Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions.
It stretches from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.
Getting to Pacific
See the country articles for detailed information on how to Get in. The major countries of Australia and New Zealand offer connections from all inhabited continents, including a few direct flights from South America and South Africa. The main air hubs in the region are at Sydney (SYD IATA), Melbourne (MEL IATA), Auckland (AKL IATA), Brisbane (BNE IATA) and Perth (PER IATA).
Worth seeing
All island groups are fascinating and with time and money you can spend months travelling around. There are some stunningly beautiful islands (Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia), some fascinating cultures and festivals, some wonderful diving and totally deserted beaches.
Things to do
The pristine, white sandy beaches found throughout the South Pacific are great for just lying back and enjoying the peace and quiet. There are locations for diving throughout Oceania. For coral and tropical fish, explore the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, Fiji has some reef around Nadi, and spectacular unspoilt, brightly coloured coral on the more remote islands.
Where to eat
Although staple foods from outside the region, such as rice and flour, now have a firm foothold, the traditional staples of roots and tubers remain very important. The cheapest is usually cassava, which also plays a food security role as it can be left in the ground for a long time.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Dietmar Rabich (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.