About Tonga-

Map of Tonga

About Tonga

The kingdom of Tonga is in the South Pacific, roughly halfway between South America and Australia. It's 1500 miles NE of New Zealand, 350 miles from Fiji. It consists of more than 150 islands, mostly ininhabited, in 5 main island groups. Eu'a is the southernmost group, Tongatapu and the capital Nuku'alofa next, then Ha'apai, Vava'u and the Nua'as. The Vava'u group ands it's capital Neiafu is 150 miles north of Tongatapu and consists of 53 islands, of which only 7 are inhabited.

Formation Abelian Photographic

You can fly to Tongatapu direct from Los Angeles, Auckland or Fiji. Air New Zealand and Air Polynesia both offer competitive deals. Royal Tongan Airlines also operate services from Auckland to Tongatapu and are the only operator for domestic flights between Tongtapu and Vava'u. We do advise you book your domestic flights before you come as they can get booked up. You also should be warned that due to strict religious laws, nothing in Tonga works on a Sunday and that includes airlines!

Vava'u is a typical tropical paradise. We do have 2 seasons but its sunny and hot all year round. The South Pacific is blessed with near constant 15-20 knot south-easterly trade winds. Summer is November to April when the average daily temperature is around 32-35 °C and it rains around once a week. Winds in summer tend to be lighter and a bit more variable. We do get the occasional tropical storm but we're such a dot on the map they blow through quickly or often miss us entirely. Winter is May to October when the temperature is more like 28-30 °C and the rain comes around once every 2 weeks. Winds are more consistent and the air is less humid at this time of year.

Between us, we've sailed most of the world and we think Vava'u is hard to beat. So do the hundreds of yachts who join us every winter. The trade winds make perfect sailing conditions and the geography means you have a choice of dozens of anchorages each night all with excellent holding. The hardest thing is to decide whether you fancy a beach to yourself or dinner in a first-class restaurant. Scattered amongst the islands there are tongan feasts, spanish restaurants, as well as austrian, german, and kiwi run resorts. And we have a local tradition that makes for even more fun, the Friday night Friendly Island Yacht Race.