Pacific Tour Packages

1. About The Pacific Island Countries
2. Tidbits
3. Islands Covered In Our Pacific Tour Packages
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Fiji
7. Pacific Islander Culture

The term Pacific Ocean was first coined by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. However, the ocean was called Moana, Moana-nui-akea, and Te-Moana-nui-a-Kiwa by different indigenous tribes of the Pacific Islands. The island is divided into three groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

Melanesia refers to regions in the South Pacific Ocean, i.e., the area between New Guinea and Fiji Islands. Some of the famous islands within Melanesia include Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Buka Island, Santa Cruz Islands, Fiji Islands, and the Bismarck Archipelago.

Micronesia refers to the Western Pacific Ocean region comprising over 600 islands. Some of the islands within Micronesia include Bora Bora, Yap, Kiribati, Guam, and Nauru.

Polynesia is a region between the central and southern Pacific Oceans comprising over 1,000 islands. Some famous islands in the region include Hawaii, Easter Island, Tahiti, Tonga, and American Samoa.

Some people also use the term Australasia to refer to Australia and New Zealand.

Each of these regions has geographical, cultural, and historical differences. For instance, while Polynesia is culturally very diverse, with multiple languages spoken, Melanesia is, in comparison, less diverse. Similarly, Micronesia is home to several islands and several small indigenous people.

The Polynesian people probably originated from Asia, navigating their voyage with help from the stars, constellations, and the moon. Polynesians are characterised by their large physique and fine features and have a well developed social structure and political system.

The Melanesian people probably have African and aboriginal ancestry. The people in these region are famed for their artistic traditions. They have been known to have dark hair with blond hair. In fact, indigenous Melanesians are the only modern humans who interbred with the Denisovans, an extinct hominin species.
The Micronesian people originally migrated from several regions, including East Asia, Polynesia, and Melanesia. Their culture is generally a mix of Polynesian and Melanesian.

Read on to learn more about the life of the Pacific Islanders, including their culture, customs, religion, food habits, and art. And if you’d like to explore some of these islands, call us to learn more about our Pacific Island tour packages.

• The word Pacific means peaceful and was coined by Ferdinand Magellan, who called it Mar Pacific.
• However, the ocean was called Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa by the Maoris, Moana by the Tongas, Samoans, Hawaiians, and Marawa by the people of Kiribati.
• Some of the world’s deepest trenches, the Mariana Trench and the Challender Deep, lie in the Indian Ocean.
• The Pacific Ocean is home to the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef system.
• The Pacific Island nations produce only 1.04% of the world’s greenhouse gases yet absorb 30% of the planet’s carbon emissions.
• Humans settled in the Pacific Islands as early as 1500 BCE.
• The Pacific Ocean is also home to the Great Garbage Patch, a massive garbage dump that’s as large as the state of Texas.
• The Pacific Ocean is responsible for 70% of the global fish catch.
• The Pacific seabed is rich in critical minerals; mining them could be terrible for its ecosystem.

While there are thousands of islands and island countries in the Pacific Ocean, we covered three countries: Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand. But if you’d like to explore some of the other popular island destinations like Bora Bora, Cook Islands, Hawaii, or Tahiti, call us at +91 9940882200. We also arrange curated Pacific Island tour packages to one of the many 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean or one of the 14 Pacific Island countries.

Australia is a continent country and part of the geographical region called Oceania. The country has a well developed economy and consistently ranks highly in several global indexes. Australia is also home to one of the oldest cultures, the Aboriginals. They have lived on the land for over 65,000 years and are probably descendants of the first humans to leave Africa.

The island is a paradise for adventure and nature lovers. The vast and varied landscape offers plenty of scope for dozens of adventure activities, ranging from hiking and climbing to scuba diving, shark diving, and bungee jumping.

The smallest continent on Earth is also home to a massive food destination. On the one hand, you have a vibrant multi-cuisine culture influenced by immigrants from across the globe, but there’s also a rich local food culture that includes local bush ingredients and native food practices. Western Australia is home to top notch wineries, Queensland is famous for being the largest cattle producing state, and Port Lincoln is considered the seafood capital of Australia.

Australia is a great place for nature and wildlife lovers. It has some of the world’s most iconic animals and spectacular natural landscapes, ranging from the Great Barrier Reef to Kakadu National Parks.

If you’d like a customised itinerary that includes bushwalking with Aboriginal guides, snorkelling among the corals and marine life, or whale watching, call us for personalised Australia tour packages to ensure you have an unforgettable adventure tailored just for you.

This is the world’s largest collection of coral reefs, consisting of over 3,000 individual reefs. These reefs support over 9000 marine species, including dolphins, turtles, crocodiles, sharks, venomous snakes, and over 4000 molluscs.

