Tonga reopened its borders post Covid at the end of September 2022, and we readily decided to take the next weather window from Fiji to sail there. In November we had a series of low pressure systems around Fiji, and on November 14th we had a trough pass over Suva, followed by light wind conditions for the coming week. We cleared out in Suva in pouring rain and left on a Tuesday morning at 5am. We motored/motorsailed for three days in gently rolling one metre waves, clear to cloudy skies and no lightning.

During our time in Tonga we found the Navionics Charts to be quite accurate and in sync with satellite imagery. I would plan all our tracks on Navionics and double check waypoints near shore/reef against satellite images – and that worked well.

Tongatapu – Nuku’alofa

[Editor’s Note: Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukuʻalofa].

In the first daylight on Friday 18th we could see Tongatapu on the horizon – a flat dark line against the orange sky. Without seeing any shallow depths we sailed along the main Ava Lahi shipping lane and by 9am we were anchored in 20 meters with good holding off [Nuku’alofa’s] Harbour wall at 21°08.105′ S 175°11.110′ W.

I took the dinghy into the harbour basin to figure out inbound clearance. I had sent our pre-arrival form and vaccination certificates to info@customs.gov.to [as per Noonsite’s info.]

First things first – getting connected: BSP and ANZ ATMs are available at the East end of the harbour basin. The Digicel Prepaid SIM card cost T$6 at Ding Dong shop.

Inward Clearance – November 2022

There is a small office for small craft clearance (including yachts) on the East side of the inner harbour basin at 21°08.340′ S 175°11.059′ W. It was not manned, but had phone numbers posted: 8743359 or 24599. I received the phone number of the Customs officer in charge, Duke, 7751026. He arranged for someone from Customs to meet me and take care of port clearance and passport stamps.

There is a floating dock in the harbour basin at 21°08.303′ S 175°10.882′ W. Duke asked us to go alongside there, but I suggested we would stay anchored off because we were planning to cross to Pangaimotu after clearing in.

I dinghied the Customs officer to our boat, where he checked our clearance papers and stamped our passports – no need to go to immigration. There was no inspection. We returned to the harbour, and met the Health officials. They checked Covid vaccination certificates and asked for our immunization records. I had left them on board, offered to go get them, but it wasn’t needed. For T$100 we received the Pratique.

Customs then drove me to the Biosecurity office at 21°08.415′ S 175°10.688′ W. They viewed the ship registration and issued Biosecurity clearance for a fee of T$20. There was no inspection and no other visit to the boat.

Customs said to contact them again for domestic clearance to Ha’apai. I called on the morning before departure and later met them at the small craft clearance office. There was a one-page form to fill out, no other papers required, no fee. Take a phone and stay in close contact, as the office is not usually manned and Tongan time is flexible.

Local Info.

We shopped at the market in town, which had a good selection of produce and at Molisi supermarket across the street. We visited the Costlo supermarket, but the big warehouse-style shop was almost empty. It seemed they did not restock throughout Covid, but said that containers were scheduled to arrive in December 2022.

Note that Taxis are not readily available on the street in Nuku’Alofa. To get one you need to call. We called 23919 and paid T$6 from the market to the harbour basin.

Pangaimotu and Big Mama’s

It was Friday afternoon and we were ready for some relaxation after the passage. We anchored off Big Mama’s on 11m sand, clear clean water, and dinghied ashore. Ana was there to welcome us and chat, but the restaurant, unfortunately, was severely damaged by the Tsunami following the Hunga Ha’apai eruption in January 2022 and was closed when we were there. [Editor’s Note: Pacific Rally boats which arrived from NZ in May 2023 report that Big Mama’s re-opened in May 2023 and is again welcoming cruisers]. Yachties are welcome to anchor off and come to the beach.

Tongatapu Day Tour

We booked a one-day tour of Tongatapu’s sights with Hamala Tours. Hamala’s number is 8426900, we paid T$400 for six of us in a van, driver and Hamala’s explanations in fluent English – he grew up in Utah.

It was a great day out and left us with a much better understanding of Tongatapu. Highlights for us were learning more about the 2022 Tsunami on the Northwest panhandle coast, where it completely washed away all the resorts and Anahulu cave.

Fafa Island

[Editor’s Note: This island lies 7.5km NE of Nukuʻalofa].

We anchored in 6m on firm sand, south of Fafa Island. No big bommies, clean bottom. Approach with care as there is a partially submerged line of buoys connected by a thick mooring line about 50m to the West of the anchorage coordinates. A nice, quiet spot with protection from northerly winds.

The Fafa Island Resort was washed away by the Tsunami. A few broken foundations remain of the restaurant, all villas have disappeared.

Anchored at: 21°05.392′ S 175°09.433′ W

Kelefesia Island

Just a day’s sail from Nuku’Alofa, this very scenic, uninhabited little island, nicely breaks up the sail to Ha’apai. It has stunning cliffs you can climb for a view and lots of birds. Do not bring your picnic to the beach –  we had boobies hovering, almost touching our heads, no doubt looking for a treat.

The anchorage is a round patch roughly 200m diameter, surrounded by coral. Inside is sandy ground at a fairly even depth around 8m, good holding. It is a little wobbly at high tide, but ok. The entrance can be a bit hairy, with reefs and rollers on both sides, and an unmarked, narrow channel.

