Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 366

The islands of Tonga's Vava'u
Group are one of the best places
for sailing in the South Pacific

of fog and pressure and it can become quite
claustrophobic, but the sensation lasts only a
few seconds and when it subsides, you are left to
enjoy the eerie stillness.
The Vava'u Group is also excellent for whale-
watching from July to October when humpback
whales come to bear their young before heading
back to Antarctica. But the best aspect of sailing
here is hauling up in a protected anchorage,
spending the evening alone watching the palm
trees sway in the breeze and looking out over the
turquoise waters of the lagoon and beyond to the
big blue. The world will seem far, far away.

500 sail around Tonga's VaVa'u
group

Reliably warm weather, calm waters with good
visibility and over fifty well-protected anchorages
are just some of the reasons why sailors head
for Vava'u - the most northerly of Tonga's three
island groups and one of the best places for
sailing in the South Pacific. Several yacht-charter
companies operate out of Neiafu, the main town
on Vava'u Island, whose Port Refuge Harbour is
the best-protected in Tonga and the gateway to
over fifty offshore islands within the archipelago.
One of the features of the offshore islands
is the sea caves dotted along the coastline.
The most well-known is Mariner's Cave - a
couple of hours' sailing southwest of Neiafu at
Nuapapu Island. The cave can't be seen above
water and its location is not marked by any
signposts (its whereabouts is described in terms
of the topography of nearby cliffs), but if you
manage to locate the entrance, you can free-dive
underwater for about 3m then cross under a
tunnel for 4m before you surface inside the cave.
Inside, the swell from the sea causes a build-up

Need to know You can hire small yachts (min 3
days) from operators based at the Port of Refuge in
Neiafu. Sailing Safaris ( W www.sailingsafaris.com)
rents a 26ft yacht for US$160 per day; SailTonga
( W www.sailtonga.com) has a 45ft ketch for
US$250 per day full-board; Manu-o-ku ( W www.
manuoku.com) runs skippered cruises on board a
37ft trimaran for US$415 for two people per night
full-board. For details of other activities, such as
kayaking and whale-watching, see W www.vavau.
to. It is also possible to crew on yachts sailing from
New Zealand to Tonga (for details see p.376).