Pacific Ocean Country/Territory Visit Difficulty, Easiest to Hardest (from San Francisco)

Note: difficulty is partly ranked by which can easily be reached via Star Alliance carriers vs. not as I’m a Star Alliance flyer and this is a list for my own purposes. Country & Territory list is taken from here.

Easy (non-stops)

• Hawaiians Islands (nonstop from SFO)

  (been)

• New Zealand (AKL nonstop from SFO)

  (been)

• Australia (SYD nonstop from SFO)

  (been)

Next easiest (1-stops)

• [French Polynesia](http://wikitravel.org/en/Tahiti)

  (Tahiti,Tuamotu, Austral, Gambier) (nonstop from LAX or Honolulu) (been)

• Fiji Islands (1-stop from Hawaii, LAX) (planned for 2016)
• [Guam](http://wikitravel.org/en/Guam)

  (nonstop from Hawaii, Tokyo, or via the Air Mike island hopper) (been)

• Samoa, American (Pago Pago) (Hawaiian is the only US Carrier that flies in, connect in Honolulu)
• Line/Phoenix Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland) (non-stops from Honolulu and Fiji) (planned for 2016)
• Kiribati (Gilberts,Tarawa, Ocean Island) (non-stops from Honolulu and Fiji)
• [Marshall Islands, Republic of](http://wikitravel.org/en/Marshall_Islands) (Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok)

  (nonstop from Hawaii to Majuro) (been)

• Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) (flight from Tokyo) http://wikitravel.org/en/Okinawa
• Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Penrhyn) (connection on NZ)
• Norfolk Island (connection on NZ)
• New Caledonia & Deps. (Noumea, Loyalty Islands) (connection on NZ) (planned for 2016)
• Niue (connection on NZ, but one flight per week)
• Samoa (Apia) (connection on NZ or flights from American Samoa, among others) (planned for 2016)
• Tonga (Nukualofa) (connect in NZ)
• Vanuatu (New Hebrides Islands) (connect in NZ, among others) (planned for 2016)
• Chatham Islands (connection on NZ on Air Chathams)
• Tasmania (connect through Australian mainland)
• Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal, New Georgia,Tulagi) (connect through Australia or Fiji, among others)
• Lord Howe Island (flights from Australia, but tourism is capacity controlled to 400 at any time)
• Papua New Guinea (connect through Sydney)

A Simple Matter of Flights (2+ stops)

• [Micronesia, Fed.States of (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk,Yap,Caroline Islands)](http://wikitravel.org/en/Federated_States_of_Micronesia)

  (Island hopper from either Honolulu or Guam) (been)

• Northern Marianas (Saipan, Tinian) (United flies from Guam)
• Palau, Republic of (nonstop from Guam)
• Marquesas Islands (Air Tahiti flight from Papeete)
• Galapagos Islands (flights from Ecuador)
• [Easter Island](http://wikitravel.org/en/Easter_Island)

  (flights from Lima, Papeete, and Santiago) (been)

• Bismark Archipelago (New Ireland, New Britain, Bougainville, Admiralty Islands) (from Papua, New Guinea)
• Nauru (national carrier from Brisbane Australia, visa required)
• Wallis & Futuna Islands (fly from Nouméa)
• Juan Fernandez Islands (Robinson Crusoe Island) (small planes from Santiago)
• Tuvalu (Ellice Island, Funafuti, Vaitapu) (Air Pacific from Fiji, but see important note about reliability)

Other Logistics Entirely

• Ogasawara (Bonin, Volcano Island, Iwo Jima) (25+ hour ferry from Tokyo, but runs every 3 days and fares start around $400 each way; alternatively, military history tour operator) Sometimes called the “Galapagos of the Orient.”
• [Pitcairn Island](http://wikitravel.org/en/Pitcairn)

  (long ferry from Mangareva in French Polynesia or cruise ship. Note: ship must be < 450 pax to be able to actually set foot on Pitcairn) (been)

• Midway Island (private charters or specially-cleaned ships)
• Tokelau Islands (Fakaofu, Atafu, Union) (no airports or harbors, but there are scheduled expeditions.)
• Wake Island (generally not available to anyone who doesn’t have official US Gov’t business there except for occasional military history tours)

• travel
• writing

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