Sophie Clarke was named the winner in the final episode on December 18, 2011, defeating Benjamin "Coach" Wade and Albert Destrade in a 6–3–0 vote.

[5] Ozzy Lusth won $100,000 as the "Sprint Player of the Season", winning this honor by the largest margin since the award's inception in Survivor: China, and earning the fans' vote over John Cochran.

This season features 16 new Survivor contestants and two returning players: Ozzy Lusth from Cook Islands and Micronesia, and Benjamin "Coach" Wade from Tocantins and Heroes vs. Villains.

[14] Wingle competed with Survivor: Pearl Islands castaway Ryan Opray on the Amazon Prime Video series World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji as part of Team Peak Traverse.

Brandon continued to project sinister and sordid motivations in Mikayla's simple camp activities and felt very uncomfortable around her, saying that she reminded him of Parvati Shallow.

After Brandon felt threatened by her demeanor, he gathered the rest of the tribe and told them all that he was very upset at Mikayla's approach, that she did not appear to have much of an alliance, and to keep him out of all tribal drama.

Stacey expressed her frustration over being the next target for elimination in her tribe due to her previous ties with Christine, even though she believed she had proven herself to be a strong competitor with her performance in the challenge.

Stacey then tried to stir things up by lying to Brandon, telling him that he needed to watch out for Albert, Mikayla, and Sophie, because the three of them might have formed their own secret alliance.

At Tribal Council, Brandon broke down emotionally for feeling that he had something to prove by being Russell Hantz's relative and that he had to reclaim the family name in a positive manner.

When the vote came, the core Upolu alliance followed through with their plan and Stacey was sent to Redemption Island, angrily rebuffing her tribe's efforts to hug her as she was leaving.

When Albert and Mikayla returned to camp, they told the tribe about Stacey's venting, which upset Coach as he felt it would put a target on his back.

At Tribal Council, Keith and Whitney threw their votes against Dawn, allowing the alliance of three to blindside Elyse, sending her to Redemption Island.

Sophie, Rick, Ozzy, and Keith witnessed Christine continue her domination at the Redemption Island duel with her fourth win in a row.

Coach angrily blamed Upolu's upset loss on Mikayla and privately expressed satisfaction that he wouldn't have to deal with her for much longer, as she was the core alliance's next target.

Brandon, however, refused to go along with Albert's plan, arguing that the core alliance had a duty to stay true to their original agreement to vote out Mikayla next.

Upon returning to camp after their heated split vote at Tribal Council, the remaining members of Upolu made amends with each other, promising to stay united going forward.

Despite the verbal support that Mikayla received from Albert and Sophie, Christine won her fifth Redemption Island duel in a row in a closely fought match.

When asked by Jeff if he was surprised to be here, Ozzy laid it on thick with the resentment towards Cochran on being voted out, but Albert and Coach were suspect about the act.

Back at camp, Jim came up with a plan to stir up Tribal Council by giving the Immunity Necklace to Ozzy and then making a rousing speech to get two of the Upolu tribe to vote against Cochran.

At the Redemption Island duel between Jim, Keith, and Ozzy, after Jeff explained the rules of the competition, he revealed that only one person would move on, and the two losers would become the first and second members of the jury.

On Redemption Island, Ozzy thought the situation of no stress and abundant food allowed him to recharge and be a bigger physical threat towards the end game.

Cochran requested that they keep him in the game for at least one more Tribal Council as he felt that they owed him for flipping over to their side, giving them the pivotal vote that they needed to defeat Savaii.

To further strengthen the guilt trip that he was trying to lay on the core Upolu alliance, Cochran also told a lie to them that his birthday was near and he wanted to celebrate it in the game.

On day 31, Edna expressed her anger and frustration over being the core Upolu alliance's next target, being especially livid that Brandon, whom she greatly disliked, was playing a role in dictating her fate in the game.

In the middle of Edna making a tearful plea to Coach to spare her from the next vote, Brandon interrupted the conversation when he burst into camp, yelling that the tribe had received tree mail with a Sprint HTC Evo 3D.

After Edna, Rick, and Sophie left the Arena, Jeff handed the phone back to Ozzy and told the seven that they would be spending their time at Redemption Island.

At Tribal Council, Coach wore the hidden immunity idol around his neck, leaving the choices of votes to Albert, Rick, and Sophie.

While not to the extent of its predecessor, Survivor: South Pacific was generally panned by the time it ended, with the primary criticism being the return of the Redemption Island twist.

Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly criticized the season's "same twist of two returning players, Redemption Island, the predictable vote-offs, and no real water challenges," but reserved some praise for several of the cast members, including Cochran and Brandon.

[46] In 2014, Joe Reid of The Wire ranked it as the 5th-worst season, criticizing both of the returning players as continuing "their already tedious tendencies towards self-aggrandizement and shoddy strategy.