Wash that winter right out of your hair with a trip to western Australia's sandy beaches. This is the last good month of the season for windsurfing, so whether you're a novice or a pro, Perth wants you.

The harbor in Perth shields it from the most violent currents of the Indian Ocean. Safety Bay, despite its name, more for people who have windsurfed before, but try Pelican Point at Matilda Bay for an easy approach. Windforce Windsurfing School will give you three days of beginner weekday lessons for $150 (about $100).

We pulled up a round-trip fare of $1215 from Los Angeles to Perth on Qantas, but you could probably go for much cheaper by flying to Sydney or Melbourne and snagging a discount fare.

Related Stories:
· Windsurfing and Julia Roberts in Mexico [Jaunted]
· Five Reasons to Visit Perth [Jaunted]
· Perth Hotels [HC]

[Photo: asterbat]]]> egw 2009-02-11T16:16:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/3/20944/16702

Earlier this week, we filled you in on a charming Moorea BYOB Happy Hour and today we offer our "Don't Miss List" for this perfect Tahitian island.]]> sedona 2008-06-04T13:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/1/2144/65739

Having just returned from an amazing trip to Tahiti, this week we're offering you a couple secret travel trips from her perfect islets and motus. First up, don't miss Moorea. It's a quick ferry ride from the capital city of Papeete and simply stunning. Grab an early morning ferry for $3 and watch the sun come up as Moorea takes over the horizon.]]> sedona 2008-06-02T14:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/5/63326/40333

We've been pretty keen on a trip to the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu ever since we heard the people there are the happiest in the world. But apart from walking around and smiling a lot, we weren't really sure what there was to do there--until now.

A Sydney Morning Herald review this week has got us captivated by Vanuatu, because it is home to the world's most accessible volcano. By which we mean, you can basically sit on the edge of the caldera and watch a few explosions of lava, performing like clockwork every evening.

The tourist-friendly volcano is called Mount Yasur, which means "old man," and it is located on Tanna Island, a 45-minute flight from the capital of Port Vila. Don't feel you have to hurry--Mount Yasur has been continually erupting since 1774, and there's no reason to imagine it's suddenly going to stop now.

Related Stories:
· Fiery Beauty As Old Man Rumbles [SMH]
· Shiny Happy People [Jaunted]
· Volcano Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: phnk]]]> amandak 2008-03-05T09:20:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/2/15/12177/0141

A giant reef in the South Pacific has gotten a major reprieve. The island nation of Kiribati has created the world's largest protected marine reserve, and it's about the size of California:

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area, covering 410,500 square kilometers, is one of the planet's last intact coral archipelagos and is threatened by over-fishing and climate change, [environmental] groups say.

It lies near the equator about half way between Fiji and Hawaii.

This new reserve is bigger than the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument west of Hawaii (137,797 square miles) and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia (345,000 sq km.)

The US-based group Conservation International, along with the New England Aquarium, is helping the Kiribati government to manage and fund the uninhabited area. A tough challenge for the reserve is coastal erosion, but the site is also overfished and thus the Kirbati government will need some money for surveillance.

So get out your wallets people! No, just kidding. We don't think this place is taking donations but we wonder... is it taking tourists?

Related Stories:
· Kiribati Creates World's Largest Marine Reserve [Reuters]
· South Pacific coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: DS355]]]> juliana 2008-02-15T14:30:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/1/31/164045/532

So, yeah, have you heard? The new season of Lost starts tonight. Expect more dumbfounded-yet-angry stares from Jack, more running in tank tops from Kate, more philosophy-ish chatter from Locke and lighthearted (but heavyset) jokes from Hurley.

We sometimes find it hard to write about the show 'cause the only traveling they ever do is from rainforest to hill to beach to ridgeline back to rainforest. Seems like a waste of a perfectly good vacation in the South Pacific!

Fortunately--for us anyway--ABC has put together a parallel web show called Find 815, featuring the exploits of fictional IT technician Sam Thomas, who's searching for his girlfriend Sonya, an Oceanic Air flight attendant. Among his stops are Jakarta, Indonesia and Darwin, Australia. Now that's more like it.

Related Stories:
· Fly Oceanic Air ["Official" Site]
· Find 815 [Official Site]
· Flight 815 Locations Map [Google Maps]
· Lost coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: ABC]]]> pbb 2008-01-31T16:45:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/1/22/105746/273

After running all those seasons of The Amazing Race and Survivor, seems like CBS has finally run out of places to film. The upcoming Fans vs. Favorites season of Survivor will return to Palau, where season 10 was shot a few years back. The producers are hoping that we don't catch on by calling it Survivor: Micronesia.

While you know what to expect from the competitors on the show--now in its 16th iteration--you probably don't know as much about the South Pacific archipelago. First and foremost, it's a long way from, well, everywhere, and that keeps tourist traffic relatively light. That said, you can get there from New York in about 26 hours, from Houston in about 20 hours and from Sydney in about 19 hours.

Once you're in the islands, the thing to do--if you're not on a hit reality show--is go scuba diving. The Palau Visitors Authority has a big list of all the local outfitters. You can also check out WWII history: The islands of Peleliu and Angaur are littered with materiel from fierce battles that killed thousands in 1944.

Related Stories:
· Palau Visitors Authority [Official Site]
· Survivor: Micronesia [Official Site]
· South Pacific Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikipedia]]]> pbb 2008-01-22T11:00:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/