Recent Tonga info?
 

Planning a trip to Tonga for my honeymoon, and probably will go for sailing with the Moorings. Anybody have recent trip info there? I will probably be flying out of Singapore with Air New Zealand to Auckland, which seems to be the way to go. I guess I fly into HPA, then somehow get up to the Vavuu islands where I pickup the boat?

Not sure if this is the ideal place for a honeymoon. We are adventurers, and have been to quite a few place and this just seemed well off the beaten track and likely beautiful.

MoreCoffeePlease

I've heard Royal Tonga Airlines is 'extremely' sporadic and unreliable these days (even less than it used to be), so plan accordingly.. BTW, the flights within Tonga go from Nuku'alofa to Ha'api then onward to Vava'u. You can also get to Nuku from Suva Fiji (not Nadi) via Air Fiji and I'm pretty sure there are direct flights to Vava'u from somewhere outside of Tonga as Vava'u is a popular expat/yacht locale. Perhaps from Fiji, I dont remember.

NZ flies to Nuku'alofa from AKL.

I dont have any recent info, but recall some months ago that Royal Tonga Airlines collapsed. Not sure if there's any flights within Tonga, although probably is by now even if its only charter type?

I'll be in Tonga this March for my honeymoon as well. One week in Ha'apai and one week in Vava'u. There's a new airline there called Peau Vavau operating regularly a couple of DC-3s around the islands. When are you going? I'll post fresh info here as soon as I get back.

FR

We were there last year. NZ, FJ (Air Pacific) and PH (Polynesian) all serve Nuku'alofa.

From the little we saw of Tonga, I am sure you will have a great time. We got off the beaten track a little in Samoa and it was glorious - one of our great holiday experiences. I would imagine Vavau'u would be similar.

Air NZ in, Peau Vevau around the islands
 

My trip is planned for early-July. I'll check out Peau Vavau air. Still working on getting the Air NZ flight to their, but their website keeps telling me that nothing is available going in, but no problem going out?

Are you flexible on dates? NZ flight to/from Tonga isnt daily.

Are you looking for paid tix or award? What class (NZ64 only has economy, other flights NZ66 and NZ26 have economy and business)?

KF,

Flexible going on either July 4,5 from Auckland and would go on a Star Alliance award ticket if possible. Preferably economy otherwise, but I'd take business if I had to for those dates.

Tried the Air New Zealand site, and wow, it was a hassle. Using the "Mutliple Cities" option SIN-AKL-TBU, TBU-AKL-SIN and putting in the near-exact times ("Anytime" would not do it! :confused: ) I was able to eventually get the ticket for a grand price of S$17,404 (US$10,000!). There must be other ways to book Air NZ tickets?

MoreCoffeePlease

I think I see why its having trouble pulling it up.

On 4th July NZ64 departs 10:15pm, many hours after the latest arrival from Singapore. There is discounted economy available on this sector.
On 5th July NZ26 departs 4:30pm, but no discounted economy available.

Are you wanting stopover in Auckland or is it same day arrive in AKL head out to Tonga?

You can select SIN to TBU on the main page (without entering legs separately) if not stopping over in AKL.

Have you tried as separate tickets? One SIN-AKL return (this could be NZ once daily or SQ 1/2 daily) and the other AKL-TBU return. That prices out much lower (around NZ$3000 all up for a return date I picked at random) although higher than I'd expect.

KW,

You are right--separate tickets is the way to go. It seems that the expensive leg on AirNZ is from SIN-AKL. If I take another airline, such as Emirates, the cost is substantially less at US$690 ^ versus US$1781 on AirNZ. Next step is to see what it costs for business class. And still need to sort out the local flights.

Thanks KW.

MoreCoffeePlease

Also SQ may be worth checking out. They sometimes have internet specials on this route - but probably not much cheaper than the Emirates figure. Needless to say ex BKK prices tend to be cheaper (no NZ flight though).

Regarding the internal flights, we booked it all through Pacific Travel Marketing Ltd ([email protected]). They were great and quite fast. The return ticket Tongatapu-Vava’u-Ha’apai-Tongatapu costed T$407.00 plus T$15.00 tax per adult person.

FR

Hope the backyard Tonga Pig is still alive!
 

I visited Tonga X-mas 2002 and imagine that nothing much has changed. 'Time' tends to stand still there. Had a wonderful time! ^ ^ ^

Used a UA 30,000 point award ticket to fly Air New Zealand from SYD via AKL business class. Had a stopover in AKL on the way back. Very good value for the miles you have to travel. Kiwiflyer, I believe you are correct, Royal Tonga Airlines, owned by the King, did go belly up...

Do attend Sunday morning mass on the main island. We went on Christmas Day - the singing is AMAZING and you instantly become one of the locals! :D

People are very, very friendly. Although Tongans look very 'imposing' your safety is not at risk at any time! Relax & enjoy!

Beware, accommodation is 'basic' and a lot of the things don't work (properly) and won't be fixed either... If you're happy with 'basic' you won't be disappointed!

Here's the link to Ozstamps (day to day) thread on our trip at the time:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ighlight=Tonga

The visit to the tiny island of Eu'a is well worth it, especially if you are 'adventurers'. The 5 o'clock pig 'rush hour' alone is worth it! :D :D
I'm led to believe by our hosts that whale watching/diving is spectacular when in season (Sept-Nov?). The photos they showed us certainly looked the part! We organised our trip via the local travel agent: going over by ferry (you cross the deepest water rift in the world - and it's a bit 'wild & woolly'). We flew back which was another adventure. The flight attendant welcomes you with a basket of seat belts extensions because (most of) the locals cannot buckle up using just the fitted one...). Of course, everyone and everything gets weighted before it all goes on board the small plane...

Found a website link on Eu'a:
http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/t...estin/eua.html
We stayed at the "Hide Away" guest house - very simple, yet special...
It's a father and son operation building it up again after a super wave destroyed the original and apparently very nice accommodation that was built over the water. They have re-build 6 'basic' rooms now, this time 20m away from the beach. The son was our guide for the two days/two nights we were on the island and he was very good.

All prices in/around Tonga are very reasonable. You go back to a way of life that doesn't exist anymore in the western world... :D :D

I beg to differ: a friend of mine was violently mugged in Nuku'alofa last year and ended up in the hospital with a concussion. It was the 1st day of his visit, he was on his way back to the hotel and he asked the way from a friendly local... who directed him into an alley where he was promptly clobbered by three masked men.

For what it's worth, according to the police he had the dubious honor of being the first (non-resident) foreigner to be robbed in 2004, so the odds of this happening are rather low. But don't throw all caution to the wind :(