There are plenty of activities for people of all age groups. You can take a reef tour, join a family cruise, or sign up for one of the many water adventures like scuba diving, snorkelling, and swimming amidst the stunning corals. A helicopter ride above the Great Barrier Reef is also popular, allowing you to enjoy the panoramic view of the marine ecosystem.

The best time to visit the Great Barrier Reef is between June and October. But if you’d like to experience the turtle-watching season, we suggest choosing Australia tour packages in winter.

This is one of the oldest rainforests in the world, believed to be over 135 million years old, older than the Amazon and the Borneo Lowland rainforests. The forest is home to exotic plants like the Idiot Fruit tree, believed to have existed before the dinosaurs, and the Southern Cassowary, which is believed to be closely related to avian dinosaurs.

You can cruise on the Daintree River, join a wilderness walk with a local Aboriginal, or take a one hour circular boardwalk. You can stay in the middle of the rainforest haven at one of the many eco-lodges or visit The Daintree Discovery Centre for an educational tour of the forest habitat. Don’t forget to sign up for a river drift along the Mossman River and swim at one of the many secret swimming holes in the forests. A drive along the iconic Great Tropical Drive is equally breathtaking.

Uluru is undoubtedly one of Australia’s iconic landmarks. This ancient monolith is part of Uluru National Park and is believed to be over 500 million years old. While the Aborigines have always considered Uluru a sacred monument, it was first discovered by European colonists in the 1800s. Many millions of years ago, the area around Uluru was a shallow ocean, and the monolith was likely formed when multiple layers of mineral rich sandstone were laid to the ocean floor.

Since it is considered sacred, you cannot climb the rock but walk around it to explore the caves and ridges created through erosion. You can take a helicopter ride around Uluru’s 10 km circumference, watch the stars as you join an open air dinner experience, take a camel ride, or join the local aborigines to learn their traditional painting techniques.

Kakadu is Australia’s largest national park, covering over 20,000 sq km and home to a variety of landscapes, including floodplains, woodlands, mangroves, and even tropical rainforests. The forest is home to rare and endemic plant and animal species, including wallabies, wombats, possums, and Kakadu plums.

You can join a cruise across the many backwaters (aka billabongs) to watch the sky turn to different shades of red, take a fishing tour, learn about the local aboriginal culture, or witness some of the migratory birds that visit the wetlands.

The best place to explore Kakadu is from May to September as it is easier to spot crocodiles as they emerge out to soak up the sun. Also, with fewer insects around this time, you don’t have to worry about bugs and mosquitoes.

For a detailed Pacific tour packages itinerary including a visit to this legendary national park, call us at +91 9940882200.

The Gold Coast is Australia’s sixth largest city and is famous worldwide for its beaches, surfing culture, and famous theme parks. The huge tourist influx has also made the place a paradise for shoppers and food lovers. It’s also the best place to experience Australia’s famous café culture. The city is also home to ancient rainforests like the Lamington National Park.

There are plenty of activities around the Gold Coast. You can visit theme parks like Movie World, Dreamworld, or Wet’n’Wild, relax by one of the many iconic beaches, or visit Surfers Paradise.

While the city is perfect to visit all year round, we suggest visiting from August to December when the weather is pleasant and there’s no rain.

Tasmania is an island located off the southeast coast of Australia and famous for its picturesque views. Australians visit Tasmania to enjoy its fresh air and sumptuous seafood. The island’s isolation from mainland Australia makes it the perfect refuge for exotic animals and plants, including the legendary Tasmanian Devil, the Tasmanian pademelon, the spotted quoll, and the Tasmanian tiger. Some of these animals are extinct in the rest of the world. Hobart is home to the country’s oldest brewery and is famous for its wine.

If Tasmania is on your itinerary, you can visit some of its beautiful beaches, go on a food or wine trail, and enjoy hiking and trekking on the Tasmanian Peninsula.

New Zealand is part of the geographical region of Oceania. It is a well developed country inhabited by the Māori, who migrated from Polynesia between the 12th and 13th centuries CE. While it is popularly believed that Maori people were the first to settle on the island, radiocarbon dating of some early skeletons proves that people lived on the continent even before the Maori, although they have now disappeared.

The island was first discovered by Europeans in 1642 and colonised by the British until 1947. The local Māori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, which translates to “long white cloud” and is associated with a mythological story about the Polynesian explorer Kupe.

New Zealand is a truly multicultural country. While a majority of New Zealanders are descendants of the British or Irish, the Maoris comprise around 16.5% of the population. Other Pacific Islanders who migrate to New Zealand include Fijians, Samoans, and Tongans. There’s also a large Asian and European immigrant population.

