The Perfect 2-Week Itinerary for Tonga
- IDreamofMangoes
- 6 days ago
- 16 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
In this perfect 2-week itinerary for Tonga, I will provide you with all the inspiration and practical information you need to visit one of the tiniest and most beautiful countries in the world!
Read on for travel tips on how to get to Tonga, how to get around Tonga’s various islands, things to do in Tonga, what to wear, how much money to bring, what to eat, and more!
Tonga has a similar Polynesian, laid-back, warm-hearted island vibe to Fiji, but it feels much less ‘polished’. Tonga stole my heart and has fast become one of my favourite places in the world - I sort of feel like there is no longer any point in travelling to other tropical islands as nothing will compare to the white sands and dazzling cerulean waters on Haa’pai - or swimming with friendly humpback whales in the shallow seas surrounding Eua.
Contents
About Tonga
Tonga is a tiny nation in the South Pacific, south-east of Fiji and about 5 hours from Sydney by plane. It is thought that Tonga was the first Polynesian island to be settled, and to this day, it is the only Pacific nation never to be colonised.
Tonga is made up of 176 islands, all ruled under King Tupou VI from the main island of Tongatapu. They are deeply religious people, Christians, and it is basically illegal to do anything on Sundays (this will affect your travel, which I will explain more about later).
The official languages are Tongan and English, and the currency is Pa’anga, currently 1 GPB = 3 TOP. (Read on to find out the best way to secure your Pa’anga.)
Every year, around 1000 Humpback whales migrate from Antarctica to Tonga to give birth and nurse their young in the warm, friendly waters - and swimming with them (ethically) is one of the most unique and amazing things you could ever do with your life. Being eye-to-eye with a humpback whale changes you; they are not afraid of you, nor do they want to hurt you, and if you behave respectfully, you can stay in the water with them for a long time.
Tonga is the first country in the world to see a new day, as it lies just West of the international date line!
Angafakatonga or “the Tongan Way” emphasises strong family and community values, respect for others, humility, hospitality, and nowadays - a fanatic love for Rugby!
RELATED POST: A Backpacking Guide to the Yasawas, Fiji |
When to Go to Tonga
Tonga is warm all year round, with temperatures staying between 26 and 31 degrees every month. However, the dry season has more cool breezes, and the wet season is more humid.
Seasons of Tonga:
Dry Season - May to October
Wet Season - November to April
Cyclone Season - January & February
Whale Season/Peak Season - July to Mid-October* (most accommodations will be fully booked, sometimes a year or two in advance.)
*Whales stay in Eua for a few weeks longer than elsewhere, normally until early November, so if you want to see Whales and have a less crowded experience in Tonga, read on to find out how!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may get a commission if you make a purchase through this website, at no cost to you. I only link to products I use and love.
Packing List for Tonga
Tonga is quite an isolated place, so access to certain things can be very difficult - and you will need to bring all of your essentials from home. I always advocate packing light, and here is everything I packed for our 2-week Tonga Itinerary - using only one piece of hand luggage and weighing a total of 7kg.
2 x 50ml Mineral, reef-safe Suncream
Mosquito Repellent (I use a natural one like Incognitio for most of my body, but Trek with DEET for my ankles and feet)
Travel sickness tablets (Stugeron is the only one I have tried that doesn't make me incredibly drowsy)
Paracetamol
Shampoo, Conditioner, Soap, Razor
Hairbrush, Hairties
Moisturiser, Lip Balm
Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Floss
Quick-drying towel
Flipflops
Bikini
2 x Books
Playing Cards
Pen & Paper
Aeropress & Coffee
Sunglasses
Phone & Charger (same plug as Australia)
4 x Sundresses
Cargo Pants
Shorts
3 x T-shirts
PJ’s
5 x Underwear
Pacsafe (for documents)
Passport
Australian Dollars
2 x Bank Cards
Arriving in Tonga, Getting Money, and Where to Stay
It’s very likely you will be arriving to Tonga by plane, at the main airport on Tongatapu - Fua’amotu International Airport. This is a tiny airport which only has connections to Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand.
