Tonga: Ha'apai Group

This is why we wanted Round Two: an opportunity to spend time at remote islands we had to bypass on the long route from Mexico to New Zealand last season.

The Ha'apai Group, scattered over 150 miles between Tonga's two main islands, have been called the jewels of the Pacific--and indeed, they are treasures. We lingered amongst these gems for a month, almost always having entire islands to ourselves. Winds and clouds came and went, to be sure, but overall nothing could have been more idyllic.

Pangaimotu

Before reaching the outer islands we stopped at Big Mama Yacht Club, a cruisers' mecca--barely populated this early in the season--just outside of Nuku'alofa. Pick a positive stereotype of a South Pacific beach bar, and this place fits!

The shore is steep, and the entire hull of this wreck is intact: a haven for fish, so a fun snorkel just yards from the beach

Big Mama puts her own label on Tonga's Ikano beer

Bessie adding our boat's name to their long list of visiting yachts

Big Mama being a mama, inseminating oysters to grow pearls

                                            The definition of a perfect evening...

Malinoa

The first of many small islands that were ours for a few days. All that sand, all that beach, all by ourselves--a marvel! The photo at the start of this post is of Malinoa seen from Second Wind; this is Second Wind seen from Malinoa.

Kelefesia

Every view was dramatic at Kelefesia! Part of it was the scenery; the colorful limestone bluffs are unusual here, and the anchorage was encircled by reefs that in ordinary circumstances create distinctive breakers. But part of it was the weather, which was not ordinary: strong winds whipped the surf into large rollers all around the boat. Knowing some tough weather was on the way, we sought refuge at this island over others in the vicinity because the bluffs and reefs offered some protection from the wind and waves. That said, winds predicted to gust to 35 knots ended up blowing over 50 for much of one night; if our anchor had dragged, we would have been on a reef. We kept a close watch all night and fortunately held firm. Our threshold for anxiety has sure been raised pretty high on this adventure...

Windy shots:

Though the island is uninhabited, this camp is used by fishermen from islands many miles away. The night of the Big Blow, we could see their lights underwater as they swam over the reef gathering their catch. Our phrase "Tongan Tough" took on a whole new dimension!

Though we spent some time like this,

the rainbow's promise was fulfilled.

Fonoifua

This anchorage was on the edge of a narrow but deep channel, which made for some noisy motion when the current and wind opposed each other, but which also made for good snorkeling. We were especially impressed by the canyons and chasms of coral--a fantasy world of underwater shapes.

O'ua
We had intended to visit the small village here, but the anchorage was quite a distance from shore and increasing wind would have made the long dinghy ride uncomfortable at best. We simply enjoyed looking at the shallow crystalline water and the surrounding islands (we counted 11 from the cockpit) and moved on the next day.

O'ua anchorage: Electronic charts are based on paper charts that are notoriously inaccurate. Some areas have been updated and were surprisingly correct; this one obviously was not, since it shows us going over a reef when there is in fact a pass. We had waypoints from a trusted cruising guidebook and, as always, entered extremely slowly with a lookout on the bow so we could retreat if necessary.

Luangahu

We named this Brigadoon; though it is often inaccessible due to wind direction, we spent all of Father's Day on this precious islet. We never tire of the beachcombing and luxurious sand, but this had added attractions: flying foxes! These huge fruit bats (wingspan 2'-3') used to be found on most South Pacific islands, but due to hunting and habitat loss they are becoming more rare. We'd begun to think we wouldn't see them anywhere, but we tramped into the dense undergrowth on Luangahu and there they were. We could see some hanging in trees--normal in daytime--but apparently they were startled by visitors, so they woke up with chirping squeaks and started flying overhead; what a rare treat!

Treasure hunting turned up nice shells, parrotfish, and a reef shark--but reef sharks are harmless, so we waded in and snorkeled right off the beach.

Uiha

Village bikes all have sharp machetes stored behind the seat,
to bushwhack--literally-and cut down fruit

This was our chance to visit a rural village, and the experience was even more meaningful than we expected. We were met on the beach by Naua, pictured above, a fisherman by night who wanted to show us his village and practice his English (which was excellent).

Uiha has over 300 residents, though we saw more pigs than people. Since the pigs roam freely, we wondered how people know whose pigs are whose; Naua said it's easy because all the pigs have names!

Many homes grow crops like these--banana, coconut, yam, taro--in the yards, and/or they raise goats for meat. Most have cisterns, but the town cistern in this photo serves those who do not.

Much pride is taken with individual yards: hedges, flowers, and fences decorate many places. This is one of a few tiny stores (kiosks, really), which carry only dry and canned goods. There is little need for money, since everyone has their own food sources--and they say forthrightly that compared to relatives they see in the States, they are glad to live outside the money-job work cycle.

This log is used as a bell to summon people to church on Sunday mornings

The kava house is one of the nicer looking structures in town. Naua said the men gather here every night to play music and drink kava (a mild relaxant). When I asked what the women did while the men were drinking kava, he grinned and said he didn't know.

Men fish, women weave. I was invited inside Neomai's house to watch women in various stages of creating the huge woven mats that are a hallmark of Tongan artistry.