It is one of the world’s first countries to approve universal suffrage and the only country that accepts hobbit money as legal tender. With livestock being one of New Zealand’s biggest industries, it is unsurprising that there are more sheep than people in the country.

New Zealand is home to Middle Earth, the fictional continent in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world, Arda. The Lord of the Rings trilogies were shot in surreal landscapes of towering mountains and enchanting valleys. You can explore the different film locations, visit the hobbit holes, and visit the special effects studios created for the movie.

This is one of the very few countries that has embraced its indigenous culture wholeheartedly, with Maori culture incorporated into everyday life. The haka, a ceremonial Māori dance, is often performed during important events, including birthdays, weddings, funerals, and even before rugby matches.

New Zealand boasts of dreamy landscapes with stunning fjords and some of the world’s weirdest animals. It’s also an excellent place for a whale watching cruise and swim up close with dolphins.

It is one of the very few countries in the Southern Hemisphere where you can see the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis. To explore this amazing country with GT Holidays, check out our New Zealand tour packages. Or, if you’d like us to pick and choose different attractions in the Pacific Islands, call us for a curated Pacific Island tour packages itinerary.

This spectacular landscape was sculpted over thousands of years and is New Zealand’s most colourful geothermal attractions. It was named one of the 20 most surreal places in the world thanks to the naturally coloured hot and cold springs, steaming caves, and the world famous Champagne Pool. The latter gets its name from the bubbles of carbon dioxide that form on the surface of the super-heated water.

Besides visiting the many hot springs, you can see the erupting geysers, explore the mud pools, and walk across its volcanic landscapes.

The Fiordland National Park is part of the wider Te Wahipounamu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is home to alpine ranges, fjords, glaciers, waterfalls, lakes, and rainforest environments. But the most striking of these is the Milford Sound Fjord, an ecological delight that runs 16 kms to the Tasman Sea. The glacially carved valley is home to several marine animals like dolphins, penguins, and seals. Don’t miss experiencing the Deep Water Emergence phenomenon, where marine plants and animals that can only live 500 m below the water can be found in shallow waters, just metres below the surface.

Besides hiking and walking, you can sign up for scuba diving in Milford. You can also take scenic flights, luxury cruises, and charters for a panoramic view of the multiple sights. And to add some adventure to your trip, sign up for fishing, diving, kayaking, jet boating, mountain biking, and horse trekking.

The Waitomo Caves were first explored by a local Māori chief in 1887, although the local Maori people had known about its existence for centuries. These underground limestone caves comprise stalactites, stalagmites, and incrustations, which can be explored through a boat journey along the underground river that takes visitors to another attraction within the Waitomo Caves, the Glowworm Grotto. The glowworms aren’t even worms, rather, they’re a species of gnats that glow to attract other insects and mates.

While the place is famous for its three caves, it has hundreds of other caves, some of which you can explore with a local guide.

The best time to explore these caves is spring and autumn, when the weather is mild.

New Zealand’s smallest national park makes up for its size with its plethora of offerings, including golden beaches, lush forests, and an abundance of flora and fauna, including native ferns, opossums, fur seals, and marine life like rays, skates, dolphins, and orcas. You can explore the wildlife while staying at one of the many luxury lodges within the park. The park also offers camping sites and even a floating backpacker lodge.

Besides day trips, you can enjoy sea kayaking, walking, mountain biking, and hiking. If you’d like to celebrate a special occasion with friends and family, call us at +91 9940882200 to arrange a private day sailing tour when discussing your New Zealand tour packages or Pacific Island tour packages.

Rotorua is a city in New Zealand’s North Island and a geothermally active region. The latter lends the city a peculiar rotten egg smell, yet it attracts tourists because of its scenic landscapes and adventure activities. People also visit Rotorua to experience the city’s Maori culture and learn more about life in an authentic pre-European village. The city is often considered a geothermal wonderland and is full of bubbling mud pools and natural hot springs that are perfect for bathing and relaxing.

If you’re an adventure lover, Rotorua is the perfect destination. You can enjoy white water rafting and kayaking from the world’s highest commercially rafted waterfall. Other adrenaline rushing activities include bungy jumping, zorbing, ziplining, and luging.

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are essentially the same as the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis, but the latter is considered even more impressive and vibrant. They come in red and purple hues in addition to the green and pink colours that are generally seen during an aurora.

You can enjoy the Southern Lights in New Zealand at the Great Barrier Island, the Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve, the Wai-iti International Dark Sky Park, Aoraki Mackenzie, Kawarau Gibbston, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Stewart Island, the Catlins, Invercargill, and Bluff. The best time to see the Southern Lights in New Zealand is from March to September as the nights are longer and closer to the equinoxes that cause a larger display of the aurora.

