The Solomon Islands has long flown under the radar as a travel destination, known mainly to divers, WWII history enthusiasts and the occasional adventurous backpacker. But something is shifting, and the cruise industry appears to be taking notice in a serious way.
The question worth asking is whether the Solomons is on the verge of becoming the Pacific’s next must-visit cruise destination?
The signs are compelling. This year alone, some of the world’s most respected cruise lines have already made the journey, including Holland America Line’s MS Noordam and MS Zaandam, Oceania Cruises’ MS Riviera, Ponant Expeditions’ Le Soleal, and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Hanseatic Inspiration. P&O’s Swan-Hellenic departed Honiara this month on a 13-day voyage covering the Western Province, Makira-Ulawa and Malaita. The forward schedule looks even more promising, with Ponant Exploration’s Le Jacques Cartier arriving in August, followed by Heritage Expeditions’ Heritage Adventurer, Royal Caribbean Group’s Silver Cloud and Seabourn Cruises’ Seabourn Pursuit between September and October. Crucially, Seabourn, Heritage Expeditions and Ponant have all confirmed Solomon Islands inclusions in their 2027 Melanesian and South Pacific itineraries, suggesting this is not a passing curiosity but a destination being built into long-term planning.
For any cruise destination to graduate from emerging to established, it needs the infrastructure to back up the ambition. Here the Solomons has made a significant leap. The Millenium Cruise Passenger Terminal, which opened in December 2024 at a cost of over SBD $100 million, is the largest cruise passenger terminal in the South Pacific. Built by the Solomon Islands Ports Authority, it delivers direct berthing, dedicated arrival and departure lounges, ticketing offices, cafeterias and secure passenger zones. Its location at Point Cruz Wharf puts arriving passengers within immediate reach of central Honiara’s markets, museums and transport links, as well as popular shore excursions including WWII battlefield tours, wreck snorkelling and Mataniko Falls hikes. The infrastructure argument, once a weakness, is rapidly becoming a strength.
Then there is the money. Expedition travellers visiting the Solomons are spending between AUD$155 and AUD$232 per person per visit onshore, and that spend is going directly into local communities rather than back onto the ship. On conservative estimates, 3,000 expedition passengers a year generate around AUD$580,000 in direct local expenditure, reaching artisans, tour operators and transport providers. Tourism Solomons has been explicit that it is targeting the high-yield expedition segment rather than mass-market volume, a strategy that positions the destination carefully rather than chasing numbers at the expense of experience or environment.
The overall visitor picture adds further weight to the case. The Solomon Islands recorded 28,548 international arrivals in 2025, a 13.6 percent increase on 2024 and just 382 short of the all-time pre-COVID record. Holiday and vacation travel jumped 34.3 percent, Australian arrivals rose 15.4 percent, and Chinese visitor numbers surged 64.5 percent. The destination also made its first-ever appearance at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami, the cruise industry’s most important international marketplace, a move that signals genuine intent to compete on the world stage.
Solomons has something that cannot be manufactured: authenticity. Its WWII history, pristine reefs, remote island communities and rich Melanesian culture offer exactly the kind of experience that expedition cruise travellers are increasingly seeking and willing to pay for. With the infrastructure now in place, the international relationships being built and the bookings rolling in, the Solomon Islands looks less like a destination on the rise and more like one whose moment has genuinely arrived.
