Tuvalu - Facts

Tuvalu FAQs

Pre-Arrival Boat: No advance notification required. See Clearance for details.
Pre-Arrival Crew: None - VOA. See Immigration for details.
Where can I enter? Funafuti is the only port of entry.
Are fees high to enter by yacht? There is no charge for clearance during working hours – see Fees for details.
What security concerns should I know about? None. See Security for more info.

Tuvalu Facts for Sailors

• Formerly the Ellice Islands, the name Tuvalu means "cluster of eight", although the group, in fact, consists of nine low-lying coral atolls. Only eight of them were inhabited when the name was chosen, but a small community of just 11,000 citizens now lives on previously uninhabited Niurakita, the southernmost island of the archipelago.
• The islands lie just below the equator and west of the Dateline, their nearest neighbours being Kiribati, 200 miles to the north, and Fiji, 600 miles south. With a total land area of only 11 sq miles (26 sq km), Tuvalu is one of the smallest countries in the world, spread out in half a million square miles of ocean.
• The eight atolls that comprise Tuvalu are slowly disappearing as sea levels rise. NASA scientists predict that much of Tuvalu’s critical infrastructure will sit below the level of the current high tide by 2050. In an effort to preserve the country, the Tuvalu government is spending millions of dollars on land reclamation, however, they are also creating a virtual replica of Tuvalu called the Digital Nation Project. It is hoped that this will preserve the nation's beauty, culture and legal rights of its citizens for generations to come. Find out more here.
• Visited by just over a handful of yachts every year, for the cruisers that do visit here (often en-route from Tonga to the Marshall Islands), Tuvalu is the highlight of their Pacific cruising – as described by SY Oh Joy II who visited here in 2023 and SV Sugar Shack in April 2025
• The small island communities still lead a very traditional lifestyle. See Local Customs.
• The nation's largest source of income comes from the leasing of its unique country code domain name, “.tv”
• With the exception of the main island of Funafuti, yachts rarely visit the islands (on average 12 a year). Although some only have precarious anchorages in the lee of a fringing reef, the lagoon is accessible in at least two islands, at Nukufetau and Nanumea, and there are plans to open passes into some of the other lagoons. See Outer Atolls.
• Whilst in the past it was possible to request permission to visit some of the other islands, this concession has been abused by some yachts and the procedure is now much more complicated with permits no longer being automatically granted.
• For information on supplies and provisions, see Yachting Essentials.
• Water is scarce, as the islands rely on rainfall. In the rainy season, rain can be heavy and one can easily collect enough.