British Nationals do not need a visa for Tonga.
The best way to exchange your money into Pa’aanga is to do it when you arrive in Tonga. If you try to do it at your airport of departure or in a foreign exchange, you will get a terrible rate and lose hundreds of pounds. Believe me, I did it both ways - and the best way is to use the BSP ATM at Fua’amotu airport, which charges 12 TOP (£4) for the transaction but gives you a good exchange rate.
If you bank with ANZ, you may as well wait until you get to the main town of Nuku’alofa, as there is an ANZ ATM with no withdrawal fee.
The airport also has a cafe and toilets when you arrive (that’s about it).
Since COVID and then the volcanic eruption in 2022, many businesses in Tonga closed down, so there really aren’t a lot of places to stay. Booking.com and Airbnb are both active - but the standard isn’t great, and the price is very high for what you get, especially on Tongatapu. We stayed in multiple places, which I will go into more detail on in the 2-week itinerary!
RELATED POST: The Ultimate Samoa Travel Guide |
Getting Around in Tonga
Taxi
Taxis are the most common means of transport for tourists, but they are expensive. It is a fixed rate of 70 TOP (£22) to get from the airport to Nuku’alofa (35 minutes away), or 150 TOP (£47) for a taxi to take you to various sites across the main island for the day. Taxis have a T at the beginning of their license plate, and you WILL need to negotiate.
Rental Car
Many people choose to rent a car in Tonga due to the price of taxis, but as we were only on the main island for a day or two, we didn’t need to. I imagine this is something you would have to arrange in advance.
Bus
Buses on Tongatapu run Monday to Friday all day, and Saturday mornings, and the journey can be 1-2 TOP depending on the distance. They run from the airport to Nuku’alofa hourly, so this is a great way to save money when you first arrive. We landed on a Saturday evening, so we had no choice but to take a taxi (we were overcharged, too).
Flight
Flying is the best way to get between Tonga's islands, and their national airline, Lulutai, is potentially the worst in the world. Their safety record is fine; they just cancel flights very regularly. They use small 12-16 seater planes (we travelled on the Viking Twin Otter) which fly low, so you get amazing views of the islands.
When flying domestically, it is best to check in two hours before, even though you just need to sit in the hall until the flight time, because if the plane reaches its weight capacity (with people and bags), they will just stop checking people in and put you on the next flight, which could be in five days time! It is best to avoid the stress and be the first ones checked in.
In Tongatapu Domestic airport there is Oholei Cafe - a nice place to wait. In Ha’apai Airport, there is nothing, just a little shop selling water and soda. The handwritten boarding cards are so cute! Check-in is quick and painless.
Ferry
Ferries move between many of the Tongan Islands, but the schedules change each week, and it can be tricky to plan ahead.
We hoped to get the ferry for the 3-hour journey between Tongatapu and Eua, but we were told by our guesthouse owner that it wasn’t available on the outbound journey because of a public holiday, so instead of paying 35 TOP for a ferry ticket, we paid 800 TOP for a private boat (ouch) to get from Tongatapu to Eua. That's the difference between £10 and £250!!! Lo and behold, when we were already on our very expensive private boat pulling out of the harbour on Tongatapu, what shows up? The ferry! Apparently, in typical Tonga fashion, the schedule had changed at the last minute. It was quite frustrating, but what can you do?
Once you’ve booked accommodation, you can ask the hotel owner to keep you in the loop on current ferry schedules, although as you can see, this is not a foolproof method. You can also check the Tonga Travel Forum Facebook Group for the latest ferry schedule, as well as seek travel tips from Tongans and other tourists.
2-Week Tonga Itinerary
I put together this 2-week Tonga Itinerary because we wanted to try our luck at whale swimming, but our trip was booked at the last minute.
During whale season, hotels book out a year or two in advance. Not only were we not prepared, but I am also not a fan of travelling in high season in general.
