16 South Pacific Books That Will Take You To An Island Paradise At Home

I watched this movie years ago before I knew it was a book. I could go either way on reading this one, I’m sure it is interesting, though.

This is the story of the four-month struggle for survival of Jim Nalepka and his three crew members on their capsized catamaran, the Rose-Noelle.

A storm capsized them in the South Pacific, causing them to lose most of their gear. They huddled in a dank 20-inch-high hull compartment as wide as a double bed for shelter. They were soaked and freezing almost constantly.

They caught fish and collected rainwater for sustenance before the wind finally carried them to New Zealand’s Great barrier Island.

In Tahiti, everyone knows women are wisest, mothers know best, and Materena Mahi knows best of all. Well, everyone but her own daughter.

Soon, they’re embroiled in a tug-of-war that tests the bonds of their mother/daughter love.

If you’re looking for a book set in the South Pacific by an author from there, then Célestine Hitiura Vaite has you covered!

I got this on a Kindle deal last year and would like to try and read this one in July!

At twenty-six, Maarten Troost decided to move to Tarawa, a remote island in Kiribati. This is the hilarious story of him finding out Tarawa isn’t the romantic island he dreamed it was, but and island of misadventure, suffocating heat, polluted seas, and toxic fish where he spent the next two years battling incompetent government officials with his girlfriend Sylvia.

Tim is one of the world’s most influential scientists, credited with discovering more species than Darwin.

This is the chronicle of a series of expeditions he made to the tropical islands of the Pacific at the beginning of his career.

If you’re looking for a South Pacific travel book, this is almost it. It’s a little more sciencey than travel but it’s still good.

This next adventure with Troost takes us through Fiji and Vanuatu. After his two years on Tarawa, he never wanted to return to the South Pacific, but over time, he felt out of place in twenty-first century America. The next thing he knows, he and his wife, Sylvia, are packing their bags for Vanuatu.

This time they face earthquakes, kava, typhoons, and giant centipedes. Oh, and a baby. That’s when they head over to Fiji and their son takes to island living quite naturally.

Quick pet peeve here: this book description is TOO LONG! It’s practically as long as the book. I hate that. Anyways.

Will Randall is presented the opportunity to leave home and move to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific and he takes it.

This is the witty account of his adventures in the paradise that is the Solomon Islands.

This is one of the first books I got for my Kindle and I read it like, three times. I loved it.

Just a month after his 21st birthday, Peter moved to Ujae, a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands, 70 miles from the nearest phone, car, tourist, or store, to teach English.

This is the touching yet funny account of living with the island’s 450 inhabitants, yet confronted with the harsh reality of life on Ujae.

We hear about his personal experiences as well as political, linguistic, and ecological digressions of the Marshall Islands and the ways they’re being effected by global warming. It’s both entertaining and educational.

I watched this movie over the winter and now I really want to read the book. This is a crazy survival story (a true survival story) set in the South Pacific.

Tami and her fiance Richard have their whole lives ahead of themselves when they set sail from Tahiti to San Diego.

Less than two weeks into their voyage, though, they sail directly into one of the worst hurricanes recorded in history. Richard ties himself to the boat and sends Tami to safety below. Hours later, all is quiet and she’s awakened to find the boat in ruins and Richard nowhere in sight.

This is the miraculous story of her forty-one days alone with no mast or sails and little hope of rescue.

Salvador Alvarenga left the coast of Mexico for a two-day fishing trip.  That turned into the longest time spent adrift at sea by anyone in history – 438 days.  A terrible storm killed his boat engine and dragged his boat out to sea where he drifted all the way to the Marshall Islands, 9,000 miles away.

For fourteen months, he was surrounded by sharks, learned to catch fish with what he had on board: empty plastic bottles he collected from the ocean, making fishhooks from his dismantled outboard motor,  and using fish vertebrae as a needle to stitch his clothes back together.  He contemplated suicide multiple times but kept an alternate reality in his mind that carried him on until he was dumped onto the remote island thousands of miles away.

One last story from Troost here. This time, his return to the South Pacific is after a struggle with alcoholism where he decides to retrace the steps of Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island.

He travels to the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, Tahiti, Kiribati, and Samoa facing one adventure after another.

I also got this on a Kindle deal last year and can’t wait to read it.

This is the story of Paul Theroux’s adventures through the South Pacific where he visited fifty-one islands by collapsible kayak.

He started in New Zealand’s forests and ended his journey thousands of miles away in Hawaii.

He paddles alone over isolated tolls and through shark-filled waters, meeting the king of Tonga and investigating a cargo cult in Vanuatu.

When Lisebet trades the life she knows for living on a sailboat, she succumbs to seasickness and a growing desire to be alone.

She enjoys the impulsiveness and alternative lifestyle but must face personal storms, US immigration, adverse weather, and doubts about her newfound love.

This is another one I have and can’t wait to read! My South Pacific book list is quite long now.

This is the three-year journey across French Polynesia on a sailboat, from Bora Bora to the Tuamotus. We get to experience the ups and downs of life on a sailboat along with Jasna, meeting heavily tattooed men, sailing under the stars, and diving with sharks and dolphins.

Torre isn’t looking for love when she meets a soulful Argentinian man in San Diego. But he’s about to set sail around the world on his small sailboat. Lovesick, she decides to join him on this terrifying and life-changing journey through deep waters. Somewhere mid-pacific, she’s finding it hard to keep everything afloat.

I read this one over the summer and liked it! It was a nice change of pace from my usual solo female travel memoirs.

When Pito gets drunk and proposes, Materena first thinks it’s just the booze talking.

As she starts planning, she juggles everyday life only to have Pito act like he’s forgotten the proposal.

I’m not sure if these Celestine Yaite books are a series or not, but they seem to have the same people in them. Either way, I want to read them and love the covers.

Now Matarena has a radio talk show and is a big star, but Pito can’t help noticing some changes in her. She’s spending more time at work and with friends, not coming home to cook for him. And why does she need to know how to drive?

He decides to shrug it off but when she gives him the silent treatment and doesn’t come home from a night of dancing, he’s had enough.

luckily, when three-month-old Tiare, rumored to be their son Tomatoa’s daughter, is left on their doorstep, he has a chance to prove himself to his granddaughter, his wife, and himself.