Tonga or Vanuatu?

We have recently moved from the UK to Australia and now have a whole heap of new places to visit. We were hoping to go to either Tonga or Vanuatu at the end of June/beginning of July. Neither of us have any experience diving but we surf, snorkell, sea-kayak and sail. We are kind of looking for somewhere not too hectic but fairly hassle free as we need a bit of a rest in a chilled out/ outdoor activity kind of way. We are used to the whole back-packing indo experience and are pretty well travelled so not too phased at a few rough edges. We're not on an extensive budget (who is?) and are only going to be able to get away for two weeks. Just wondering what you experienced people of the Pacific would recommend?

We obviously need to get things sorted as time is short - can anyone give us a few hints?

simonlowtide

Tonga is okay. Nothing flash here and maybe our Tongan TTer's will fill us in on the status of the infrastructure following last year's riots. This has only affected Nuku'alofa apparently, where you really don't want to spend any more time than you have too. Pangaimotu island, just 2 kilometers off of Nuku'alofa is a great place to chill for the day and maybe their accommodation is up and running again so you could stay there too if you wanted.

You will want to fly up to either the Ha'apai islands or the Vavu'a islands for a better tropical get away. Tonga is not expensive and if you are willing to "slum it" a bit, you can have a perfect beach on a beautiful island. (Ouleva island in the Ha'apai islands)

Greg,

I have not noticed your new tag line previously, so the story might already be out!

In the event that it is not though, in the immortal words of one of Australia's most reviled politicians of the last twenty years, "Please Explain!"

cheers,

Rob

;)

I'm guessing perhaps it's a line from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

I haven't been to either places recently so I am sure there is more up-to-date advice.

I loved Vanuatu, but there are so many great places to visit that the 3 weeks I had there wasn't enough and I found it more expensive than Tonga. But, if you focused your two weeks in a couple of places (or one) then it would probably be fine. We spent the 3 weeks on Santo, Gaua and a couple of days on Tanna. Gaua was fantastic, but I didn't enjoy Tanna as much as some people (we were there for the annual John Frum celebrations which was great, but our low budget didn't allow us 3 meals a day so we were always hungry!! Obviously we should have stayed somewhere a little cheaper....). Lonnoc Beach on Santo was reasonably cheap and a lovely quiet place to hang-out.

The more northern islands of Tonga (Vava'u and Ha'apai) don't offer the variety of Vanuatu, but are still lovely. You would probably just make the whale watch season, which is great. Two weeks would be a comfortable time to get a good feel for this part of Tonga. Ha'apai is the place to find cheap accommodation on a beach, but Vava'u's islands are beautiful. Unfortunately, to really get out and enjoy them again costs a bit of money.