I had heard that even though whale season in Tonga ends mid-October, the whales hang about at the southern island of Eua until early November, so we took our chances and booked a 2-week trip for the last week of October and the first week of November. This meant we had a chance of seeing the whales, but we would also miss the crowds of other tourists.
Our 2-week itinerary for Tonga:
2 Nights - Tongatapu
3 Nights - Eua
1 Night - Tongatapu
7 Nights - Ha’apai
1 Night - Tongatapu
I know this sounds like a lot of to-and-fro, but there is a reason. We needed to get the very unreliable ferry from Tongatapu to Eua, and an even more unreliable airline was taking us from Tongatapu to Ha’apai. Both the ferry and Lulutai proved their unreliability and let us down, so having all the buffer nights was VERY NEEDED. When you plan your itinerary for Tonga, expect delays and anticipate buffer days and downtime!
Speaking of which, for travel insurance…..
For travel insurance, I have put my trust in Safety Wing, and I use their 4-week rolling policy as it is affordable and covers almost every country. They have been great so far!
Tongatapu - 2 Nights
For the first two nights, we stayed at The Waterfront Lodge, as we arrived on a Saturday night and almost everything stops running on Sundays in Tonga, so we needed to wait until Monday to make our forward journey to Eua.
The Waterfront was nice, the staff are Fijian, and you could immediately feel the warm Fijian hospitality. The hotel was very cute, if a bit dated; the magazines in the lobby were from around 8 years prior!
The food was delicious, around 40 TOP (£12) a meal, although the hotel restaurant is closed Sunday evenings, so we had the option of heading to ’42 Evergreen’ (Chinese) or ‘Ngutulei’ (Tongan) instead. Both of these places are within walking distance of the Waterfront Lodge.
Speaking of which, as I said before, on Sundays, very few businesses are open, and if you want to go out, you have to do so quietly. We spent our Sunday walking along the promenade, where lots of Tongan families sat quietly with their picnics on the grass by the sea. We did two long walks, turning both left and right of the Waterfront Lodge and hugging the water's edge. Heads up, turning left offers the far more scenic route, the 'right-path' being very industrial.
We paid 750 TOP (£212) for two nights at The Waterfront Lodge, breakfast was included. They do accept cards, but they charge 4% to use them.
Eua - 3 Nights
The next stop on our 2-week itinerary for Tonga was the island of Eua, with only one thing on the brain: Humpback Whales! We chose to stay at Kiko’s Place because it was the cheapest on the island, and we had heard rumours about Kiko, the legendary whale whisperer. Kiko was the first operator on Eua licensed to swim with whales (now there are four, I believe). He is a fisherman who was taught whale behaviour by a marine biologist 25 years ago. It is said that when he whistles, the whales just come.
Kiko’s place was very simple but completely fine for us, and we paid 100 TOP ( £33) per night for two people, including breakfast. They have Wifi, but it only works for simple things. We actually ended up having our whale experience with Kiko’s grandson, Foa, who was also great.
Whale swimming is a whopping 700 TOP (£220) per person per day, which is very expensive, especially if you want to swim with whales multiple times. Experiences across Tonga range from 400-1000 TOP per day. I will go into more detail about the whale swimming in my upcoming article: How to Swim with Whales in Tonga - but what I will say is that it is not what I expected at all. It is one of the most amazing things I have ever done.
Eua is a very sleepy island with a laid-back feel. Pigs and wild horses roam, kids play rugby in fields in the cool of the evening - everyone is so friendly, we got offered lifts whenever people saw us walking.
On Eua, there are no scams or other issues that come with tourism, and that's true for everywhere we went in Tonga, actually. We found Tongan people to be friendly but not in the slightest bit overbearing; in fact, they came across a little shy.