Fiji is part of the 13 member Pacific Island Countries group and the most developed of them all. The archipelago consists of over 330 islands and 540 islets and was initially inhabited by the Lapita people, who migrated from Melanesia. The island was first discovered by European colonists in 1643 and colonised by the British until 1970 when the country gained independence. Besides indigenous Fijians, immigrant Indians form a significant part of the population. They were brought from India as indentured labourers between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Fiji is called the Coral Capital of the World, thanks to its underwater ecosystem that supports multiple reef systems with some of the best soft corals. The locals were historically known to practice cannibalism, earning the nickname Cannibal Isles.

Today, the country attracts tourists because of its lush forests, pristine beaches, natural landscapes, world class diving sites, and luxurious accommodations. The country’s economy is also supported by its sugar, fish, and petroleum product exports. Fijians also export their pure, pristine water, supposedly with vital minerals.

If you’re planning a vacation to this beautiful island country, check out our Fiji tour packages. We can also arrange a curated Pacific tour packages itinerary that includes visiting Fiji and other exotic Pacific Islands.

Mamanuca is a group of 20 exotic islands famous for their breathtaking beauty, powdery beaches, and coral fringed lagoons. They are home to some of the best snorkelling spots in Fiji and are also renowned for their world class surfing breaks. The idyllic islands were the backdrop for several Hollywood movies, including the 2000 Tom Hanks film Cast Away.

Besides scuba diving, snorkelling, and surfing, you can enjoy a day-long island trip by yacht or high speed jet ski.

This laidback destination on the western coast of Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu, is a tropical paradise of luxury resorts. Famous for its local restaurants, Nadi is often considered the base for travellers looking to explore Viti Levu, the Nausori Highlands, Denarau Island, and Mamanuca Island. The town of Lautoka offers great shopping experiences.

You can visit Wailoaloa Beach, one of the fastest developing beaches in the country and explore the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. The botanical garden is full of exotic orchids and manicured gardens.

Magic awaits tourists who trek through lush rainforests and several river crossings. You’ll be greeted with exotic flora and the captivating sounds of tropical birds. The pristine waters are sure to lure you for an invigorating swim. You also join a local guide who will explain about the local Fijian herbal medicines using the local plants – knowledge that’s been passed down through generations.

Natadola Beach is another nearby attraction where you can try watersports like paddleboarding and kayaking. You can also sign up for a helicopter ride to the surrounding islands.

If Fiji is the paradise of scuba divers, the Rainbow Reef is the feather to its cap. The Somosomo Straits is home to Rainbow Reef, where you will find hundreds of species of hard and soft corals and other marine species like manta rays, dolphins, sharks, and crinoids. The highlight of this dive site is the Dendronepthya corals that coat the place in hues of pink, oranges, and purple.

The Pacific Harbour is only two and a half hours from Nadi and is famous for its colourful marine ecosystem. Popularly called the adventure capital of Fiji, the Pacific Harbour is a long stretch of beach overlooking the Beqa Passage. The Beqa Lagoon offers over 100 dive sites full of colourful reefs, tropical fish, and other marine life.

It’s also a popular shark diving spot where divers can descend 100 feet for a cageless shark viewing experience. Some other marine animals you can swim with include giant trevallies, Java morays, eagle rays, and rainbow runners.

The rainforests of Colo-i-Suva are an ideal adventure destination, teeming with tropical plants, colourful plants, and animals. A huge attraction in the park is the Waisila Creek, which swims along the Waimanu River. Some wildlife you will spot here include scarlet robbins, Fiji goshawks, golden doves, and barking pigeons.

This tranquil spot is located on the foothills of the Nausori Highlands. It is famous for its collection of orchids that once belonged to the Canadian TV actor Raymond Burr. You can join a guided tour or prefer a self guided walk through the garden.

• Indigenous Pacific Islanders are generally happy-go-lucky people with a no-worries attitude.
• They follow traditions based on ancient principles that promote an honourable lifestyle.
• Respect is an integral aspect of Pacific Island culture – people know their place in the social structure.
• Social cooperation is more important than individual needs.
• Kava, a local drink, forms the basis of communal ceremonies.
• Make eye contact when speaking with locals – remove your sunglasses
• Do not point at someone during a conversation
• If your host insists on sharing food, refusing can be rude.
• Meals offer begin with a prayer
• Finishing the food on your plate is important during social dining
• In some Pacific Island countries, it is considered rude to eat while standing
• Most Pacific Island communities have gender-specific roles – you must know whom to talk to regarding specific issues.