Moon Handbooks South Pacific is the 8th edition of the original travel guide to Polynesia and Melanesia, first published in 1979. Its 1136 pages cover everything from Easter Island to the Solomons, with accommodations in all price ranges reviewed and priced. This book describes all there is to see and do on the Pacific islands, allowing you to make effective plans. And from day one, the candid historical and cultural background information will give you an understanding of what you're experiencing. The 119 clearly labeled island and city maps are alone worth the price of the guide. No other source gives you as much useful information about the South Pacific as Moon Handbooks.

Very Good book, format similar to the well known lonely planet guides but with considerably more in depth detail. Would recommend over all other guides have seen for the region.

The 8th edition of Moon Handbooks South Pacific describes and maps Tahiti and French Polynesia, Pitcairn, Easter Island, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, the Samoas, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna, Tuvalu, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands.

The 119 town plans and island maps are carefully labeled, without the confusing numbered map keys found in other guidebooks. For ease of reference, all internet and email addresses are embedded in the listings.

Moon Handbooks South Pacific highlights scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing, windsurfing, kayaking, yachting, cruising, hiking, fishing, and golf. Beaches, sightseeing, transportation, and places to stay and eat are thoroughly covered, as are the histories, economies, environments, cultures, and peoples of the Pacific region. A comprehensive 25-page index ties it all together.

Author David Stanley has been writing about the South Pacific for over 25 years. Paul Theroux called his handbook "the most user-friendly travel guide to the South Pacific," and it remains the leading guidebook to the Pacific islands.

The first Moon Guide that I ever owned was a tatty almost falling apart early edition of Bill Dalton’s Indonesia Handbook. Fascinating and scholarly it was far more than a travel guidebook, it was a window on a world. I vaguely recall at the time that the book had been banned in Indonesia because it was overtly political – copies were rare and to be treasured. The Indonesia Handbook was in fact the first Moon Guide ever published (in 1973) and set the standard by which travel guides would later be measured.

It seems to me that Moon Handbooks are labours of love written for travelers rather than tourists and the latest edition of Moon Handbook’s South Pacific is no exception. More than just a listing of travel options, accommodation and places to eat, the latest edition of Moon Handbook’s South Pacific is honest, intelligent, literate and fascinating. The author has compiled a detailed yet highly accessible compendium of travel information embedded with pithy observation, cultural insights and political comment. Clearly laid out, and comprehensively indexed the South Pacific handbook also includes extensive resource lists for further reading and exploration.

If you are planning your next trip, reminiscing about your previous adventures or simply dreaming of the island paradises of the South Pacific, the eighth edition of Moon Handbooks South Pacific is an investment that will be rewarded many times over.

Reviewed by Peter Murgatroyd, Librarian, University of the South Pacific