People: It was easy to travel in Tonga, because literally everyone speaks English very well. Tongans were most of the time friendly and helpful to us, in a rather professional way. We met a mix of other backpackers, many Czech people for some odd reason. Most of them were on work&travel visas in NZ and escaping the cold winter for a bit.
Food: We cooked a lot for ourselves in Tonga which was cheaper than eating out. There were shared kitchens everywhere we stayed, even though they weren’t always very well-equipped. Tongan food, when we ate out, was usually big portions of fatty unhealthy dishes. I’m not surprised the people here are all quite fat or at least chubby.
Weather: We had a lot of great sunny days in Tonga and were finally enjoying some typical beach days, soaking up the sun. However, we also had some cooler, grey and rainy days in between. Still waiting for some continuous hot and sunny weather on this trip!
Costs: Tonga was more expensive than expected which was mainly due to high transport costs (flight, ferry, taxis, rentals) as well as activities (whale watching, snorkelling tour). On average we spent 57€/day per person, which was above our 50€ target.
Accommodation: We stayed in double rooms usually for 60 Pa’anga/night and also camped for 5 nights on Uoleva for just 25 Pa’anga/night. While it’s not possible to camp in the bigger towns of course, it does save you some money on the islands!
Infrastructure: Not great. The national airline Real Tonga is the only option and flights are often fully booked. Even if you get a flight, make sure to call them or pass by an office beforehand to check on the status of your flight. Flights often get cancelled and departure times seem to be more rough ideas than set in stone. There’s two ferries going between Tongatapu – Ha’apai – Vava’u, one being a fast ferry (catamaran) and one a slow ferry. Both are comfortable, but schedules are only made up the Friday before each new week, so you have to be reasonably flexible to use them. Also, they break down now and then.
Illnesses: Both healthy and happy! Finally 🙂
Safety: Always felt very safe.
Itinerary: We visited all main islands, except for E’ua but I don’t think I would return for that. It would have been interesting to explore some of the smaller islands in the Ha’apai group a bit more, but there’s not a lot of tourist infrastructure, so we sticked to exploring Lifuka, Foa and Uoleva.
Highlight: Snorkelling with the whales in Uoleva.
Lowlight: The beaches of Vava’u.
Click on the photo below to see our full photo album of Tonga:
Just Booked A Trip 