Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Beach Camping around Tonga

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Tonga

Hey guys
We are 3 people (2f, 1m) who are heading to Tonga in the end of june. We are going to stay there for 24 days, then we fly to Apia (Samoa) for another 3 weeks.
I already study the lonely planet guidebook, wikitravel and read some posts in this forum, but the most of the post are 2 years old or even older...

  1. So on wikitravel there are some informations about taking the ferry vom Nuku'alofa and just jump out of this ferry at Ha'afeva. In the article on wikitravel it is written that it is alowed to camp at the beach because it is designated as governmental nature preserve. Is this true?

  2. What about camping at beaches in Tonga in general? Is it allowed. What about the security aspect? What if we ask the owner? Can we do camping at guesthouses if they don't have acomodation?

  3. We don't want to book accomodation in advance, because we want to be free in our decisions where to go and when to go. So is it easy to find accomodation in a spontaneous way of traveling?

  4. Another Question related to the whale swimm. Is it sufficient to do a prebooking or is it still possible just to show up at an agency in Vava'u and jump in for a day trip? Are there anything like last minute offerings if the boat isn't full?

  5. We would like to do hiking tours on Eua. Is it possible to do multiday hikes and just pitch our tent somewhere in the evening, heading onward the next day? Is it allowed without a guide?

Lots of questions. Would appreciate every information.

Thank you
Cheers Claudio

Hi Claudio,
Unfortunately can't answer the majority of your questions, but just wanted to have you check into the timing of June and whales in Tonga. We are planning a Tonga trip for 2020, and my understanding is the humpbacks don't arrive until August. I could be wrong, but thought I would point that out.

Good luck!
Meredith

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Hi Claudio,

I'm going to Vavau in the end of September, so if you find information about your question 3 - please post it here. I'm particularly interested in if there are any/many homestays which are not listed on hotel booking websites or airbnb, or is it that all available options are listed there

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