Aim for an outside waypoint of 20°30.222S 174°44.846W. Then enter the channel from 20°30.190S 174°44.672W and head straight for 20°30.133S 174°44.434W, which was our anchorage. Depth should be more than 6.5m all the way in (mostly around nine meters).

Ha’apai Archipelago

Uoleva:

We anchored in 9m sand at 19°50.893′ S 174°25.007′ W. Entering the bay was straight forward, mostly sand with a few bommies, but all deeper than 5 meters. We had some swell come over the reef from NW, which made the anchorage too wobbly to be great. The beach however is amazing. A big, empty, golden stretch of sand with a varied green backdrop. The resorts are hidden in the trees, abandoned in various states of decay.

From the beach we saw two big humpback whales repeatedly breaching outside the reef. We took our dinghy to the inside edge of the reef, saw them spouting and a big fluke. Not a close encounter, but we had not dared to still see whales on the 1st of December!

With a shift in winds we tucked in behind the reef at 19°50.544′ S 174°24.506′ W, in five metres on sand with good holding. Better protected than the bay, but with a swell from the West and thunderstorms it was still an uncomfortable anchorage.

Later while at Sandy Beach Resort we met Glen, owner of the Uoleva Kitesurf Resort and also a sailor. For Westerly swells he recommended tucking in at 19°51.470′ S 174°25.191′ W – we did not have a chance to validate this, but it is worth trying!

Hakauata Island:

We did a weekend excursion to the small, uninhabited island of Hakauata. It has beautiful sandy beaches and is a great spot for a beach fire and BBQ.

The anchorage at 19°50.722′ S 174°31.473′ W in sand, 15m, had good holding but was bouncy in the prevailing westerly wind.

Pangai:

A very sleepy small town [although it’s the administrative capital of Ha’apai].

We anchored outside the harbor at 19°48.072′ S 174°21.299′ W in five metres over sand. Too close to the harbour for a comfortable stay, as the big ferry ships will pass by about 100 metres away, but ok for quick access to town.  The beach to the north of the harbour is convenient for a dinghy landing. There are public garbage bins at the wharf and three small Chinese shops just opposite, with basic supplies.

The market on the south side of the wharf is small and after a public holiday long weekend there were just two stalls, one selling pineapples, the other selling cucumbers.

Further south is a small gas station, but the shore has coral rocks there so we had to lug the jerry can to the beach landing.

The main road has a BSP bank with ATM and an ice cream shop. The Digicel shop is in a container next to their tower, and right behind is the customs office (with a very bleached sign: 19°48.498′ S 174°21.053′ W).

Other cruisers managed to clear in and out in one go. I did not get lucky. The official insisted that after clearing out we would need to leave Ha’apai in 24 hours. So we cleared in and had to come back for the outbound clearance. There was no fee. Charlotte.Finau@gmail.com is the contact.

Foa Island – Matafonua Lodge & Sandy Beach Resort:

We contacted Nina at the Sandy Beach Resort (vacation@sandybeachtonga.com). Nina and Darren own both Matafonua Lodge and Sandy Beach and are cruiser friendly.

Sandy Beach is more upscale and expected to re-open in June 2023. Matafanua was open, and the restaurant served excellent burgers, fries, pizza and cold beers. We spent quite a bit of time there as the anchorage was rolly in the Westerly swell, and used Darren’s brand-new Starlink set-up for unlimited free Internet! The beach is beautiful, the water clear, the snorkeling nice, and Leopard sharks in the pass. We anchored in 4m of water, sand with good holding at 19°43.267′ S 174°17.170′ W. You need to set up your waypoints with the help of satellite imagery and carefully maneuver in past the coral bommies, but we never saw less than 2m of water.

We relied on our waypoints and track to leave Sandy Beach 15 minutes after sunrise, and moored in Port Maurelle in Vava’u in time for a 6 p.m. evening swim.

Vava’u

Port Maurelle:

Keeping this short, as enough has been written. Beautiful spot. At least three moorings were there in December 2022 and seemingly in good condition (rope looked good at the surface, we did not dive).

Neiafu:

Customs is at 18°39.120′ S 173°59.071′ W for domestic and international clearance. They will also give you the needed form for duty free fuel. Arrange for the fuel truck by calling 70972 or 70824 (within 24 hours of departure).

We took a mooring from the Sunsail base at 18°39.452′ S 173°58.985′ W, near the Kraken Restaurant (nice place, BBQ on Sundays).

Provisioning was ok, the market not as good as Nuku’Alofa but much better than Pangai. Plenty of fresh options, depending on what is in season or has arrived by ship from Tongatapu.

Neiafu has a “frontier town” feeling, with multiple Chinese shops, a small chandler, several restaurants  – Kraken and Bellavista stand out.  The Falaleu Deli has nice pizzas & burgers and helps with provisioning.

When we were there everything was very quiet after two years of Covid, but hoping for a better tourism season in 2023.

Stefan Hirsch
SV Rainbow Safari

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About the Author

Ute and Stefan and their four children have been exploring Southeast Asia on their Leopard 45 catamaran “Rainbow Safari” since 2018. From March to May 2022 they sailed 5500 miles from Singapore to Fiji, and in late 2022 moved on to Tonga and the Samoas. They are currently cruising in French Polynesia.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club

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