Conversations about holidaying in the South Pacific are sometimes confusing, especially when the region is also referred to Oceania, Australasia, Melanesia and many other terms.

The image above from Free World Maps might help to put it all in perspective.

Oceania is the geographical region that was once part of one continent. It stretches from Papua New Guinea in the north to New Zealand in the south, all of Australia in the west and Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia in the east.

In North America a "holiday in the South Pacific" usually means Hawaii.

However, in Australia and New Zealand it usually means the islands in the region stretching around 4,000 kilometres from east of the northern tip of Australia to New Zealand in the south.

These South Pacific Islands are a band of separate independent islands that sit between 1,000 and 1,500 kilometres off Australia’s east coast.

While holidays in the South Pacific generally refer to Fiji, New Caledonia, Noumea and Vanuatu, in some travel markets they also extend east to include Samoa, Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands and French Polynesia, among others.

​Discover more about Vanuatu.

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