We managed to fill our three days on Eua pretty well. There is a cute little local restaurant called ‘Ami’s' that we visited a few times for delicious local food ('Ota 'Ika is the national dish, it is sort of like ceviche, and if made well, it is so delicious). Ami actually prepared us a picnic hamper of dressed lobster and chips to take to the beach with a bottle of Champagne we bought at Sydney airport on my birthday. The beach outside Blue Water Retreat is a lovely spot - but sadly, the bar on site is for guests only; they are missing a trick there!
Kiko’s grandson also took us on a tour of the island. We sat on plastic chairs on the back of his pickup truck, which was fun, and we saw all the natural sites. The island is magnificent, and while we had heard lots of good things about hiking in the National Park, Foa told us that most of the trails are now overgrown.
Tongatapu - 1 Night
Luckily, we managed to get the public ferry back to Tongatapu to Eua, which was a huge relief on our bank accounts - and whilst time-consuming, the process was quite straightforward.
Kiko told us the ferry was due to arrive at Eua at 9am, and with all the unloading and reloading, would ‘probably’ head back to Tongatapu at 11am. We decided to be cautious and arrive at the dock at 10am, where we waited in the shade until the ticket office opened.
It is very obvious when the ticket office opens as locals start queuing up, but being lovely Tongans, they ushered me to the front of the line, and I paid 35 TOP per person for the ticket stub. This ticket is checked at the other end, when you get to Tongatapu, so keep it with you.
We waited until 12:30 for the boat to finally be ready to depart and found a spot on the top deck ready for the 3-hour journey. The first 2 hours are ROUGH, as you are in open seas. I had taken ginger tablets, and it was NOT ENOUGH. I left the top deck and spent most of the journey down with the cars, ankle deep in water, staring at the horizon, trying not to hurl, and wishing I was anywhere else. The last 45 minutes of the journey is sheltered by land, so not as choppy and is completely fine. If you get seasick, you must prepare.
This time on Tongatapu, we stayed at Sunrise Resort, about 15 minutes drive from Nuku’alofa. Despite not being central, it was actually a really nice place, just a row of cabins facing the lake. We strolled out for a takeaway Chinese and watched Netflix, and rested our weary legs from the long day of travel.
We should have flown to Ha’apai the next day, but I received an email from Lulutai saying our flight was delayed by four days. I was distraught, as being on annual leave from work for this trip, I didn’t have the time to spare. Weirdly, when I called Lulutai, they were able to put us on a flight two days later, with no rhyme or reason. Whilst still disappointing, a two-day delay is better than a four-day delay.
Sunshine Resort was 300 TOP (£93) per night. If you would like dinner there, you need to let them know 5 hours in advance so they can buy ingredients (hence the takeaway Chinese).
Sadly, they were fully booked the next day as lots of flights had been cancelled, so we had to move back to Nuku’alofa. By then, we had made acquaintances with a very trusty if not a bit gangster looking taxi driver, who refused to give us his name, but we had to call him ‘beautiful taxi’ - he was always on time to the minute (very rare in Tonga) and never overcharged us.
So beautiful taxi to us back to our new hotel, ‘Paradise Inn’ - it was more like a shared house, not far from the Waterfront Lodge. They said they did free airport transfers, which is why we booked with them, but we ended up ‘not qualifying’. It was Chinese-owned, like many businesses in Tonga, and while the accommodation was fine, we would prefer to support Tongan-owned.
Whilst back in Nuku'alofa, we ate at the amazing Friends Cafe - probably the best food on Tongatapu, and again at Little Italy for pizza (the pizza was so-so, but the location was nice).
The following day, with 'beautiful taxi' to the rescue again, we went to the domestic airport ready for some RnR at Matafonua Lodge, a magical place that came on my radar many years ago…
Ha’aapai - 7 Nights
Haʻapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs, and shoals in the central part of Tonga. We chose to go here over Vava’u (the more popular island group) because we had heard the latter was very resort-ish.
The flight from Tongatapu to the tiny Salote Pilolevu Lifuka Island Ha'apai Airport is around 45 minutes, and from there, your place of stay will normally arrange pick-up. There are quite a few lodges on Ha’apai these days, but the one with the legendary reputation is Matafonua Lodge on Foa Island (I have also heard amazing things about Kitesurf Tonga).
