Excellent snorkeling site with a good range of depths, large table corals
and abundant fish life including some of the bigger guys cruising by in
the deeper spots.
There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.
Swallows Cave, Vava'u, Tonga
Stunning spot to snorkel. There are two caves here, the northern cave
is fun to start in with a bonus secret cave to the left of the entrance
That you swim down and up into (a good introduction if you plan to do
Mariner's cave later). there is a tropic bird that roosts on the inside
Edge of the main cave which you might catch a glimpse of as it flies in or
Out. next swim out and along the wall which drops away steeply in crystal
Blue water so that you can see shadows of schools of fish cruising past
Down below.
Ha'afeva
Anchor on the sheltered western side of the island near the wharf. This is
an excellent all weather anchorage with a safe wide northern entrance.
From here you can dinghy ashore and follow the road past the crop fields
to the eastern side of the island where the village is. Chat to the
friendly locals and if you're around on a Sunday go along to a church
service and hear the amazing singing.
Uoleva
Anchorages are large and sheltered with good holding in sand. Uoleva has no village but a couple of resorts, the island's big enough though that you can still feel you have it mostly to yourself. Great snorkeling and lovely to walk around - we don't recommend taking a "short-cut" through the island though...spiders! Not dangerous ones, just huge and super abundant - like negotiating a laser field.
Uanukuhahaki
This is an absolutely stunning spot to stop and relax for a few days, walk
around Uanukuhahaki and you won't be disappointed. This was our favourite
island to walk around. We saw a huge sea snake making its way up the
beach here and so much more. The top of the island where the water
channels through between it and Tofaga island is pretty awesome and the
sandy bridge between this Uanukuhahaki and Uanukuhihifo is very
picturesque. Great snorkeling spots too, we particularly enjoyed the
spot on the eastern side of the sand bridge for mucking around in the
shallows and saw a leopard shark and sea snake when snorkeling at the
southern end of Uanukuhihifo.
Nomuka
Nomuka was a great village to visit and it wasn't long before a local lad
took us under his wing to show us around and take us up to the village
plantation where he lavished us with a bounty of fresh fruit and greens
and even later joined us for a trip over to Nomuka iki (smaller
neighbouring uninhabited island) for our first umu experience - delicious!
Kelefesia, Ha'apai, Tonga
Beautiful wee island that is privately owned but with no-one living there
permanently. Amazing snorkeling with a reef that drops off
vertically. There is also a wrecked yacht at about 10 m depth on the
northern side of the entrance - if you visit Nomuka you might see the
salvaged solar panel has been put to good use! Stunning introduction to
the Ha'apai group.
Ha'ano, Ha'apai, Tonga
Brilliant dive site, explore the deeper areas on your way out but make
sure you don't miss the shallower stuff on the way back - so much colour
and plenty to see. There is a lovely wee village on the island too which
is remarkably clean and tidy with villagers obviously taking real pride in
their gardens. Apparently there is a big tree with a large fruit bat roost
here somewhere too though we didn't spot it ourselves.
Kelefesia
Small rolly anchorage with room for three yachts max. The entrance can be
fun, navigate with care (Tonga cruising guide has good guidance). This
spot is definitely worth the effort to get here, absolutely beautiful spot
with amazing snorkeling.