Tonga on a budget

Hi,

My friend and I are both University students and traveling to Tonga for a week this February on quite a limited budget!!
We're gonna spend a few days in the Capital, then want to head out to one of the islands for a bit! We want to have a great time and do lots of fun things on the cheap! We definitely want to see the local life and cuisine, do some snorkling and adventurous stuff and of course, have a few days lazing at a picturesque beach!! I have a couple of questions and if anyone has answers I'd be so appreciative!!!!

1) Is there any cheap accommodation ppl could recommend at Tongatapu? We don't mind roughing it a bit but would love to be close to town

2) Is there anywhere we can access ferry timetables to the islands? Are the Ferry's reliable? Does anyone know an approximate cost??

3) We just have 1 week in Tonga, so would probably only have time to go to one other island.. Would u recommend Catching the ferry to Ha'apai or Vavau? What are these islands like, and can u recommend cheap accommodation on them? We would want to ferry to these islands. Is that possible?

4) Are there ATM's where we can get Tongan currency out or is it best to arrange this before we travel??

5) Any other things we must see or do in Tonga?

I hope to hear back from some of you soon! Many thanks!
Rebekah

1) Try either Misa's guesthouse or Sela's guesthouse

2) www.olovaha.com

3) for total 1 week stay, impossible to go to outer islands by ferry and return in time

4) ATM's are available.

Cheers,

The only island you can visit in a week if you use ferries is Eua. Ha'apai and Vavau--ferries are not real reliable, and you might not get back in time.

Hey there,

I was in Tonga for 3 weeks earlier this year, its an amazing place. I highly recommend Toni's guesthouse on Tongatapu ( http://www.geocities.com/tmatthias2000/ ) Toni is the nicest bloke you'll meet and will sort out everything you want to do for you. His sense of humour is legendary yet it might take a day to get his dry wit.

Ferries are a long haul and you'll be puking the whole time, trust me on that. They dont run on time very often and you sleep on the floor if you dont get a seat. Good laugh though I can imagine if you aren't travelling alone like I was.

Pangaimotu is a great day trip and you can stay there too, its only 15 mins by speedboat by the harbour in Nuku'alofa.

I went up to Ha'apai and while its beautiful, there's not a whole lot to do up there if you're there for more than a couple of days. Va'vau seems to be where its at and you will want to fly - which in itself is pretty hair-raising, I was laughing the whole flight down to its bizarreness!

Get your Pa'anga (Tongan currency) when you are there from the westpac ATM in Nuku' its more reliable than the standalone ATM's. Make sure you dont take any currency out of Tonga coz you will not find anywhere to change it outside the country.

Even if you dont stay at Toni's - get in touch with him and go on a day trip of Tongatapu - it really is totally cheap and worth it, you'll see all the sights and get to chill on beaches too.

Nerima Lodge is good and not expensive. best service on the island.

I would recommend going to Eua. Went there by ferry last June. Boat left on time at 12pm from the mainland and got to Eua about three hours later. Ferry home three days later was hijacked by a church group so we had to get a plane but no problems there, took just eight minutes and cost about $40. The ferry costs about $10-$15 from memory.

Eua is a fantastic place and we stayed at The Hideaway Resort (about $30 a night). Talk to Taki there, he has lots of ideas and is the perfect host.

Prices seem to change quick in tonga. Hideaway is 95 Dollar/Budget Twin Room, Flights to Eua 60 Dollar one Way and Ferry 40 Dollar.

Ferry is really not relyable and flighs either. If you go to Tonga, go 5 Days (more is boring) or 3 weeks to have enough time to wait for the ferrys or flights.

Tonis Guesthouse was not as good as expected, everybody we met there was unhappy. The Tour was OK but the guy spoke so fast that we (asian) could not understand anything. Hard to sleep there and unfriendly staff, they just want money.

Tonga has a lot of ATM and you find supermarkets everywhere.