From marina investments to new charter licenses, the push to raise the profile of this far-flung cruising region might finally be reaching a groundswell.
Diving with manta rays in the coral gardens of French Polynesia; hiking through jungle trails to waterfall-fed pools in Fiji; cruising past towering, red-tinged cliffs in Australia’s remote Kimberley region — the Pacific and Oceania offer some of the most breathtaking cruising grounds on Earth, yet the region has long remained on the periphery of mainstream yachting. While seasoned captains, adventurous owners and intrepid charter guests recognize its wonders, the Pacific has never quite rivaled the Mediterranean or Caribbean in terms of infrastructure or visibility. That, however, may be starting to change.
A growing, coordinated effort — led in large part by Australia — is working to shift perceptions, transforming the Pacific from far-flung frontier to viable alternative to the tried-and-true cruising grounds. With increased investment in infrastructure, an ease in regulations and a push for organizations from the disparate regions to work together more cohesively, the Pacific could finally be stepping into the spotlight.
From vast distances between islands to infrastructure gaps and a lack of clarity in regulations, there’s more than one reason the Pacific has lagged behind in global yachting attention. The most obvious hurdle is the Pacific’s relative remoteness to America and Europe, where the vast majority of yacht owners and charterers reside. It makes sense that the bountiful cruising grounds found on America’s and Europe’s doorstep — the Caribbean and Mediterranean respectively — would be the first port of call for most yachts.
“[The Pacific] is a long way to travel, and it’s not on the beaten path. Therefore, it’s riskier for captains to come this far without the comfort of following the herd,” says David Good, CEO of the Australian International Marine Export Group (AIMEX), Superyacht Australia (SYA) and the Australian Commercial Marine Group. At last year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, SYA and AIMEX joined forces with Tourism Fiji and Tahiti Tourisme to spotlight the region’s growing yachting appeal. Exhibitors shared the latest in infrastructure upgrades, services and yachting events.
Distance is a challenge, not just in reaching the Pacific cruising grounds, but also in traveling between the various island groups.
“Consider that Australia is the same size as mainland US, the Great Barrier Reef spans a distance equivalent to traveling from the Netherlands to Sicily, and French Polynesia alone covers the same area as Western Europe,” says Cameron Bray, managing director of Australian yachting event and charter company The Superyacht People and chairman of Superyacht Queensland. “The tyranny of distance is a challenge, but the end result is worth it. I urge more yachts to make themselves available for charter in this region, and owners considering bringing their yachts to the South Pacific should charter a yacht here first to see just how incredible it is.”
If you stretch the definition of Pacific to include Asia and the Pacific, as many organizations in this region do, then this vastness expands exponentially. “The Asia-Pacific cruising grounds are massive and stretch from Korea and Japan in the East to India and Seychelles in the South and then down to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific in Oceania. In all, the Asia-Pacific region has approximately 40,000 kilometers of cruising grounds,” says Suzy Rayment, executive director of the Asia-Pacific Superyacht Association (APSA).
Traveling between these areas takes days and weeks, often crossing large swaths of open water. “Not all owners are keen on open ocean passages — most clients like to arrive at a place and do a bit of day sailing with a few odd night passages thrown in,” says Christoph Schaefer, captain of the 160-foot Flyghtship V6.
Captain Christoph also notes that shipping emergency parts and provisions to remote areas can prove incredibly time consuming, if not impossible, with layers of bureaucracy and customs charges thrown in as an added headache.
“The distances between destinations also meant that yachting in the different island groups has developed independently,” says David Jamieson, owner of Yacht Help Fiji, which was formed in 1987 to supply professional shore support services to superyachts. Currently, no one body represents yachting in the South Pacific. Most information on cruising in the region is held by longstanding agents in Fiji and Tahiti, like Jamieson’s company, which provides detailed itineraries and support services.
But there are associations that stretch across watery borders, such as the Asia-Pacific Superyacht Association, which is well placed to look after the whole region. “And there is a South Pacific Superyacht Alliance between Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia that has worked well for attracting yachts to cruise the region,” David Good says. He hints at the main goal of the SYA’s FLIBS delegation, which was to encourage vessels to travel through the Panama Canal and onto the Pacific. BOAT International’s BOATPro data shows a 36 percent increase in transits from January to May compared to the same period in 2024. “Now we just need to encourage those yachts to keep heading west to Australia,” David Good says.
Superyachts are still relatively new to the South Pacific, a region historically focused on high-volume tourism. But withgrowing recognition of the economic value that yachts bring, the focus is shifting. Superyacht Australia helped catalyze this in 2017 with an economic impact study that revealed that a single superyacht can generate as much local benefit as a 2,000-passenger cruise ship. Ideally, tourism boards and yachting associations would work in concert to encourage more yachts to visit. Getting neighboring tourism bodies to work together is new territory, as traditionally they’ve been rivals vying for the fly-in or cruise-ship markets.
