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# Visiting the outer islands Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Tuvalu
adrdilauro 15:39 UTC 25 Mar 2018 | I wanted to add a reply to Laszlo's post but it says it's blocked. I'll be visiting Tuvalu in September and my main goal will be to reach one of the outer islands. Laszlo has written this bit about the outer islands Trips to the outer islands by boat are unpredictable, in theory running fortnightly, but when I went, people up North told me that the previous sailing was a month ago. Schedules, as much as they exist, can and do change till the last minute. The first sailing of this year actually left days earlier than had been announced Where do the boats sail from? Is there a main harbour like Betio in Tarawa where you can go and ask people about schedules? How many boats reach the outer islands? Are there only government boats or there are small private ones as well? Is it possible to talk to people and offer them money to reach one of the closest islands? I reasonably think the only three islands that are reachable are Nukufetau, Vaitupu, Nukulaelae; how much time does it take to reach one of these three islands? If it takes like one night, it might not be unreasonable to offer money to somebody with a boat, paying fuel to go and back, in case I don't find any public transportation. How much time does the public boat stop in each island before leaving again? Well, generally, if anybody has any information that might be useful, or any contact of somebody with a boat that I can get in touch once in Funafuti, that would be very welcome. Thank you in advance for your help Adriano |
Laszlo 18:59 UTC 25 Mar 2018 | The thread is not blocked but locked. All older threads are automatically locked a year after the last reply but moderators can unlock them on request. I personally think locking them is a useless inconvenience. There is only one harbour in Funafuti. Only government ships go to the outer islands, and they typically stop for a long half day at each. Small private boats are only chartered to reach islands around Funafuti atoll. The outer islands would be too far for these. | 1
adrdilauro 17:42 UTC 26 Mar 2018 | Hi Laszlo! So how did you visit the outer islands? Did you jump on one of those ferries that stop at several of them and then come back to Funafuti? If yes, which islands did you visit? Did you stay for the night on at least one of them? How did you find out about the local dancing? Were they doing that during the daytime when the boat arrived? Also, how much time it took to do the whole trip to go and back? I cannot afford to stay three whole weeks in Tuvalu as you did, so I'll have less chances to make it, but I think I can spend there 10-14 days hoping I'll find a boat. I don't mind losing my fly back to Suva, if I do find a ferry a bit too late and it doesn't take me back to Funafuti on time | 2
adrdilauro 17:43 UTC 26 Mar 2018 | I mean, I cannot afford in terms of time, I have to go to other places as well and three weeks is too much; but if I book a flight to stay there for 12 days and I see that I'll miss the flight back, I won't mind to overstay a couple of days | 3
Laszlo 21:03 UTC 26 Mar 2018 | I visited the 4 northernmost islands by taking a round-trip on the same boat. You can't plan this, or catching a festival, it depends on luck. Tuvalu is no place to hurry. | 4
adrdilauro 21:12 UTC 26 Mar 2018 | Thanks. And how many days it took to go to those four islands and back? Just roughly, so that I know the chances I am going to bet against (if the trip takes 4 days, and I book my flight back after 12 days, then I know that, if I find the ferry after my 8th day of stay, I'll miss my flight back; if it takes 3 days, similar calculation, etc). I know these calculations might sound weird, but I want to weight carefully my chances pro and against every part of my trip: I have in total 5 months for the whole trip in Melanesia, Eastern Indonesia and the Pacific, and there are other places where I'll risk as well. If I have enough knowledge regarding each place, I'll be in a better position to decide where I'll spend more time and risk less, and where I'll spend less time and risk more. Thanks again for your help! | 5
Laszlo 04:00 UTC 27 Mar 2018 | Maybe 5 days? I don't keep records of these and can't remember exactly. | 6
Thorn Tree 01:00 UTC 28 Mar 2019 | This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you. | 7