Editor's foreword

Most writing about the Pacific is about scenery. Very little of it explains the part that actually decides how a visit goes: who you have to ask, what you bring, when you sit down, what you do not photograph, and which stretch of reef is closed this season.

Pacific Compass Notes covers that part. It is written for people who are already going — on a dive trip, a cruise stop, a work posting, a family visit — and who would rather not find out the rule by breaking it.

What this desk covers

• Protocol for entering villages and being received
• Kava and ʻava, and how the occasion differs by country
• Sunday and evening prayer observance in Samoa and Tonga
• Customary land, access fees and who holds the ground
• Community-managed reefs and tabu closures
• Consent for photographs, and payment norms at festivals
• Greetings and courtesy phrases worth learning

What it does not do

• No bookings, no itineraries, no tour sales, no commission
• No claim to speak for any government, church or community
• No “hidden gem” location dumps that send visitors to places nobody asked
• No legal, medical or immigration advice

How to treat what you read here

These notes describe the general case, and the Pacific is not a general case. Protocol differs between countries, between islands in the same country, and between villages an hour apart. Everything here is a starting position that helps you ask a better question on arrival. The person hosting you outranks this website every time.

Corrections

If something here is wrong, out of date, or describes your community badly, we want to fix it. Write to contact@oceanian.net and say what is wrong and where. Corrections are made to the note itself, not buried in a log.