But there’s precedence for how a new model of tourism could work in the Pacific. “Under MaryAnne Edwards’ leadership (of SYA and AIMEX) there was a memorandum of understanding signed between Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia back in 2016 to work collaboratively for the region — get the vessels into the region together and then compete for their business once they are in the Pacific,” David Good says.
Pacific nations following suit with the likes of Tahiti, Fiji, Vanuatu and Cook Islands are all exhibiting as a collective with Australia as the “South Pacific” at shows like Monaco and FLIBS. “The collective attitude is that all nations benefit by seeing more yachts in the region, rather than individually pitching for the business,” Cameron says. Or in other words, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Beyond collaborative marketing, the entities representing the Pacific cruising grounds are trying to make rules and regulations more consistent and yacht-friendly. “The Asia-Pacific Superyacht Association is now working with the regional boating industry associations to streamline regulations so that superyachts face less red tape when arriving and departing,” Suzy says.
Unlike the interconnected cruising grounds of the Med, every nation in the South Pacific is an island or island group with no shared borders, and each country enforces its own environmental rules and customs regulations. “Then you have the language barrier and different customs in each country,” says Gordon Fernandes, general manager and co-founder of Asia Pacific Superyachts and committee member for the APSA. “Though this can be fun — you can have the yacht blessed by Thai monks!” Gordon adds that governments need to create ways to control their sovereign waters while being open to the idea of having a regional-based rules system so it’s easier for captains to cruise in the region. The model for this could be the EU system of cruising in the Med.
But, compared to the Med, yachting is still an emerging industry in Asia-Pacific regions, and the onus is on yachting organizations to educate governments on the economic value of superyachts. In Australia, Fiji, Tahiti, Malaysia, Maldives, Seychelles and Thailand, foreign-flagged superyachts can charter, and more countries are making their own superyacht chartering licenses. “Governments in the region are starting to understand the superyacht industry and are making superyachts feel more welcome by cutting red tape and introducing new legislation, like crew visas and superyacht charter licenses,” Gordon says. “They can see the benefits to their local economy of superyachts cruising and chartering in the region.”
Chartering in Tahiti and Fiji is booming thanks in part to each country having clear superyacht charter rules and only a five percent tax on charter fees, David Jamieson says. “These yacht charter rules need to be adopted by the smaller charter destinations too,” he says. “The smaller, more remote destinations need to recognize the potential of yachting in their destinations, and the larger, more stable island destinations need to further invest in bigger dockage facilities to cater for the bigger yachts entering the South Pacific.”
Challenges of cruising the region include infrastructure gaps, which includes a lack of superyacht berths, access to fuel and waste facilities, reliable provisioning and places for maintenance and refits along the way.
“Better alignment between governments, marinas and tourism bodies goes a long way, but it’s also about creating stepping stones, places where yachts can reliably stop, resupply or access support as they move through the region,” says Nairn Johnston, general manager of Jones Bay Superyacht Marina outside of Sydney, which was just named Marina of the Year during the Nautilus Marine Insurance Marina of the Year Awards. “That said, we’re seeing real progress.”
Fiji has shown steady growth in the number of superyachts visiting the area and is expected to receive 65 to 70 superyachts this season. Most notable has been the increase in the tonnage of the yachts visiting the region this season, with a record number of yachts larger than 300 feet. That success can be attributed to several factors, David Jamieson says, including the expansion of existing marinas and increased awareness of services available in Fiji, as well as excellent air connectivity with daily flights from the US. And, of course, new marina developments.
With more new marina projects in Hong Kong, Bali and Vanuatu, to name a few, there’s a definite uptick in development. Slowly but surely, the Asia-Pacific region is gaining more marinas and haul-out facilities. Many Australian businesses are leading the charge by investing in infrastructure in the Pacific islands, and while it’s private investment, SYA assists with coordination and promotion.
When it comes to the Pacific, SYA has a clear goal in mind. “In five years, we want to double visitation to the region,” David Good says. “In the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, this is easily achievable. These Olympics will be for the whole of the South Pacific, and we want to make sure they all benefit from additional yachts traveling through and the economic benefits they bring.”
While there’s no silver bullet to improving Pacific cruising, the widespread yachting industry here seems to be on the right track. As infrastructure improves and associations work more cohesively, the region is increasingly ready to welcome larger yachts with ease. Less crowded than traditional cruising grounds, the Pacific is ideal for owners and guests seeking new horizons — a place where untouched beauty and modern amenities converge.
“The Pacific’s time is coming,” Nairn says. “We’re seeing more interest, more collaboration and more ambition than ever before. If we keep that momentum going, while staying true to what makes this region special, then I believe the Pacific can become one of the world’s great cruising destinations.”