I've heard that Tongatapu isn't much to write home about. The Vava'u group is reputedly lovely (and the humpback whales are a major attraction too) but of course the demise of Royal Tongan airways made that a bit problematic for you. I had heard that AirNZ was possibly going to ferry one of its B1900s over to provide some domestic flights, but I haven't heard what has happened since. A hell of a blow for Tongan tourism (and at a time when they were just managing to raise their profile, especially in the USA), to have its main attraction out of reach!
