Magical Encounters In The Solomon Islands & Micronesia

Honiara, located on the northern coast of the island of Guadalcanal, is the capital of the Solomon Islands, which lie between Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Pijin is the principal language. The climate is tropical, and while the most pleasant time to visit is winter, July to September, the cooling sea breezes temper the humidity and heat along all coasts year-round. Read more about Honiara, Solomon Islands

Njari Island is in the Solomon Island archipelago, to the east of Papua New Guinea. It is a small uninhabited 400m long teardrop that extends along shallow shoals to adjacent small islands. Three kilometres to the SE is the larger Gizo Island with settlements. Read more about Njari Island, Solomon Islands

Gizo is the capital of the Western Province in the Solomon Islands, situated on Ghizo Island, approximately 380 km WNW of the capital Honiara, and is the second largest town in the country. According to local stories the area had a history of head-hunting, so nearby tribes took the unusual step of joining together to obliterate the Gizo tribe. As a result, the land became state-owned and prospered as an administrative and business centre. Read more about Gizo, Solomon Islands

Rabaul is a town on the Gazelle Peninsula in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. A busy commercial centre, it is situated on Simpson Harbour, a sheltered inlet of Blanche Bay. Almost the entire old town of Rabaul is buried under volcanic ash, the result of a volcanic eruption in 1994, and one is in awe of the scenery, which resembles an alien prehistoric landscape. Read more about Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

Chuuk (‘Mountain’ in Chuukese) is an island group in the south western part of the Pacific Ocean. (It is on the same longitude as Sydney, but lies 820km N of the Equator.) It comprises one of the four States of the Federated States of Micronesia, and geographically it is also part of the larger Caroline Group. The main population centre of Chuuk State is the Chuuk Lagoon, a large archipelago with mountainous islands surrounded by a string of islets with an undersea coral reef beneath clear waters. Read more about Chuuk, Micronesia (Federated States of)

Pulap Atoll consists of three islands – Pollap in the north, Tamatam in the south, and Fanadik to the central west – spread N-S over 10 km, to the north of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean. Pulap is part of the widely scattered Caroline Islands. The Atoll belongs to the state of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, and has a population of around 1300. Read more about Pulap Atoll, Micronesia (Federated States of)

The solitary crescent-shaped coral island of Satawal, seldom visited by outsiders, is located in the easternmost area of the Yap island group in the Federated States of Micronesia. The atoll’s highest point is just two metres, and it is surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with an opening on the western shore. Near the opening are dwellings for about 500 inhabitants on the one square kilometre island. Read more about Satawal Island, Micronesia (Federated States of)

Ifaluk is a coral atoll of four islands in the central Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The primary islets of Ifaluk are called Ella, Elangelap, Rawaii, and Falalop, which is the atoll's main island. At first glance, Ifaluk seems like an advertisement for a certain kind of paradise. Read more about Ifaluk Atoll, Micronesia (Federated States of)

Gaferut Atoll is an outlying atoll of the State of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia, Western Pacific Ocean. It lies 470 km S of Guam. The pendant-shaped atoll is just 500 m long by 150 m wide, situated inside a much larger reef. Read more about Gaferut Atoll, Micronesia (Federated States of)

The Island of Guam, the western-most (or should we say eastern-most?) territory of the United States, is an island in Micronesia in the western South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines. Along the Tumon Bay beachfront, the island's glitzy duty-free shopping centre is a shopper’s paradise, while the gleaming white sand and crystal clear, warm waters for swimming, snorkelling, or just relaxing, are equally as appealing. In Tumon visit the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica, and the National Museum of the Dulce Nombre de Maria that features changing displays of inspirational art created by local artists. Read more about Guam, Guam