Shredding the dried fibers into thin strips

Weaving the strips into a mat

Neomai adding patterned designs

This mat is 30' long and took 3 weeks to complete

Naua finished our tour by taking us to meet his family (wife, sons, sister, brother-in-law and their children, all of whom live together). They were exceedingly friendly and generous, plying us with fruit to take back to the boat. The young boys took us in stride, but his little niece had never seen a palangi (white person) before, and when we said hello to her she screamed! (Fortunately, all the parents were amused.)

Naua's wife and son; she is slicing green fronds into wide strips that will dry in the yard,
to be shredded later into thin strips for mats

This bounty yielded large amounts of coconut water and plantain-style bananas;
we mixed the passionfruit seeds into a refreshing drink

Uoleva

This was only time in all of the Ha'apai that we shared an anchorage with anyone else. No one can pass up this place, though; the huge crescent beach is gorgeous, and it offered excellent protection from the southeast winds that were picking up on the other side of the island. A couple of resorts are discreetly tucked into the trees on the long beach--so if any of you are looking for seclusion in a stunningly beautiful place, this may be for you!

Of course cruisers will congregate and share stories. With people like Tom & Jan (left), who left Olympia WA 26 years ago on a schooner they made themselves, we mostly listen, learn and laugh!

The next evening we took sundowners (cruiser-speak for Happy Hour) to the beach. We crossed paths with Russell & Kathie, farmers from New Zealand, in 3 different countries last season, and no doubt will find ourselves in the some of the same places again this year.

The reef at the end of the beach had more fish (and a turtle!) than we'd seen anywhere. However, we're realizing that much of the coral, beautifully sculpted as it is, is dead. The water temperatures are too high for them to survive. We all know this is happening, but to see it first-hand is horrifying.

Nukupule

Aaahhh, another picture-perfect islet in another turquoise lagoon; another day with sand and sun, beach and water. Are we tiring of this? Absolutely not!

Distinctive features of this location included good views of Tonga's massive volcanoes, Kao and Tofua. Kao is perfectly conical; Tofua ("shadow" on the left horizon; darker one in the center is a small island close to us) is still active and has a huge fresh water lake in the middle, akin to Crater Lake in Oregon. Tofua is also the site of the mutiny on the Bounty: history before our eyes.

Though this island--like almost all we've explored--is uninhabited, we encountered plenty of evidence of human visitors (or parties?). Near several firepits were piles of discarded shells: urchin, conch, clam, and even a large tortoise shell (a sad sight, for sure). We suspect the flying foxes that used to live here were eaten as well--though we hope they escaped that fate and went elsewhere to roost.

Windward side of the island--pretty, but not peaceful

Leeward side, where we anchored and came ashore. Snorkeling was a high point, turning out to be the best of any we found in the Ha'apai. A large area of coral--some of which was alive and colorful--supported a huge array of fish, and the water clarity was outstanding.

That evening in the cockpit we smiled and sighed; aaaahhhh, another day in paradise...

Ofolanga

But even paradise has its ragged edges. The next day we'd planned to stop at Luahoko, which reputedly has some of the best snorkeling in all of Tonga--but it was too windy to anchor there safely, so we had to bypass it. We stayed instead at Ofolanga, which offered somewhat better protection from the wind and waves that were whipping back up. Morning brought a brief reprieve, which we took advantage of by beachcombing for a few hours. We try to admire shells more than keep them, but this time there were so many treasures that we came back with a small bucketful!

Maninita

We did a 60 mile overnight passage to reach two islands at the southern end of Vava'u, prime locations we didn't have time to visit last year. Maninita turned out to be a very rolly anchorage but a terrific spot for exploring. We spent a 'delight-full' day circumnavigating the island barefoot, spotting large numbers of fish and reef sharks at water's edge, and lounging in the shade reading beach books (the height of decadence)--though most appealing were the birds. Hundreds soared overhead, playing with the wind; they called and chattered frequently, providing a musical accompaniment to our island time. Eden must have felt something like this...

Birds over the land...

...and over the water

Should we soak up the scenery...

...or should we laze around and read?

Ovalau

Our final undeveloped destination in Tonga, Ovalau was a grand finale. Everything was terrific--scenery, swimming, sunsets--and it had several "bests": best protection, best sand (unbelievably fine and soft), best variety of wildlife. We found some tracks we surmised were goats, then later saw a pair of them (though the island is uninhabited, the goats are probably being kept there by a family from a nearby island), a blizzard of butterflies, and--lo and behold--more flying foxes! The snorkeling was also superb, the best we'd found since the Tuamotus a year ago.

The only thing it lacked was whales; humpbacks do come here, but it's still a little early for them to have arrived. With luck they'll be around by the time we leave Tonga in a week or so--but since we've been immensely fortunate so far, we may not be due that extra bit of luck. No complaints, that's for sure!

It could have been a movie set...

...except for the goats

Terrific snorkel reef

Sundowners in Paradise 

Vava'u
We stopped in Neiafu, where we spent almost a month last September, to reprovision and catch up with business (internet access: a blessing and a curse). After that, it's on to Fiji--meet you there!

I celebrated my birthday in Tonga last year; Art had his here this year.
Rod & Brenda were our neighbors at Riverside Drive Marina in Whangarei, NZ;
proving it's a small world, they ended up anchored near us in Neifu Harbour--
a fun rendezvous!