Tips for Tonga

Accomodation : - Selas in Nuku. is pretty good at T$30 a single or T$25 in the dorm.T$10 for breakfast.It can get over-run by noisy & over exuberant Peace corp. volunteers off to save the world,though.
Langilangi guest house in Pangai is basic,but OK.Singles from T$25
Vava´u guest house opposite Paradise hotel,is a 10 minute walk out of Neiafu,basic but OK.T$20 a single is a bargain compared to Adventure B´packers T$28 in a dorm.
Whale watching costs T$150 from Eua (no swimming with whales),T$200 from Lifuku & T$250 from Vava´u.
Ikale is the only locally brewed beer,but quality is dodgy,so the brewery´s closing down.Maka is brewed in NZ for sale exclusively in Tonga.
The Princess Ashika replaced the MV Olovahu & sank 5/8/09 - 90 dead.Now the MV Pulupaki is the only ferry between the islands.It´s a grubby boat with no food & awful toilets.It should leave Nuku. every Wednesday.Nuku - Pangai = T$68,10 hours with a stop near Ha´afeva.Pangai - Neiafu = T$60,7 hours;plus 2 - 5 hours loading/unloading in Pangai.Nuku - Neiafu = T$88.Fares are o/w.
The only inter-island flights are run by Chathams Pacific,an NZ subsidary.Nuku - Pangai = T$149,Nuku - Neiafu = T$258 & Pangai - Neiafu = T$139.All o/w fares.There are cheaper fares but you´ll be very lucky to get them.
I-net access costs T$2/hr at cnr. Railway & Laifone in Nuku.
Hideaway is the place to stay on ´Eua.The ferry leaves Nuku. on Tues,Thurs,Fri & Sat at 12.30PM.Return Mon,Wed,Fri & Sat at 5AM.T$25 o/w.
Pangaimotu is worth a visit.Dorm = T$30,no camping.It´s generally pretty quiet except for Sun. PM:Boat = T$20 return to Nuku.
Eating options are limited in Pangai.It´s a choice of Mariners,cookinf for yourself or a surprisingly good Tongan restaurant,1 block north of Mariners,behind the petrol station,where T$7 gets you a good feed.During the day there´s a cafe in the markewt for curry & coffee.
The only flight to Samoa is once a week with AirNZ,US$200 o/w.Fiji - Tonga = US$230 o/w.
Have fun

Ikale thew only beer?

what happened to Royal beeer?

what happened to the two new breweries?

I always reccomedn the nerima lodge for cheaper stays on Nuku'alofa. Please don't call it Nuku. there are reasons.

Thanks for the very welcome tips.

Furthermore, I'd really like to hear some more detailed comments about the recent ferry trips with MV Pulupaki as I'm moving on from Nuku'alofa towards Vava'u quite soon and I think that might be an adventurous choice, instead of the airplane. I assume the ferry doesn't go if the sea is too rough or there's a danger of hurricane but how about some comments about a normal, succesful trip with that ferry? I have heard I should eat or drink NOTHING that might want to get out during that trip, so at least I'm convinced the toilets are "poor." I have plentiful time (basically unlimited) so any kind of delays are no bother for me at this time. I might take the plane to other direction (coming back) as seeing Tonga from above must be beautiful.

Royal beer became Ikale.
Some Ikales tasted like a bitter,some like a lager.Some had bottle caps inside,some had fag butts.Bars have got fed up of customers complaining & a lot refuse to stock it,plus foreign beers are actually cheaper.
Never heard any mention of any other breweries in Tonga.Shame as every country should have it's own brewery.It should be part of the requirement to be an independent country.

Following the Ashika tragedy the authorities are being over cautious,so the M.V. Pulupaki can be delayed by several days if the weather is rough.If it stays rough she'll set off carrying cargo only & you'll have to wait for her to return.
The toilets on the Pulupaki are worse than anything that India has to offer;if you're a guy you can aim from the doorway;if you're a girl you're in trouble.
There's one section of seating (at the front,middle deck) that's actually fairly comfortable.If it's not raining there's plenty of room outside to lay out a mat.There are some cabins,don't know any-thing about them.
During the season there are whales (saw 4 groups) & dolphins to spot,plus an orange buoy that marks where the Ashika went down.
Whatever it's more interesting than flying.
Have fun

There was Royal beer and Ikale. There was talk, in 2006, of getting rid of Ikale (for a variety of reasons, one of which was Ikale was rubbish, and there was dislike of the bloke who invented it.).

There was nothing wrong with Royal. I drank plenty of draught Royal at the Nuku'alofa club. Wish I was still there to drink more of it.

So this sounds very strange.

anyway, the other two breweries. I'm not sure if they got off the ground. One, I think was to be Steinlager and run by the soon to be former head brewer of Royal, Bruce. the other was to be a local brew, and I'm not sure who was doing the brewing.

Tonga gets so much rain water, that making a beer would be great.

If anybody has the loot, and wants to give me a job, I'l brew beer for them. (and a wine or three).

;-)

Edited by: Leo_Walsh

Edited by: Harry_Mudd

"but how about some comments about a normal, successful trip with that ferry? "
The horror as described above is a normal trip-Be Smart and Fly!

no it isn't.

crikey.

mind you, if the ferry and the plane both had the same departure time, then the ferry would probably get there first.

But I could be wrong.

