Tonga 23rd October

Hi,

My partner and I are arriving in Tonga on the 23rd October for 8 nights...hoping to relax, dive, see the whales etc.

Originally we booked one night at the Heilala Holiday Lodge and would be flying out to Vava'u the next day for five nights. We did book the Mala Island Resort, which I have now had to cancel.

I booked our internal flights to Vava'u through the Peau Vava'u website, which I have now found out they are not running at the moment.

They have debited my account for the cost of two return flights, but I do not have any tickets. I have requested a refund, but it seems i have to wait until they are up and running again...hmm this doesn't sound good.

Because we have no flights, and I am reluctant to book additional flights and pay the additional cost (without confirmation of a refund) our plans aren't looking good at the moment.....

So your wondering whats the point of my message.

1) a warning to anyone looking to book flights via the Peau Vava'u website

2) any ideas on where would be good to stay on the mainland?..or should we only stay a couple of days and accept its going to cost us a lot more and fly to one of the other islands...if so which one...without breaking the bank of course.

3) where is good to stay if diving and watching whales are key?

We are no longer backpacking, so this is a weeks break,,,,well needed from work and restoration on the house...any thoughts?

i recall reading another thread here recently regarding someone else who booked on the same non-existant flight, and the money was refunded to them no worries - have a search for it.

I'd suggest going ahead with your original plans. Go to flight centre or something and re-booking the internal flights there - before you get to Tonga.

I have heard not so great reports about the Mala Island resort - apparently the owner is a nutter. I have not been there, but was warned against it by someone i trust their opinion.

In vava'u i stayed in a fale for T$45/night at vava'u guesthouse, which was decent budget accomodation. I have also had good reccomendations for adventure backpackers and, if you are not on a budget, Blue Lagoon is supposed to be excellent.

If diving and whale watching are key, you really need to go to Vava'u. I have made comments on my oppinions about whalewatching on other threads recently, have a look there if you are interested. I have written a fair bit about Tonga in general recently - check out the last few threads on Tonga

Funny, when I was in Tonga about 1.5 yrs ago, I was also told the guy who runs Mala island resort was a jerk. I didn;t go there, but many local ex-pats were boycotting his New Years Eve party!

Paradise Int'l Hotel has AC, but it may be over your budget. It's a decent place if you can afford, but not real fancy as far as "resorts". Pool and on-site restaurant were convenient, it's about a ten-minute walk from town. Great, friendly staff.

The Hillside Inn behind town looked like a good mid-level option, you might check that out.

Tongan Beach Resort also looked OK, on a decent beach. It's away from town, on an islet connected to the main island via a causeway. Check www.tripadvisor.com for reviews of these mid- and upper-level in Tonga.

If you paid for your air ticket with a credit card: when the bill comes, write a letter immediately to the credit card company and challenge the charge. Tell them you never got the ticket, flight was cancelled etc. But, as indicated above, you may get a refund.

I believe the Mala Resort is now under new management, and the majority of the reviews sound good.

My issue is the flights....all I want is a nice break

We really enjoyed the Tongan Beach resort - great location. Excellent operators and friendly staff.
The only problem we had with it was also the location in that it made it more difficult to go and eat out elsewhere.
I'd stay there again.

well if you are concerned about the flights, contact peau vava'u and ask for a refund, contact your credit card company and tell them whats going on and buy new flights via a travel agent before you leave home.

I'm not sure if Mala really is under new management because the person who warned me against it stayed there about 5 weeks ago... and if "all you want is a nice break" if my be tainted by staying in a resort where the owner is a raving looney.

I have contacted the flight company and they can't issue a refund until they are up and running again and they don't know when that will be.

I have contacted my visa company and hopefully it will be sorted...will have to wait and see what happens....but nothing is going to be sorted between now and when we go..or if it is I will be very lucky.

If you haven't been there, never met the management how can you openly state someone is a raving looney? Its quite a harse accusation.

I accept everyone has their views and I accept that you have had feedback from a trusted source, but if you have this opinion don't you think you should just say you have heard bad things rather than state someone is a raving looney?

