Oceania
Green Travel
Guide

Oceania: An Overview

It’s time to be inspired to visit Oceania with our Oceania green travel guide!

For the purpose of this Oceania green travel guide, I included 29 countries or territories. Although many of the Pacific Nations boast similar tropical, coastal and volcanic landscapes, the dominant landmasses of Australia and New Zealand are also home to temperate and alpine areas. Further, in Australia, the Outback desert dominates most of the country’s surface area.

The countries that make up Oceania are vastly isolated. As a result, their flora and fauna are especially unique. For example, the Pacific Islands have over 25 species of birds of paradise! But of course, the one thing Oceania shines in is in the diversity of its marine ecosystems.

Many coral reefs in the region are largely untouched and found in mostly remote areas. Altogether, Oceania’s natural environment allows for a multitude of nature-based activities for the green traveller.

Keep reading our Oceania green travel guide for further inspiration.

When to visit Oceania

Outside of Australia and New Zealand, most of the islands that make up Oceania will have beautiful tropical climate all year-round. The exception, of course, is New Zealand and Australia.

Personally, I would choose to travel to Oceania during the winter months. Having lived in Australia for almost a decade, this is my favourite time of the year! The possibility of having clear, blue skies are significantly higher in winter than in summer.

What’s more, temperatures during the day hover pleasantly in the mid-teens or twenties, coming down as the night falls. And, of course, if you’re into winter sports, this is also the perfect time to hit the slopes in both Australia’s south and New Zealand’s South Island.

Further to this, winter is also the best time to avoid the cyclone season of the Pacific Islands. Win, win!

What to expect when visiting Oceania

Although not big in landmass, Oceania is till a vast region of the world.

To help organise our information, we’ve split this Oceania green travel guide into the different regions that make up Oceania.

For each region, we’ve included key highlights of destinations and experiences for you to explore with minimal impact on the environment.

Australia and New Zealand are not only the landmasses you may be used to. Both countries have a number of territories far from their mainland. For example, Australia has Christmas Island, the Coco (Keeling) Islands, the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island.

Of these, Heard Island and McDonald Islands are located within a Strict Nature Reserve. Essentially, this means the islands are strictly protected. To visit, you must first obtain a permit from the Australian Antarctic Division.

On the other hand, New Zealand’s islands territories include Niue, Tokelau and until 1965, the Cook Islands. For your reference, the map below shows all the different territories that make up Australia and New Zealand.

Also, I don’t think anyone realises how massive Australia is. When I first moved here, I thought I’d be road-tripping everywhere. Yeah, nah. Simply getting to Cairns from Brisbane takes a two-hour flight! So, plan your itinerary with this in mind.

Both New Zealand and Australia offer countless opportunities for nature-based experiences. Further, ecotourism has progressed significantly in both countries. Personally, my favourite ecotourism activity in Australia has been scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef.

On the other hand, New Zealand is an absolute hiker’s paradise! There is so much to do in both countries that you truly need to narrow down your interests. Not to mention that there are 16 World Heritage nature sites in Australia and 3 in New Zealand!

To summarise, some of the green tourism activities you can do in both countries include snorkelling, swimming with whale sharks, surfing, trekking (there are some amazing multi-day hikes in both countries), rock climbing, alpine climbing, horseback riding, scuba diving, observing wildlife, and more.

All in all, both New Zealand and Australia cater for any and all nature or green travel activity you can think of.

Micronesia is made up of a total of 8 islands. They include Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and the United States Minor Outlying Islands.

These islands are pinned in the map below. Together, these islands offer endless nature activities.

The islands’ cascading waterfalls, mysterious caves, and pristine shorelines offer countless opportunities to connect with the great outdoors.

Further, Kiribati is also great for bird watching, surfing and kite-surfing. If you’re passionate about history, the Marshall Islands offer the opportunity to dive World War II wrecks.

The region of Melanesia is made up of Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

These countries are shown in the map below.

All in all, these countries are a nature lovers delight. Since countries in Melanesia make up multiple archipelagos encompassing thousands of islands, atolls and islets, some places have changed very little for centuries. Indeed, I witnessed this myself when I travelled to Vanuatu. Albeit things have changed in all the places I visited, the wildness of these islands remains.

In terms of the nature activities that can be done in Melanesia, there’s a lot! I suppose the main one would be a lot of marine-based activities. For example, shark and wreck diving, snorkelling, island-hopping, blue-hole kayaking, among others.

For land-based activities, there’s waterfall bathing, visiting local villages to learn about their cultures, nature walks, swimming in lagoons, and exploring volcanoes.

The last region in this Oceania green travel guide is Polynesia. It includes a total of 10 countries and the USA territory of Hawaii. The countries are American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Wallis and Futuna Islands.

These countries are shown in the map below.

Many island nations in Polynesia have taken ambitious steps to progress sustainability. For example, the Cook Islands are on a mission to be 100% renewable energy by 2020. And they are slowly getting there!

Anaa, an island in French Polynesia, has introduced ecotourism activities to rebuild the island after it a devastating cyclone. What’s more, many of the islands shine when it comes to nature-based activities. Since nature has become a source of income for communities, the locals ensure they protect it.

Among the activities that can be done in the region of Polynesia, there’s diving and snorkelling, mountain biking, nature hikes, engaging in local conservation projects, learning about the islands’ culture, exploring limestone caves, swimming with whales, and much more!

11 green travel experiences in Oceania

Oceania green travel guide:
9 eco-friendly accommodation options

I didn’t want to finish this Oceania green travel guide without including some options for eco-friendly accommodations.

Full disclaimer: The only accommodation below I have stayed in is Matevulu Lodge. The others I consider some of the most eco-friendly ones, based on my research.

Of course, this list is by no means exhaustive! I’m sure there are other places that could be featured in this Oceania green travel guide.

So, I invite you to do your own research to find a place that suits your needs. And if you have any suggestions to add to this list, please do get in touch. 

✦ Cook Islands

✦ Australia

✦ French Polynesia

✦ New Zealand

✦ Vanuatu

✦ Palau

✦ Fiji

✦ Tonga

✦ Papua New Guinea