Ha'apai accommodation

Hi guys,
I am going to spend a few days in Ha'apai, beginning of July. Any suggestions for cheap basic accommodation and how to book it? I tried with tongaholiday.com but after more than a week I did not get any reply to my enquires..

Thanks for the help!

p.s:if you also have any suggestions about what to do feel free to give advise!!

I'm sure Amaile will improve on my suggestions:

Pangai - Fifita Guesthose, about the best place 'in town' to stay and attached Mariner's Cafe is definately the best place to eat, meet interesting other travellers and hire bikes. mariners@kalianet.to should connect you to both.
Newly built Matafanua Resort, seperate fales at the beach on the weather (rougher) side, short walk through to the lovely Houmale'eia sandy beach at the north end of Foa Island, expensive resort there, gentle snorkelling off the beach, Ocean Blue Adventures runs a dive operation there, may take snorkellers out to more exotic locations.
'Uiha Island - past the more well-known 'Uoleva island - is about the furthest away from civilization possible, 2 hour outboard ride costs $10. Stay with Hesse and wife Kolani at Felema village, four fales (bungalows), dinner is/was 6 p’a. each, maybe watch it being caught! Tongan Visitor's Bureau in Pangai can arrange your trip out there. Although the beach is superb, the two places on 'Uiha (Taina's and Captain Cooks') aren't really receiving good reviews lately, very very down market with family problems.

As always, take food or at least snacks and water with you, shops and market in Pangai but only the tiniest of village stores on 'Uiha and nothing up at the end of Foa.

My pick: first and perhaps last night at Mariners (depending on arrival/departure times) and rest of time at 'Uiha as there are two villages, heaps of friendly children and people. "Its about three miles long and a half mile at its widest point, with blue and green water, leaning palms, distant volcano and endless coral formations, 'Uiha attracts a few palangi visitors, as it holds an important place in Tongan history. Once the royal burial grounds, there are some interesting archaeological sites including an ancient star mound and burial pyramids, 2 cannons from ‘Port au Prince’ blackbirding ship at Wesleyan church and two rapidly decaying ‘fairytale’ churches with brightly painted spires" You can wander through the plantations to the other side and walk across to adjoining Tatafa (?) Island at low tide, maybe ask if you can go on a fishing trip.......

I'll be sailing in Tongan waters June/July - for the third time - and the Ha'apai is my favourite area of Tonga. e - n - j - o y

You may want to try to fax to Ha'apai visitor's Bureau, Ph/Fax: 60733, with your return e-mail address and fax number. They are quite good at arranging things for you.

I agree that Marinar's Cafe is the place to eat and mingle and exchange info.

I personally prefer to stay at Linday Guesthouse because the owner is the head of domestic airline's Ha'apai operation, and makes sure his guest(s) won't miss the flight! (He also knows all the cancellations and delays)

Enjoy your stay in Ha'apai.

Ah, Ha'apai, what a beautiful little island world! I agree, the Mariner's Cafe is the hub of Lifuka (there is no other :-) and it can only get better under the new owner, rumoured to be a Dutchman (with his own yacht) and his wife and due to take over from grumpy old Trevor Gregory at any moment now. They seem to have paid a hefty price for it; maybe my last stay in Pangai improved the cafe's turnover because there are precious few people on the island who can afford to pay those prices. I don't agree with the accommodation suggestion though. Just a short ride by pushbike (available free of charge at the same place) is Billy's Place, right there on the oceanside and with a big Tongan breakfast all included in the same low price! The cabins are cosy and there are so few people coming through that bookings don't seem to be necessary. Just roll up! If you need to know more about the whole island group or just seek some expatriate company for a few days, give Horst Berger a ring on 60660. He lives on a small pension on the edge of town and is always happy to meet somebody, especially if that somebody shouts him food and drinks at the Mariner's and can donate a few interesting books to his library. He's originally from Austria but has lived in Pangai for close on 13 years and been on just about every island in the group. Tell him that Peter Goerman sent you! And look at some of the pictures I put up for him on the web at http://www.nelligennet.com/horst.html . I'll be back in Ha'apai myself in early July so perhaps we can make it a threesome at the Mariner's Cafe? Cheers until then! Peter

