Tonga is a large island group east of Fiji and south of Samoa. It is the sole hold-out of Polynesian monarchies and it boasts to be the only South Pacific nation that was never under outside imperial rule. There are three main island groups, and from north to south they are Vava’u, Ha’apai, and Tongatapu. We visited all three but spent more time in Vava’u than the others. The capital of Tonga is Nuku’alofa, located in Tongatapu, which is where we cleared out of the country to voyage to New Zealand.
Tonga’s on the edge of the rim of South Pacific volcanoes, and there are still a few active volcanoes along the western side. If you follow this sort of current events, you might have seen that in December, 2014 (shortly after we left) an underwater eruption west of the Ha’apai group created a brand new island. Amazing.
Vava’u is known as a tourist destination, specifically for charter cruising and whale watching. Tonga is one of the few, maybe only, countries that let people dive with whales as long as it’s with a licensed tour operator. Once we got out amongst the islands, we could surely see why they have a decent sized charter business here. There are tens of protected anchorages, all within about 10 miles of each other, with plenty of options depending on the prevailing wind direction. Additionally, most of the time when you are moving about between anchorages you stay within the protection of the outer islands and fringing reefs, so you’ve usually got pristine water for some spectacular day sailing. There are also many anchorages listed as “day anchorage only” meaning they aren’t quite as protected, but these are usually the most beautiful spots with the best snorkeling, if you can stomach the surge coming over the reef at high tide.
The main town of Vava’u is Neiafu, which is tucked inside a deep, protected, harbor, which is considered a viable hurricane hole. There are also many smaller towns and villages scattered amongst the islands. The Moorings charter company has published a cruising guide for many years that lists all of the anchorages in Vava’u by number. We didn’t visit all of them, but we did manage to see quite a few. Our favorite was anchorage #30, but you will have to wait until next time to hear about that one.
Gresham Family Exodus 