When we arrived at Matafonua, we were completely blown away. The beach they are perched on is the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. The view quite literally brought me to tears. Matafonua is not a luxury resort (You can stay at Sandy Beach Resort if you want more comfort) - but it is much more my style.
Wooden beach fales on stilts, sandy pathways, bean bags, tunes on the radio and a little beach bar serving delicious meals. Dinner is family style and changes each night, cooked by the owner, Darren. The level of hospitality shown by Darren and Nina was incredible; we felt right at home and were so inspired by everything they had built.
As we were out of whale season, we had the whole place to ourselves. Days were spent kayaking, snorkelling the pristine reef with the friendly local leopard sharks, paddle boarding, swimming, exploring nearby uninhabited islands, scuba diving, reading, having fun with their collection of board games, and drinking beers at sunset.
Matafonua is genuinely the nicest place I have ever been in my life and has become my number one paradise on earth. I will go into more details on accommodation, things to do and so on in my upcoming guide: Our Stay at Matafonua Lodge, Tonga.
Tongatapu - 1 Night
We were very sad to leave our island paradise, but needs must, so we went for one last buffer night on Tongatapu. This time we stayed on the east of the island - in Tukulolo Treehouses. At 500 TOP (£160) for one night, this is normally way out of our budget, but we decided to do it as a little treat, as the design of the place looked so epic, rooms carved out of Mahogany, unique tree houses with boardwalks linking.
Even though it was nice, it wasn’t really worth it. Being in the jungle, the mosquitoes are prolific, so it's hard to enjoy any of the outdoor spaces at all. We just hid in our room under the mosquito net for most of the time.
We DID, however, go to a show at Katea Retreat - a nearby resort - as they have a Tongan buffet on Fridays with a traditional dance show. They cooked a whole pig in the earth oven and served it with a huge array of Tongan dishes; it was fantastic!
The dance show was also cool; it seemed really popular with Tongans (we were the only foreigners). We did find it odd that you stuffed money into their clothes like strippers - but everyone did it, so I did too, haha!
The Best Things to Do in Tonga
Swimming with Humpback Whales
Snorkelling, Paddle-Boarding, and Kayaking the reefs of Foa Island
Hiking in Eua National Park (the paths are not well kept, you will need a guide) - we opted for shorter coastal walks
Kitsefurf Lessons
Experience a traditional Tongan feast and performance
Catch a rugby game
Explore Anahulu Cave and Mapu 'A Vaea blowholes on the main island
Budget for 2 Weeks in Tonga GBP
Return flights from Sydney £350
Return flights Tongatapu to Ha’apai £200
Accommodation 70 - 500 TOP (£22 - £160) per night
Ferries 35 TOP (£11) each way
Whale Swimming 700 TOP (£220)
Kayaking, paddle boarding and snorkelling (all free at Matafonua)
Day Tour of Eua Island 150 TOP (£47)
Taxi Airport to Nuku’alofa 70 TOP (£22)
Meal at a small local restaurant 10 TOP (£3)
Meal at most other restaurants 40 TOP (£13)
Beer 10 TOP (£3)
We went way over our normal budget for our trip to Tonga, so for my own self-preservation, I am not going to do the total amount spent; you can figure it out!
All in All
Tonga is an amazing place, and I firmly believe it is one of the most underrated destinations in the world. Especially when you throw in swimming side-by-side with Humpback Whales and spending lazy days at the dreamlike Matafonua Lodge. Yes, it is hard to get to, there isn't much tourist infrastructure, and things rarely happen on time (rustic is definitely the word I would use) - but that makes me love Tonga all the more - and I will be back!
Thank you for reading my post: The Perfect 2-Week Itinerary for Tonga!
If you enjoyed the read, please consider subscribing to my blog, where I post articles once per week filled with travel tips, inspiration, and stories from my adventures around the world.
Happy Travels
xx
Comments