4 days for Tonga

Hi,
I do have 4 full days in the beginning of July to see and do something in Tonga, arriving in Nuku'alofa.
my wishes:
not necessarily fly on to another far island (e.g. vava'u), due to additional costs mainly, i.e. stay more or less in 'the area'.
I'd like to do some whale swimming/snorkelling/diving (1 to 2 days), see something of 'ordinary life in Tonga (church service comes to mind there)', do some hiking through bushes/mountains/hills/maybe, relax... Stay at a nice b&b maybe somewhere closer to 'the city'.

I'm not particularly keen of spending much time on a nice beach (I live next to a pretty good one in NZ :)), but explore a bit.

Any quick ideas that spring to mind?

Thanks a lot!

Heiko

Enjoy your stay in Tonga!

Since you will be in the heart of Polynesia these podcasts will enhance your visit - before you get there!

Enjoy.

http://amsamoa-busycorner.blogspot.com/p/education-podcasts.html

Fro Pago Pago,

JW

As far as I know, there is no company for whale watching in Tongatapu. Regarding snorkeling or diving, I have no idea.
If you want a good island tour, they often recommend Toni's guesthouse tour which is very good for the price. But since you're staying on the island for 4 days it might be a good idea not to view everything in one day. You could rent a bike and take your time :D.
I don't know, wait for other messages, I only stayed in Tongatapu for 1 day and took Toni's tour.

Tongatapu is flat hot dusty and not particularly interesting-you can see everything worth seeing in one afternoon.

Maybe a day trip to Eua?

well, it seems more and more that maybe those 4 days would be too long on that island (even including maybe a day trip to Eua), my main hope for this little trip is to experience some great/good snorkeling and diving which a few operators offer even on Tongatapu and experience typical life in the South Pacific, we'll see, I have a little while to think this over, how to use my days. Do you need to reserve a lot in advance (accomodation, day trips, dive trips) in the beginning of July? I have no idea, what the main season is, if there is one...

Why not go to Eua for a couple of days? Hideaway offers quite basic accommodation but it is reasonably priced and quite relaxing. A highlight of staying here is that you can see whales swimming past (I didn't believe this until one swam past when we were at breakfast one morning). It is quite common at this time of year to see whales on the flight over to Eua also. Although Eua is less than 10minutes flight from Tongatapu it is completely different. Hideaway offers day trips of hiking and you can book to see them put down a traditional umu and attend a church service if there on a Sunday. You can also go out swimming with the whales and they do dive trips from Eua also.
Tongatapu also has some great places to visit- I would recommend a day trip to Fafa island, especially if you can book on their snorkel trip to Malinoa island.
Toni's guest house do good island tours. I would definitley reccomend you visit the blowholes and Anahulu cave- an amazing limestone cave that they light up with a generator that has a freshwater pool you can swim in at the end- so nice and cool on a hot day!

You could check out the new discounted air fare Turtle or Shark pass with Chathams Pacific. That would allow you to visit Ha'apai and Eua.

The link is here: http://www.chathamspacific.com/kingdom-pass.html

Ha'apai is pretty traditional if that is what you desire. But sorry, all the beaches are really nice here!

Enjoy your trip.

Thanks,