Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

escape from the corporation- 1 week in tonga

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Tonga

Hi there
I have a one week escape from my corporate life in nz. heading to tonga for the first week of september. looking for any hints on accommodation. looking for somewhere with a nice beach where i can just chill for the week. not a millionaire but i guess i've got more to spend than when i used to search for the cheapest digs i could find on thai beaches. not sure whether ive got time to head out to the outer islands or not?found a nice looking place called white sands on the net on the main island- heard anything about it?
thanks in advance for your suggestions

Beaches on Tongatapu are not that great. I'd head to Haapai if it's great beaches you want. There are a few on Vavau, but most are on the little islets in the lagoon, and cost a bit more to stay at. The one to check out might be Lucky's on Vavau.

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yeah. Ha'apai or Va'vau.

Fafa Island suits but is expensive as is Atati.

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If you've only got a week, I'd skip Tongatapu altogether and go straight to Ha'apai by timing your domestic flight so you don't even have to leave the Fua'amotu Airport. Matafonua and Sandy Beach are two resorts on the northern tip of Foa, an island that's connected to the main island in Ha'apai by a causeway. The beach there (Sandy Beach, a.k.a. Houmale'eia) is gorgeous. On Lifuka, there's Billy's Place on the empty windward shore (nice beach, but very shallow reef flat and very tough to swim out past the edge of the reef) and numerous guest houses. Then there's Uoleva, which is just south of Lifuka and essentiall uninhabited. You can hitch a ride there and stay at the very very basic beach hut place there. Uoleva is probably my favorite place on Earth...

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Tongatapu does not have many nice sandy beaches that is also suitable for swimming... Pangaimotu Island Resort is 7 minutes away from the main town of Nukualofa by boat and has the best swimming beach in the area. There is also Royal Sunset Resort which is a little further and not as expensive as Fafa Island Resort. At the end of the day, it is down to your budget as they are sort of Budget, mid-range and 4/5 star, in that order.

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