The Vava’u group of islands in Tonga isn’t just a wonderful place to see whales, it is a fabulous cruising ground for us yachties. With so many possible anchorages with reefs and islands to hide behind, protection from just about any direction of wind can be found.  Miles of sandy beaches to stretch the legs and hunt for shells, clear water to swim and snorkel, what more could we possibly ask for. The outer reefs do a great job of breaking down the Pacific Ocean swell leaving just wind-chop inside the group when the wind piped up, which was actually quite frequent.

The entrance to the main harbour at Neiafu as seen from Mount Talau

A view of the town with Joy anchored in the secluded Old Harbour, a huge empty bay to the east of Neiafu

Going ‘off the beaten track’ requires a big stick and a watch out for these huge spiders

One of many colourful Polynesian stories

School children explore the reef at low tide during their lunch break

Tongan burial grounds often have large posters of the deceased at the grave and are decorated with plastic flowers and colourful quilts. I like the fact that they don’t use the words ‘Born’ and ‘Died’, instead calling them ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Sunset’.

Standard school uniform for the boys

Working his plot

 Dog-tired

Tongan piglets are playful little creatures and bound about like excited puppies

The Kapok tree is a member of the Ceiba family and produces a cotton-like material used to stuff upholstery and cushions

A large  ‘cotton bud’ from the Kapok tree

We found an interesting reef to snorkel off Mala island with dozens of starfish, hard and soft corals and plenty of colourful fish. We also spotted a few fascinating Crown of Thorns starfish which we have never seen before. Unlike an ordinary starfish it’s quite flexible and has multiple arms, up to 23 infact, and each arm is covered in thorn-like spines which are quite venomous.  It preys on hard corals, feeding on the polyps by extruding its stomach out through its mouth over the coral surface to about the same diameter as its body!  Digestive enzymes from the stomach are then excreted and the liquefied coral cells absorbed, leaving behind a bleached white coral skeleton. Apparently a single Crown of Thorns starfish can consume up to 6 square meters of living coral reef per year, so they can pose a threat to a healthy reef when found in large numbers.

Spot the small pipe fish below the top coral, they are members of the same family as the seahorse but have a straight body with a small fan at the end of the tail.

The pipefish playing hide’n’seek

The beautiful Red Slate Pencil Urchin

There’s a creature hiding under that shell!

Crown of Thorns starfish

Entrance to Swallows Cave

Inside Swallows Cave – this is not a reflection in the water, the water is so clear the underwater world is clearly visible

We particularly enjoyed the eastern islands which seemed far less popular, perhaps as to get there a yacht has to cross an awkward area of reef.  With the assistance of Google Earth (via a great app called Ovitalmap, which downloads Google Earth maps and stores them in a cache for viewing offline) we were able to define the best route to take across the reef.  I kept a lookout for coral heads at the bow as we zig-zagged our way across the reef without seeing less than 6 metres of water under the boat.  The reward was some beautiful anchorages and a network of small islands, some inhabited with a single village where the residents are certainly less use to seeing tourists. As we wandered through the narrow car-less streets of Oloua island to the beach, followed by a very friendly local lady who seemed to be keeping a close eye on us,  a small child pointed at us and said “Palangi, Palangi” which means foreigner!

A noddy pays us a visit

Some wonderful sailing between the islands

Back on the main island at the town of Neiafu, we could stock up at the wonderful local fresh produce market where the lovely ladies often put extra ‘gifts’ of produce in our bags.

The daily market at Neiafu

After the simple process of renewing our visas for another 30 days it was time to move on, with the wind briefly shifting from a strong southeasterly to a much kinder 10-15 knot easterly over night this would give us a better sailing angle to the next Tongan islands, the Ha’apai group just 65 miles south.