Hi there

We are the new owners of Mariners Cafe and would like to make some comments.
Firstly, accommodation...
From what we have heard, Billy's is providing a really good service at the moment and is in a good location if you want to chill on the beach away from the relative hustle and bustle of town.
We are attached to Fifita's Guest house which is cool and has the advantage of being in town and close to us for meals, internet etc. ( we can assist with bookings if you like)

I feel I need to comment on Peter's post with regards to his comments about Mariners..
Yes, we (South African and Polish) have just taken over Mariner's - price we paid is of no relevance to anyone really.
Our prices are fair bearing in mind we are on a remote island and all our goods need to be shipped in from Nukualofa. We offer budget meals as well as more expensive meals hoping to cater for every type of traveller.
If you need some more info on Lifuka/Ha'apai please feel free to contact us or have a look at our website www.marinerscafetonga.com<BR><BR>Cheers<BR><BR>Craig

Welcome to Fantasy Island, Craig! Forgot to mention last time that I discovered a very nice website showing Billy's Place. Here it is: http://www.angeleseyes.com/travel/southpacific/haapai.html . Give my regards to Billy when you see him and tell him I'll be back in July. Cheers Peter

Hi my family's from Uiha, its awesome, try it! the boat ride is only about less than an hour from pangai and the historical sites on the island you shouldn't miss. 'uiha is known for its musicians and poets in the old times, and the 'uiha people are still gifted in this respect. the children gather in the evenings at the wharf, where you can jump off and swim.
as for Pangai, try "billy's Place", its very relaxed and low key, they include breakfast and you can hire a bike...small little cottages, with shared bathroom facilities...little wooden walkways connect all the fales, and a nice beach out back...its not too far from pangai village, bikeride away, walking would take a bit longer, but they provide airport transfers if you need.

Sounds good, daughter of Kahuna. Trouble is how to get there and back! I was in Ha'apai last year and tried to get across to some othert islands but there was nothing on offer by way of boat transport. Why don't the local boat owners stick a notice on a board in the post office telling any interested party whenever they're planning to go to some island and when they're coming back, how many passengers they can take along, and what they would charge for their trouble? I checked out the local tourist bureau but they weren't much help with ANYTHING. My impression was that it was more of a drop-in centre for the local women who were busy making coffee for each other. Another big lump of Australian Aid money misspent! (the tourist bureau building was built with Australian Aid money) Does anybody know the contact details (email address or phone number) of Paul Kidd who is an amateur radio operator on Lifuka?

Peter

Paul's contact details:
Tel: 676 60267
Mob: 676 13150
Email: pnui@kalianet.to

How many Steinlager should I stock up on? Not a good seller here but I shall arrange for you no worries.
How long will you spend in Ha'apai?
We plan to start offering day picnic/snorkelling/chillout trips to Uoleva shortly on our recently acquired 14ft boat.

See you in a few weeks

Cheers

Craig

Thanks for Paul's email address, Craig. For your information, Paul had his 5 minutes of fame on February 26 when he spoke to astronaut, Bill McArthur of the International Space Station as it passed over Tonga. That boat of yours sounds great! What sort of boat is it? You may wish to put its details (together with many other details) onto your webpage. If you need help with it, let me know as I do my own webpages for fun! I plan to be in the Ha'apai Group for perhaps a month. The consumption of Steinlager depends on how convivial the company is :-) Horst Berger is a great fan of that stuff but he's still in Vienna for the moment. I wish you every success with your new Mariner's Cafe. It needed new blood badly! :-) Cheers and Steinlager! Peter http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/dearall1.html

P.S. Craig, forgot to ask you where you hail from in the RSA? I spent some time in SWA (now Namibia) - see http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/pg1968.html - and still have friends there and in Cape Town (my favourite place in the RSA).
Totsiens
Peter