If you're looking for an only-by-yacht escape, Melanesia must be at the top of yourlist. This newly accessible Eden, tucked between Polynesia, Australia and Thailand, is composed of the four sun-drenched nations of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji.
Melanesia's 2,000 islands offer the greatest marine biodiversity this side of Raja Ampat. Sailing from the west, you will first arrive at Papua New Guinea. The most populated island of the region, it has approximately nine million inhabitants living in an area the size of Spain, many in rural isolated communities. A short hop away lies the Solomon Islands, an archipelago of more than 1,000 palm-fringed islands, the majority uninhabited, followed by a smaller cluster called Vanuatu, a seldom-visited region that boasts the world's biggest shipwreck and the active Mt Yasur volcano. Further on, there's Fiji, perhaps the best-known Melanesian nation, with its 300 colorful islands.
Melanesia was named by 19th-century French navigator and explorer Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont d'Urville, who first divided the Pacific islands and classified the islanders as Melanesian,
