Kayaking Trip in Tonga - Vava'u Group

My husband and I are considering a 9 or 11 day kayaking trip in Tonga in September 2009 with a company by the name of Southern Sea Ventures. This company is based out of Australia and their trip includes sea kayaking, camping on uninhibited islands, whale watching, sailing, biking, snorkeling and diving. Sounds wonderful.

Can anyone assist with the following questions:

1) If you have done kayaking in Tonga in the Vava'u group of islands, did you enjoy the adventure? What did you like best / least about it?

2) Is 6-8 days too much by way of kayaking? In other words, are there many other things to do in Tonga that a 2-3 days trip would be better; renting kayaks for the day. We are very interested in being active and would not consider ourselves "beach bums."

3) Has anyone used Southern Sea Ventures? They have other kayaking trips around the globe so your experience in Tonga is not necessary as I'm looking to learn more about their response time, trip preparedness, guide competence, value for the cost, etc.

4) For those who have been to Tonga, would you recommend the destination compared to other islands, if you have experienced others, say Fiji, Tahiti? Again, we are not looking to hang out on a beach.

5) If anyone from the USA has travelled to Tonga, how did you get there? Via Hawaii or Guam or New Zealand?

6) Any other recommendations or tips are appreciated.

Thank you.

5 - I traveled LAX - Samoa - Tonga on Air New Zealand. Palau is the country that you can access via Guam and it's great for kayaking.

4 - LOL! It sure isn't Tahiti. (The one day I dared to swim in a modest bathing suit I felt like I was skinny dipping.) I liked it though, very different, friendly people. I was in the Ha'apai group and on the main island of Tongatapu.

1 -Haven't been Kayaking but have done business with one of their Tongan guides-very personable competent and trustworthy individual he was.

2 -not a helluva lot else to do for active people except water sports in Tonga.Kayaking you'll be able to snorkel the best spots-and maybe whale watch as well as fish.

3 -no idea sorry

4 -it's a small very traditional country with some excellent well run tourist operations and some appalling ones as well.People are friendly but often quite reserved and sad, half of all Tongans have left for greener pastures and it shows in many ways.

Fiji has a lot more to offer in terms of options/better food.

5 -LAX-NAD-Tongatapu

6 -Investigate kayaking around Kadavu in southern Fiji, you could do a short trip down there and then see some of the rest of the country.

If I had to pick between Tonga anf Fiji, I'd have to go for Fiji. Lot more options of places and islands to visit, lot more in the way of accommodation choices, activities for visitors etc. Tonga is nice, but unless whale watching is your prime objective, I'd choose Fiji.