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Published: October 5th 2007
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Tongan school children
Children in Tonga are fascinated by tourists and will greet you with beautiful smiles! Take time out from the world in Tonga
If you want a place to relax on a nice tropical beach, want to avoid hordes of tourists, and like the basics of life then Tonga is definitely for you. It is a true pacific tropical paradise, but what makes it really special is its people. The Tonga people have been able to maintain a laid back life style that is thankfully largely devoid of western life styles and tourism. Tonga lives up to the reputation of being the Friendly Islands. You will find yourself constantly greeting people and getting rewarded by beautiful sincere smiles and calls of "Hello, Bye"...
It is very clear that Tonga is pretty much a bankrupt country. Poverty is very much in evidence. Roads are poorly maintained. Houses are basic and run down. Stray pigs and packs of dogs roam the villages. But somehow it all fits in and the Tongans keep things looking reasonably tidy in its own way. On the whole the gardens are nicely maintained, and it all has an authentic pacific feeling, particularly with the many coconut and banana trees.
The main island is
Tongatapu . (See
map). It has many nice beaches,
Ha'atafu beach
The absolutely lovely Ha'atafu beach at the far western side of the main island of Tongatapu. particularly on the western side, with Ha'atafu being the pick of the bunch. It has a beautiful picture postcard beach and offers safe swimming amonst colourful fish in the coral that is dotted all over the lagoon. With a bit of luck you can even spot wales passing closely by the reef. A popular sightseeing are the blowholes of Mapu'a Vaea; a spectacular site when you can catch high ocean waves pounding the long stretch of raised reef; resulting in water spouting high out of holes in the reef all along the coast line.
It pays to do a tour of the island. We did this through Toni's Tours (who also owns Toni's Guest House, which apparently offers good accommodation). We were unlucky in that Toni seemed to be in a bit of grump, and that the weather rained out most of the tour. But even so, it was worth it. If only, to get your bearings around the island. Which isn't particularly big as such. And a day trip easily does it. You may want to alternatively try to simply book a taxi for a day if you strike a friendly driver with reasonable english. Taxi fares aren't
Ha'atafu Beach guest house
A lovely 3-bedroom house that is ideal to rent if you want a comfortable place for yourself, complete with TV and DVD player... too high but it pays to check costs first.
The capital of
Nuku'alofa is a simple township with just the basic facilities. It has a few sights such as the Royal Tomb and Palace (don't expect too much though!). And there's a good collection of restaurants plus a few good cafes that offer good quality western food at reasonable prices. Unfortunately it is hard to find places to try local food. An option is to try a buffer and dance at one of the few resorts, but again - don't expect too much... Tongans are definitely not going out of their way to cater for tourists! (But at the same time make you feel very welcome).
It is worth trying to hire some bikes and explore around Nuku'alofa. A 15 minute ride towards the east end will reveal the real poor side of Tonga; a slump situated in a filled in swamp right next to a smelly mosquito infected rubbish dump! Burned out car wrecks sit outside shanty town huts and hordes of shaggy dogs roam around. It does feel safe though and kids will give you an enthustiastic wave and "bye!" with big smiles. Right at the
Typical Tongan house
A typical basic Tongan house, complete with a few pigs roaming the garden. end of the road is a picturesque estuary that flows into the main harbour.
A number of smaller islands (motus) are dotted across the harbour on the northern side of Nuku'alofa. It is very worthwhile to take a short and cheap ferry ride to the island of Pangaimotu, which has fantastic beaches and wonderful swimming. You can easily do a short swim to a partially submerged shipwreck and snorkel amongst schools of colourful fish. All very safe. It has a lovely cafe and fish & chips for lunch is highly recommended!
We had a week on Tongatapu and stayed at the lovely
Ha'atafu Beach Guest House, which is 3 bedroom batch type house owned by a Kiwi couple. They have a very nice caretaker couple living in their own little house behind the main house, who are only to happy look after you (e.g. arrange transfers from and to the airport, and get groceries from town). There's a couple of kayaks that you can borrow to go paddling around the lagoon. And it is very easy to catch a bus from the road end into Nuku'alofa. It's about a 30 minutes ride and the bus can get crowded, but is a
Blowholes
The spectacular Mapu'a Vaea blowholes in the coral reef on the southern side of the Tongatapu island. wonderful experience. We enjoyed our walks to the local village to purchase some basic essentials at one of the Tongan or Chinese-run 'dairies'. We were lucky to be invited to the local school by a friendly teacher. The kids were all very excited and crowded around us for attention and were thrilled to have photos taken off them.
There's a variety of accommodation to find in Tonga, but it certainly pays to research your options. Definitely don't expect much if you don't pay much! We heard from other tourists who bitterly complained about the lack of running water and dirty conditions at places like the Good Samaritan. But it sounds like there's some nice resorts to be found. The Ha'atafu Beach Resort (located next to the Guest House where we stayed) looks well looked after, and apparantly the Fafa Island has wonderful accommodation too. Or you may want to travel further afield to one of the other Tongan island groups.
We had a week at the end of September and had a mixed bag of weather. Although it never got below 20 degrees celsius, it felt a bit cool at times; particular when the wind would come up.
Tongan poverty
Hidden behind a rubbish dump on the northern side of Nuku'alofa you will find a slump build on a filled in swamp; showing the real poor side of Tonga... The Ha'atafu beach / lagoon are wonderful sheltered from the prevailing easterly wind though. We had a few days of rain and overcast weather, but also some wonderful real tropical sunny days. At the end of our holiday we were absolutely settled into the wonderful relaxed Tongan life style.
More of our photos can be found at our
Tongan album on Google.
Highlights / recommendations Soaking in the sun and snorkeling at Ha'atafu beach
Sipping a latte made of locally grown / roasted coffee at Friends cafe in Nuku'alofa
Shopping at the market in Nuku'alofa
Relaxing at the Pangaimotu island
The spectacular blowholes of Mapu'a Vaea
Watching the flying fox bats at Kolovai
LowlightsMozzies (but only during the day)
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