Well what is it you want here? you just want to vent?

And i did say it was only what i heard, but what i heard was best described as "nutter/raving looney" and i put it very subtly the 1st time, a bit less subtly the second time, and if you don't want to hear that advice - fine. BTW even the lonely planet alludes to the owner being a nutter... and another person here also said they heard bad things also.

If you think you know best, I hope you have a "nice break" at Mala, and you can come and tell me i've heard wrong.

For whale watching and diving I would recommend Ha'apai. I had a fantastic time there a couple of weeks ago. The whale watching was much much better than my experience in vava'u. Matafonua lodge is a great place to stay. I also stayed in Mala island a couple of weeks ago - it's a nice island but you're all right, the owner is wierd. It's much nicer at matafonua.

I am intending to write a longer & more specific bit about my trip and experiences on vava'u and ha'apai, but right now I'm off to bed.

G'day all
We have just returned from a great 2 weeks in Tonga, stayed on Tongatapu for 7 days and Vavau for 7 days.

we had monies for flights by peau Vavau also taken and as yet some 2 months later not as yet refunded. We met many others in tonga who have been ripped off as well. And they are still taking bookings and money. Not the right thing for the kings airline to be doing in trying to attract tourist to a otherwise beautiful friendly Kingdom...shame.

Ha'atafu resort is a great place to stay, good meals, but 40 mins from town. An Aussie Steve runs the place. very homely, and if we returned to Tongatapu (not if Peau Vavau does not refund!) we'd stay at Ha'atafu again.

On Vavau we stayed at Mala island, as a base for Whale watching...meals were great and the Yank David and ???Marnee??? were always helpful, meals were great, the rooms were not as everybody wanted but we're camped in PNG as well

Diving is not all that great compared to other Pacific destinations but we wanted whales and we got whales yeh!!!!!

We've stayed at Mala Island and so if you demand a first hand account then yes the guy who runs it is pretty off the rails - and he's still running it - I was in tonga last week and speaking to friends there who know him (and would tell you what Tessha has already told you) and David is definitely still running Mala. But Iwouldn't worry about it - I think what people are referring to is his outrageous fabrications which are mostly about making him look good - so if you don't mind hearing the "you just missed Santana who came to play at my birthday party last week" and "I was the fifth beatle..." stuff, then you won't mind him at all - he's quite accommodating and helpful. I think Mala has a nicer beach and was better value than the Tongan Beach resort. totally agree with mick re Ha'atafu beach resort - just had our 3rd stay there and think it's great. Don't get your hopes up re seeing the whales though - we saw lots over the past few weeks off Tongatapu and I'm pretty sure they were heading south.

Thanks for all of the responses.

Our holiday in Tonga is now over and back to work on Monday so only one more day off.

Thought I would provide an overview of our stay in Tonga as all the responses I have had are quite mixed.

We flew into Nuku'alofa in the evening and were picked up to be taken to Heilala Holiday Lodge for one night. The gardens at Heilala Holiday Lodge are lovely and nice to walk round, although we didn't have much time before we got another taxi to the airport for our transfer to Vavau.

We arrived at the airport in the morning to be told that the flights had been delayed and they would go at 3pm in the afternoon. We arrived later in the day and still further delays. We finally got our flight at 5pm and arrived at Mala Island Resort late in the evening.

On arrival (although dark) the place looked lovely and welcoming. We were both starving so we ordered local fish for our dinner which was really nice and a good portion and cost 30 TOP each.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast whilst we enjoyed the beautiful views and looked forward to some snorkelling and just putting our feet up and relaxing.

The place is truly beautiful and peaceful, so would suit anyone looking for relaxation.....so this all sounds like paradise...part of it is and another part isn't.

Although Mala is a beautiful resort and offers the paradise that most people want, there are some major issues with the day to day running of the resort.

