Pitcairn Islands Getting There & Away

Getting There & Away

By plane There is no airstrip in the islands, and it's out of range of land-launched helicopters, so flying is not an option. (The largest flat area on Pitcairn would offer a very short runway, and level Henderson Island is both a UNESCO-listed bird sanctuary and inconveniently located.) The nearest airport is on Mangareva in the Gambier Islands, 330 miles away. By boat Pitcairn Island is accessible to tourists via scheduled visits by a small number of commercial cruise ships, and via private ocean-traversing yachts. Sailing from French Polynesia is relatively practical; from almost anywhere else (e.g. New Zealand, Chile) it requires crossing thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean. The island is located about halfway between New Zealand and the Panama Canal, near a main shipping lane, so travel via cargo ship is possible several times a year. Contact the Pitcairn Island Administration in New Zealand (+64-9-366-0186) to arrange passage; fares are typically US$800-1000 one-way. There is no safe harbor for medium-sized or larger vessels; visitors access the island itself by small longboats launched from Bounty Bay (which is scarcely large enough to be called a "bay") to meet up with ships anchored off-shore Away If you'll be sailing your own ship, the nearest islands are in French Polynesia, roughly to the WNW: the isolated Gambier Islands are 330 miles away, the Acteon Group of the Tuamotu Islands are 450 miles away, and Tahiti and the rest of the Society Islands are a mere 1,300 miles off. Easter Island is about the same distance in the opposite direction. Passing freighters will likely be bound for either New Zealand or Panama.