morning and keep the afternoon on land.
By island — where you are actually staying
By kind of day — water, road or village
Papeete, Moorea, Bora Bora, Rangiroa: the run most first trips make.
Raiatea
RangiroaThe newest Pacific tour reviews.
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