cost of flight from tongatapu to Ha'apai

Kia ora again,

Could anyone please tell me the cost of a return flight from Tongatapu to Ha'apai? (you've successfully talked us outta taking the ferry : ) )

I assume we'll land in Lifuka?

Cheers, thanks for all the helpful replies to my previous post : )

Cesca and Glenn

Hi, sorry for the delay.

It's T$284.00.

If you need to book, I recommend you contacting Rising Sun travel agent:

Rising Sun

Cheers

Hi Aoo

My flights from Tongatapu to Ha'apai were around $212 (NZ dollars) and we booked through Ruby at Pacific Travel Marketing (in Nuku'olofa). Ruby was pretty good at getting back to me and she brought the tickets round to our guesthouse the night before our flight. Everyone seemed to know her so that was handy when trying to confirm our flights etc.

Cheers

i was just reading your other thread. In regards to the ferry...if you wanted to get the ferry, the trip from Nukualofa to Ha'apai travelling on Pulupaki would not be so bad. And you could fly back.

There are 2 ferries, one is the Olovaha which is owned by the government (and does lean to the right in an alarming fashion)
the other is the Pulupaki which is privatly owned. Pulupaki is more expensive. Its about T$50 to ha'apai. but it is faster, (and does not lean scarily to the right!) Pulupaki is the "good" boat.
They both leave on the same day. Pulupaki leaves 4pm tuesday and gets to Ha'apai at about midnight.
The trip to Ha'apai is not so bad. You don't need to sleep on it if you only go to Ha'apai. You get to go to bed when you get to Ha'apai! (not like if you go to vava'u which arrives at 9am the next day) You could just go and still on the top deck outside and watch the sun set, chat to some friendly locals - hardly any tourists catch the ferry. You don't get sea sick easily if you are outside on a boat, and anyway it could be flat like i was on one of my trips on pulupaki.

Yes the ferrys are old, rusty and crappy in Tonga. But the ferrys being crappy does not have anything to do with weather or not the sea is rough or you get sea sick. You could just as easily get sea sick on a brand new ferry. If you don't mind being on boats, the Pulupaki is fine. If you are scared of the ocean, maybe just fly. The ferrys can run late, but usually not too late, mabey 30 mins or an hour... but the flights are just as unreliable! The ferry has seats for about 45 people in a room on the middle deck. If you were going to spend the night, the seats are ideal. Many tongans prefer to bring mats and sleep on the floor. The prime spot is the other room on the middle deck which fills up real fast with people laying out their mats. People who miss out on that room sleep all over the place. The toilets are not great, but i have seen worse. they are constantly flushing so don't get to smelly or nasty, but they are cramped and in need of a "spring clean" - as is the rest of the boat.

Its an interesting ride, and not 1/2 as bad as people make you think... The ferry to 'Eua is MUCH worse and nobody wrns you about that one... I suggest you fly back as the return boat trip is about 9 days later and also you will have to be on it all night from 2am til 9am or so... And by the time you get on all the good spots will be taken.

This advice comes from someone who asked here about the ferry and was only ever told not to do it and not really given any positive advice... But thanks to amalie for giving me the website for the olovaha timetable. I have been on pulupaki twice, once calm water and once rough.