Juho,
Hope you enjoy your trip on the Pulupaki &,if you're the same Juho that took the Yemen - Somalia boat with me 2 years ago then,¨How you doing?¨

Hi Juho, if you have no particular time constraints it sounds like you might be a candidate to go and check out a project that two friends of mine have started. It's called Barefoot Tonga, and its based on Fofoa, part of the Vava'u group. They are running month-long experiences where you live on the island in basic fales, help construct some sustainable dwellings, get involved with the permaculture garden and help out at the local village school.

The project also includes diving and whale swimming in season (probably a bit late for you though). I haven't been out there myself but I'm desperate to! I'm the contact point in Australia/NZ for them instead. The website address is www.barefoot-tonga.com. Hope this doesn't sound too much like an ad!

cheers,

Gemma

Having lived in Tonga for a year in 1999 and visited again on numerous occasions I would like to add my two-penceworth about the ferry. I travelled to and from Neiafu on the now defunct Olovaha and had two very contrasting experiences. The way up was amazing - flat seas, amazing stars, lying out on deck drinking vodka with some Tongan boys singing and playing guitars, sightings of hammerhead sharks, sea snakes and best of all being escorted into Neiafu by a pod of dolphins, flipping and playing next to the boat. The way back will rank number 1 in scary things I have done in my life. The sea was very rough and the boat was swinging from side to side. Oil drums that had not been secured were rolling around on deck and we were in constant danger of being crushed. It was soaking wet with rain and spray and there were no signs of life jackets or lifeboats - all I had to hold onto for 12 hours was a rugby ball and I know what those on the Ashika's fateful last journey would have felt like.
Anyway just thought I would let you know! Hope you enjoy your trips to Tonga, a wonderful place!

Thanks for all the info.

Johnbrighton, unfortunately I'm not the same guy but THAT boat trip sounds interesting.

Gemma, I'll keep that in mind. I have something similar waiting for me in Vava'u.

Tomfowler, your experience sounds very amazing and scary indeed and I'll let everyone know how it went with Pulupaki.

I applied for one extra month in Nuku'alofa. It took time so everyone should allow plenty of time for this thing. A very helpful officer told me that it would be faster and nicer to do in Neiafu but I had to do it in Nuku'alofa because I was running out of my first 31 visa days. Now my extension has been completed. It took five days (one sixth of a month) and my passport was "being processed" for four days and you will need: printed departure ticket, printed bank account statement/saldo (nobody told me how much money there should be though, so I just smiled at this, but of course delivered the print), filled visa form, passport photo and of course the passport. And plenty of patience, smiling and polite manners.

Edited by: juho

So I lost my virginity with the Tongan ferries on 2nd of December when I took the ride with MV Pulupaki from Tongatapu to Vava’u. Here are some thoughts about it, that can be taken as tips, too.

The waiting and queueing on Wednesday night in Nuku’alofa harbor was frustrating and painful, it was obvious the boat will be crowded and I wasn’t among the first ones to get in. I was determined to take some sort of a deck spot in any case but had no idea which part of the boat would be “the most comfortable.” I was lucky and got a spot at the non-harbor side of the boat (people were crowding the harbor side to wave to their friends, etc.) to lay my mat and sleeping back on, even with a roof in case of rain. The ferry departed about 90mins late from the official sail time, which was 10pm. I felt a little bit sick during the endless waving and swinging but managed to sleep and it all went quite well until Ha’apai harbor the next morning where EVERYONE had to move out of the boat while unloading and loading in Ha’apai. Altogether it took 11h from Tongatapu to Ha’apai.

So everyone had to step out of the boat and repeat the same waiting and lining as in Tongatapu the night before. This annoyed me in the oppressive heat of Ha’apai but at least the waiting hall was spacious and the Tongans were friendly and offered me corn and eventually the four hour wait was over and I was allowed to get back in. After this, it still took ages for the ferry actually to leave Ha’apai towards the sea. I started to get a hint why most people don’t value the ferry trips in Tonga.

The section between Ha’apai and my destination Vava’u was very rough. Some cargo had been removed in Ha’apai and some of the stuff left on boat was not attached to anything so they just waved and slided along the boat sides. Many Tongans puked overboard and I was about to join their company until I finally remembered a tip from my childhood to treat nausea: lie down on your right side shoulder and you’ll feel better immediately due to the flow of your digestion. Amazingly it helped and I didn’t have to throw up.
The toilets in MV Pulupaki are very risque, let’s repeat this once again. Anything to avoid visiting those rooms is an attempt for the benefit of civilization! That’s why I had stopped eating those delicious but hellishly unpredictable Tongan chilis couple of days earlier and finally I only had to use the toilet once, during the Ha’apai stop to avoid any shoe-targeted “flowing” delivered by these parodies of porcelain structure. The foul smell of p#ss, sh#t and gasoline floated even outdoors, over the decks according to the wind, but fortunately by that time I had already been succesful with treating my nausea and I just tried to ignore the smell.

Eventually I was at Neiafu around midnigt on Thursday, so the ferry ride took almost exactly 24 hours, not including the wait in Nuku’alofa harbor but including the 4h wait at Ha’apai. The interislander ferry trip will be fine for people with patience and a sense of humor. A good mat will help you keep yourself and your stuff relatively clean of all the dust and other crap on the floors and walls. Some imbecile idiots litter the sea very openly with their whole cardboard boxes, plastic bags etc. overboard. I think I was the only palangi on boat.

Thanks for sharing your ordeal, the chronic disorganisation and sloppy cargo storage practises are all of a piece with how the whole country is run.

It was loose cargo in the hold that sunk the Princess Ashika/drowned over 50 people back in August and it`s not surprising that nothing has changed.

As to people throwing garbage in the ocean its like that everywhere on earth- ignorance, selfishness and stupidity arent unique to Tonga.