The colonization of the Pacific happened very recently in the terms of people spreading around the world: well after the last ice age. According to wikipedia, the first human settlement in Fiji was perhaps 3500 BCE. Hawaii wasn't settled until sometime around 1000 CE. The sea level would have been nearly the same as today and distance between islands would be, for practical purposes, identical.
I have heard/read that changing weather patterns had an effect on the movement of people around the Pacific, making some journeys easier or harder during different periods. Long distance voyaging had essentially ceased again by the time Europeans were exploring the Pacific. Unfortunately, I can't provide a reference.
Long distance voyaging had essentially ceased again by the time Europeans were exploring the Pacific. Unfortunately, I can't provide a reference.
In Polynesia that's mostly true (although Samoa to Tonga is rather far, so depends on what you mean by 'long'). In Hawaii, the home and voyage of the ancestors was a place in legendary history.
In Micronesia though, there are still a few people who can do long-distance voyages.
I have heard/read that changing weather patterns had an effect on the movement of people around the Pacific, making some journeys easier or harder during different periods. Long distance voyaging had essentially ceased again by the time Europeans were exploring the Pacific. Unfortunately, I can't provide a reference.