Chapter 164: The Kingdom of Tonga!

We left Niue a week ago Saturday and we both were so sad to leave but excited for our next destination, the Kingdom of Tonga.  The trip from Niue to Tonga was around 240 nautical miles,  or about a 1.5 to 2 day passage.  However, we would cross the International Date line so we would become time travelers!! When you cross from east to west, you lose a day so we are officially a day ahead of most of our readers now!  We arrived in Tonga on Tuesday, 7/22 or Monday, 7/21 back in the US! 

The Kingdom of Tonga is divided into 4 groups of islands, comprising a total of 176 islands in all.  We made landfall at the second most northern group of islands called the Vava’u group. We arrived at the port of entry, Neiafu around 12pm on Tuesday morning.  In Tonga, you must bring your boat to the customs wharf to be boarded and checked in by customs officials.  We had heard from friends who had already visited here as well as our online cruiser forums, that this dock is extremely tricky to tie up to and has the potential for boat damage due to the concrete and rebar posts on the dock as well as a sunken vessel at the end of the dock. We had also been told to expect to be here for at least 2- 3 hours as it is a lengthy process. As we approached, we called on VHF  to request permission to dock and made our approach. We were extremely thankful for once that there was almost no wind!  It made safely navigating to the dock much easier. We were also very grateful that there were two customs officials waiting at the dock for us and helped us with our lines.  We came in at low tide so the dock was extremely high and it would have been very challenging without assistance.  We knew that customs closed for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30pm so we were not sure if we would have to wait but once we were secured, three customs officials came on board and we completed our paperwork.  I am not sure if we just got extremely lucky and had three very efficient officials or if they were in a hurry to be done by lunch, but our entire check in process took less than 30 minutes! It was awesome and they even helped us with our lines when we left the dock – a great experience overall compared to what we had been told to expect!  

In Neiafu, it is not recommended to anchor due to the coral on the bottom and the depth of the water.  Instead there are many mooring balls installed throughout the bay. And if you can believe it, every single one was taken!! This is a very popular time of year for cruisers and there was not a single spot left for us.  After reviewing our options, we decided to head to an anchorage out of town for overnight and to try again on Wednesday.  On Wednesday morning, we got up and I noticed on AIS that one of the boats in town appeared to be underway and heading out of the channel, so we pulled anchor in hopes of getting to the mooring ball they had vacated before someone else did.  We got to town and cruised up and down the mooring field but did not see anything open again!  We were just getting ready to depart once again when Bob spotted someone on a sailboat nearby who appeared to be getting ready to leave their mooring.  We hovered and yes, they were leaving and we were able to slip into their spot! Finally! We got Meraviglia secured and took the dinghy to shore to officially step foot onto Tonga! We had a great location,right in front of Mango Cafe – a restaurant that caters to cruisers and provides a free dinghy dock and lots of services, i.e. laundry, fuel, propane etc.  We had a nice lunch there (except maybe for the cat that adopted Bob and would not stay off of his lap!)and then took a walk into town.  On our way, we spotted our first pig wandering around.  Pigs in Tonga are not just livestock, they hold significant cultural importance. They are a central part of Tongan culture, appearing in feasts, ceremonies, and even as a unique tourist attraction especially the “fishing pigs” that forage for seafood at low tide.  We saw a number of them in the yards, wallowing in mud, and walking along the main road. We visited the bank and a few stores before returning to the boat for the night.

On Thursday, we took all of our diesel cans to shore to have them refilled as well as our laundry and propane – it was great to be able to do it all through the Mango cafe, very convenient as it would all be done by the next day.  We then went back to town as we heard that the supply ship had been in port the day before and the stores had restocked.  We definitely saw more on the shelves on our return trip but the best find was the local market. The Utakalongalu Farmer’s Market is open every day and it definitely has the best selection of fruits and vegetables we have seen in quite some time!  It was great to get so many fresh veggies and to be able to eat a salad! Definitely a high point!  After returning to the boat, we took a look at the weather and messaged our sailing coaches about an upcoming potential for some high winds and adverse weather. While the area with the mooring balls was very protected, you are still taking a risk when you rely on a mooring, especially one that deep that you cannot visually inspect.  We reached out to a local dive shop to see if he could share any info on how well the moorings there were maintained.  He shared that in general the moorings there range from really professional to moorings being anchored by some random steel structures or engines chained together, definitely not what we wanted to risk Meraviglia’s safety on.   Decision made, we knew we needed to leave the mooring the next day to try and find a protected anchorage to wait out the weather. 

We decided to head back to town one final time on Friday morning to go back to the Farmer’s Market, get some fresh bread, and have breakfast.  We headed back to Meraviglia and headed out around noon.  We decided to go to an anchorage called Lisa’s Beach as it has a high ridge line and is supposed to be pretty protected in the higher winds. We actually had a nice sail over and saw two other anchorages on our way to Lisa’s beach.  When we arrived we found six other boats but plenty of room for us to grab a spot. It is a beautiful spot and we have since had a few more boats join us in the anchorage. It is pretty quiet but you can hear the cows mooing and yesterday a dog and a pig were doing an epic battle at the shoreline, those sounds were not pretty. We have heard lots of birds as well but I have yet to see a flying fox.  There is not really any shore access here but we have heard that there is a rough trail from the shore that we have not explored yet.  It is Sunday here today and in Tonga, Sunday is a sacred day, and is written as such in the Constitution. Everything is closed on Sunday, no domestic aircraft fly on Sundays, and no sporting activities are permitted. It’s a day for family gatherings at church in the morning, followed by a good meal and an afternoon of rest. Out of respect for the local inhabitants and their culture, it is recommended that cruisers refrain from swimming or playing music/partying on board their vessel on Sundays, especially when anchored or moored near a village. So today is a quiet day onboard Meraviglia. Tomorrow we hope to try to go to shore and explore a bit.  We are still keeping an eye on the weather and it looks to calm down by Thursday.  From here we will likely explore some other anchorages in the Vava’u group and then maybe travel further south to the Ha’apai group to increase our chances of seeing the humpback whales.  We need to be in Fiji by mid September for my sister’s visit, so we still have a little time to explore here before we need to make the next big hop.  For now, we will enjoy this beautiful place and it’s people!