The standard visa for Tonga was 31 days and we did not apply for an extension, therefore we had a short window to explore these islands. Unfortunately there were prolonged westerly winds predicted which forced us to decide if we would stay a week in the main anchorage of Tongatapu or move on quickly.
Since Frank and I definitely prefer the remote, less populated locations, we decided to up anchor after only a few days so we wouldn’t be pinned down to one spot during the predicted westerly winds. We chose to begin exploring smaller places and try to find fairly protected anchorages outside of Tongatapu.
Tonga consists of 171 islands spread across 270,000 square miles and only 45 of the islands are inhabited. Needless to say, we would have loved to spend a very long time exploring the area, finding pristine dive spots and unspoiled shores. But, as always on a sailboat, we live by the weather, the seasons and our visa expiration dates.
Our plan was to make the most of our limited time in Tonga, then move to Fiji and finally sail to New Zealand where we would keep TTR during cyclone season. We had determined that our best window for sailing to New Zealand would be early October, thus driving our hasty schedule.
We chose to set our sails north and slightly east to the Ha’apai Group. We left Tongatapu before sunrise. The early part of our sail was at tight true wind angles of 50° to 67°, so a bit upwind with a lot of sea spray that left plenty of salt behind. Later in the day we enjoyed some nice reaching in calm conditions. We had the main at R1 and depending on the wind speed and angle, we alternated between genoa and reaching sails. By 3:30pm we had covered 86nm and were anchor down behind a motu. Once again we are thankful that Ticket to Ride can cover ground quickly and comfortably.
Our first stop was really just a spit of sand named Uonukuhihifo just south of Uiha. (Please don’t ask me to pronounce these names!)
We didn’t see anyone or any buildings on the shore from the boat. We spent time walking the beach and relishing the fact that the beach was sand rather than coral and shell fragments. But you can see in the pictures that there were also very sharp coral remnants that used to be underwater and now protruded along the shore.
The tide coming across the low lying reefs was very strong. As we drove the dinghy against the tide, we guessed it was coming toward us at four or five knots. I am not sure the tide would ever be outgoing in these areas.
Even though the tide was strong, we found an area to safely anchor the dinghy and snorkle in shallow water. I cannot say that this particular spot was stellar snorkeling, but it was still fun to be in the water and look things over. I would guess that the lack of protection from waves influences the vibrancy and amount of growth along these open roadstead island spits.
The pictures above are screen shots pulled from a GoPro video. The current and choppy water gave the videos a lot of movement, so rather than induce seasickness with the videos, I put in a few stills.
We spent the next couple of days working our way north along Lifuka. A few other sailboats arrived and there was an impromptu BBQ on the beach late one afternoon. It was fun to chat with other cruisers as we watched the sun set.
Pangai is the administrative capital village of Lifuka. Although the local airport is just 3 miles from Pangai, the town only has a population of slightly over 1,000 as of 12/31/21.
After only a few days along the shores of Ha’apai, we decided to sail toward the Va’vau Group of islands where we would have more options for calm anchorages that allow us to hide from the winds.
Another upwind sail. We flew the genoa and had two reefs in the main yet we still averaged nearly 8 knots at a tight wind angle with seas that were sometimes nine feet. Ticket to Ride is very salty – again!
As we arrived into the Va’vau area, Tonga began to look the way I had imagined it, with abrupt islands popping out of cerulean water, spaced far enough away from each other to boat between them but close enough to create some areas of calm waters.
Our first anchorage in Va’vau was off of Kapa behind a shallow area between Kapa and Nuka Island. We managed to sneak TTR into this lovely, protected area with excellent breeze and little motion. A protected anchor spot like this one is always appreciated after bumpy, roadsteads.
As we motored past islands we could see caves and inlets that were ripe for inspection, so we loaded up Day Tripper, grabbed friends from s/v Side Two and searched out caves and snorkel spots.
This same day we explored a cave that has a submerged entrance but is open to the air once you dive through the underwater opening and swim forward. Angie, Marc, Frank and I had a great time swimming into the cave and finding it’s secrets. We felt adventurous and brave swimming into the “unknown.”
