Polynesia Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Polynesia is comprised of the following island nations:

Cook Islands Fifteen islands spread out over an Exclusive Economic Zone of 2,200,000 square kilometres

Kiribati The eastern two thirds of this sprawling island nation fall within the scope of Polynesia. Remote and poor, the sun rises first here every day.

Niue The largest raised coral atoll in the world, halfway between Tonga and the Cook Islands.

Samoa Two main volcanic islands with luxuriant vegetation, traditional culture and wonderful open-sided houses.

Tonga The so-called “Friendly islands” and a Kingdom. But traditional and modern cultures are now clashing.

Tuvalu One of the smallest countries in the world in terms of population and one of the world's least visited countries.

Polynesia includes smaller overseas territories of larger nations, including:

And it includes the following tiny U.S. territories with no local populations, mainly used for scientific and military purposes:

New Zealand is also often considered part of Polynesia both culturally and historically, however, Wikivoyage covers New Zealand under its own separate page.

Map of Polynesia

• -13.833333-171.8333331 Apia — principal city of Samoa
• -8.504778179.1173612 Funafuti — the capital of Tuvalu
• 21.304694-157.8571943 Honolulu — the largest city of Hawaii
• -14.279444-170.7005564 Pago Pago ー largest city of American Samoa
• -17.539722-149.5688895 Papeete ㅡ largest city of French Polynesia.
• -21.134722-175.2083336 Nukuʻalofa ㅡ the largest city and capital of Tonga

• -18.85-159.791 Aitutaki — the classic picture postcard of a palm tree fringed tropical island with turquoise waters, in the Cook Islands.
• -19.983333-158.1166672 Atiu — a small island in the Cooks with caves, birds and bush beer
• -16.494444-151.7363893 Bora Bora — the most beautiful lagoon of French Polynesia, but incredibly pricey.
• -21.370278-174.9377784 'Eua — a small island in Tonga, home to some of the best rainforests in Polynesia
• 19.40083-155.123615 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park — home to 3 active volcanoes
• 1.85-157.46 Kiritimati — the largest coral atoll in the world and an off the beaten track destination
• -17.516667-149.8166677 Moorea — budget alternative to Bora Bora with beautiful scenery.
• -18.651389-173.9836118 Vava'u — group of more than 50 islands in Tonga, a common destination for yachters.
• -13.583333-172.4166679 Savaii ㅡ the largest island in Polynesia outside of Hawaiʻi and New Zealand. Covered in dense tropical rainforest.

Polynesia comes from the Greek words "Poly" and "Nēsos" meaning "many islands".

Historically, Polynesia was famous for its seafaring traditions where people used canoes to navigate the seas by using stars and other signs that came from the ocean and sky. Polynesians are Austronesians, as are most Malays, Indonesians and Filipinos. Their migration into the region started before 1000 BCE.

There are many indigenous Polynesian languages spoken, sometime known as the Oceanic languages, a branch of the Austronesian language family. Additionally English is widely spoken in Polynesia, French in much of the rest, and Spanish on Easter Island.

Compared to the rest of Polynesia, Hawaii has excellent connections from mainland North America plus many flights from East Asia. The southern parts usually have flights from New Zealand, Fiji and/or Australia. Easter Island is connected to mainland Chile and French Polynesia to Paris via Los Angeles.

Most travelers get around by plane here. The alternative is cruising on small craft.

There are a couple of world heritage sites in Polynesia:

• Rapa Nui National Park made up of the Easter Island with its famous monolithic statues (moai).
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii.
• Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument consisting of atolls northwest of Hawaii.
• The Phoenix Islands Protected Area in Kiribati, world's largest marine protected area.
• Henderson Island, the largest of the Pitcairn Islands, with many endangered bird species.

Take precautions against mosquito bites, as there have been outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus in the 2010s in the tropical countries.

• Australia
• Melanesia ㅡ the island group west of Polynesia
• Micronesia — to the northwest of Polynesia
• New Zealand