Lack of Options / Information - My partner and I wanted to go Whale watching but were told that there were issues with the boat so we would need to see. No options were given, no alternative companies who could take us on this trip were provied. So its a case of we can't take you so you can't go. I was very disappointed that no information, or help is offered to ensure guests gets the experience they came to Tonga for. The result of this is my partner and I didn't get to see the Whales

Inconsistent costs and quality of food - during our stay the quality of food went downhill, and the price of our food went up. On day one the price of poached egg and bacon was 15 TOP, later in the week it was 22 TOP and believe me when I say the quality was very poor on this occasion. Prices seemed to jump all over the place. French toast was over 20TOP which is very expensive, Caesar salad cost 26 TOP, Tuna costs over 40TOP

The quality of the fish from the first night went downhill and the portion reduced dramatically, which is a shame.

But I suppose the biggest shock was the change in the cost of wine. The cost of the first bottle of wine was 24TOP, the second bottle was 60 TOP and the third bottle was 70 TOP. However, I was never told that the brand of wine was changing so the price would reflect this, I just assumed it was the same wine. And to be honest I wouldn't pay 60, or 70 for a bottle of quality wine in NZ, London, or Paris for that matter.

Dishonesty - late one afternoon my partner and I were sitting in the restaurant and David (the owner) said hey we are just going over the Portmoral for a few beers and a swim if you want to join us. So we thoughts hey why not its almost dinner time and a quick trip out would be good. Jo and Kimberly joined us, who were also staying at the resort. Well guess what, I get my bill and we have been charged 80 TOP for this little trip. This is very sneakly of the resort and not very honest.

Duplicating Costs - when we booked our stay at Mala Island resort we pre paid for transfers. I have now seen on our bill that a cost of 50TOP was included, which is a duplication

Overall, as I said earlier the place is beautiful, but there is a lot to improve. Marnie isn't the best customer facing person I have met and on a few occasions a few of us said morning and got no reply what so ever, so in some cases it does feel that the whole business is a bit of a hobby for the pair of them and they aren't taking it seriously.

David...hmmm what can you say has the best imagination in the world...and as the lonely planet suggests, take every thing with a pinch of salt.

If you are wondering, I have sent an email (two to be precise) to Mala to query our bill but I have had nothing back and I expect I won't get anything back either!

Would I go back to Tonga....definitely, would I go back to Mala Island Resort....most definitely not.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my holiday, but I believe we paid well over the odds during the time that we spent at Mala!

Much of what you've posted is what I refer to as TTO-Typical Tongan Operation-there's a lot of bush league thinking in Tonga.

Posting a Mala Island report on Tripadvisor.com is a good way to reach a lot of people-think about it when you have time.

Hi, I stayed at Mala island and had very similar experiences. The location is beautiful but the running of the place and the owners less so. David and Marnie are odd. We didn't realise marnie was one of the owners at first, as when we arrived she was just standing there. No-one said hello or showed us around etc. Very strange. That is such a shame that you didn't get to go whale watching, because there are companies in town who will pick up from there. Running the resort & helping customers are not really on their list of priorities!

On the other hand, matafonua lodge on Ha'api was great with lovely, honest and helpful owners.

Thanks for your report. Hopefully others will see it too.

We spent 8 nights on Mala and had a fantastic time. I could not believe how beautiful the island and surrounds are ( the colours in the brouchures really exist!).

Food was fantastic, staff were unbelievably friendly - just don't be in a hurry, this is Tonga. If you want to slow down and relax this is the place to go.

I was surprised at the quality of the accomodation as the room rates are a bargain, especially off season. The rooms are very comfortable with ocean and island views from the balconies.

If you want to snorkle the lagoon is great, coral straight off the beach, no need to be a strong swimmer. Tropical fish and coral at it's best.

This is a small resort so you won't have to put up with hustle and bustle, but Mala has a great party atmosphere.

Vava'u does not have much cultural tourism but there was a great floor show with fire dancing.

Thanks Dave and Marnie along with Arnie, Nancy, Toa and Elone (spelling may be wrong) for the best holiday we have had.

as far as the above postings what planet are you from?

we have been in vava'u many times and the townies are very clickish and small minded

if you dont play thier game the will post crap on sites like this