When traveling between island groups in Tonga, one is required to check in with the local Customs officer, so we needed to move Ticket to Ride to Neiafu, which is the largest town in Va’vau and the second largest in all of Tonga. Neiafu is located on a deep harbor called The Port of Refuge. Indeed, this is a naturally, well protected harbor that is deep but also has some shoaling areas that must be avoided. The visit to Customs went smoothly, so we moved TTR off of the Customs dock and anchored within the Port of Refuge.
Neiafu has a population of about 4,000 and had a variety of businesses, which surprised me a bit. We saw a computer services shop, a “high rise hotel” and several fale koloas (grocery stores) along the street.
When speaking with some locals, I had the impression that many small Chinese stores have opened in the last few years and the locals try to support other local business owners instead of the Chinese owned stores. Locals mentioned that the Chinese stores might have had some funding from their homeland that the local owners don’t receive and this was causing some friction.
One thing Frank and I noticed was that the Chinese stores were serious about monitoring customers. This tiny store had pretty inexpensive items, but if you zoom in on that TV monitor, you can see that there were about 15 cameras watching shoppers. I don’t know if this is a cultural “norm” in China or if it reflects a theft problem. We did not see this same surveillance in other shops. Wild!
The availability of fresh produce in Tonga has been great and we did the majority of our shopping in open air markets like the one in these pictures. This market, located near the Customs area, was an easy walk and offered us a plethora of options.
While strolling around Neiafu, Frank and I came across the Justice of the Peace. Since it was only a couple of days before our 40th wedding anniversary, we thought it would be fun and funny to get remarried in The Kingdom of Tonga. As often happens with businesses in remote islands, when we knocked on the door to the justice of the peace/radio station, it was closed during normal business hours. BUT we were not so easily dissuaded. We found some internet connection and did a little research on the requirements for getting married in Tonga.
Sadly, couples who want to marry in Tonga, must receive permission from the King who resides in Tongatapu. Clearly we were not willing to sail back to our starting point just to be REmarried.
However, we did see this beautiful Catholic Church of St. Joseph the Worker and we decided it would be even better to renew our wedding vows at this church. We approached a man sitting on the floor of the church patiently removing floor tile. Turns out, this man, who was working away in the heat of the afternoon, was Fr. Daniel, pastor of St. Joseph’s.
We offered to help Fr. Daniel remove tile (we were not qualified to lay the replacement tile), but Fr. Daniel told us the Holy Spirit was working with him and that if we took up the tile, he would have to lay it down much more quickly than he was at present. Basically, he said he used the work time for prayer and as service. Truly, he seems like a beautiful soul.
When we asked Fr. Daniel if he would renew our vows, he was quite willing. So we set a time for the following afternoon. Earlier in the open market, I bought a colorful sarong that had Tonga silk screened on it, so I decided to wear that for the ceremony.
Angie and Marc, who also happen to be Catholic, agreed to be our witnesses (and photographers) for the ceremony. We didn’t even have to bribe them, they were happy to join us. We invited several cruisers to meet us at a local restaurant after the ceremony to help us celebrate our 40 year achievement.
Wow, it has been a lovely and beautiful couple of weeks in Tonga with a milestone of an anniversary thrown into the mix. I am so thankful to Angie and Marc for sharing cave and snorkel adventures with us and celebrating our milestone anniversary! Thank you both so much!!! And thank you to the cruisers who had very little notice but still came to share our happiness at the restaurant.
I remember way back in 2015 when we were preparing to move onto s/v Let It Be, I was so afraid that I would not have any friends if we lived on a sailboat. I have learned that the cruising community is filled with interesting people who are quick to open up to new faces and make friends without reference to backgrounds, education or countries of origin. Life is full of blessings.
Thanks so much for stopping by to read our blog. I am trying to catch up with our travels through Fiji, so thank you for your patience. If you would like to see other pictures from our travels, please visit us on Facebook or Instagram. We hope your days are filled with good health and fun adventures.
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