We were the first yacht to visit Tonga’s Niuatoputapu Island in 2024.  800 people live there and 50 more on the nearby volcano of Tafahi. Coming from French Polynesia we needed to clear into Tonga. So we sent the mandatory 24 hour pre-arrival form to info@customs.gov.to by email and got a cryptic error message in return.

Navigation of the 30 meters wide pass was not difficult thanks to the well placed buoys and accurate leading line. Hardly any current with a tidal range or around 1.5 meters. Our electronic chart/GPS was 40 meters off. After the last buoy pair, various shallows on the way to the wharf in Falehau are indicated by sticks and signs. Pass them on the correct side.

There is a good anchorage here, windy but no waves. Anchor in good holding sticky sand (volcanic ash?) depth 6-10 meters just past the concrete wharf.

Customs is in Vaipoa near the police station. Ask for Onesi. Her email is address is kaufoouonesi74@gmail.com. Customs organizes the check-in process with immigration, health, biosecurity.  As the check-in process is done on the boat at anchor in Falehau, we were asked to bring five people to our boat  using our dinghy. The clearance process costed 125 Tongan Panga. No foreign currency is accepted.

Falehau

In Hihifo there is no bank or ATM nor anywhere else on the island and you cannot pay by card.  After long negotiations the only shop here was willing to exchange our US Dollars, at a price so that we could pay customs.

You can buy 7GB data sims which are available for 5+20 Panga in Hihifo near the TCC satellite dish. Speed is HSDPA, slow and there is limited range. Communications may have improved since our visit.

Pandanus is used for weaving. It is grown, harvested and processed locally.

Yacht crew is welcome to contact Tiueh +676 758 5721 for any questions or for information on the island. When we visited she was hoping to obtain a VHF radio because telephone and internet only work in limited places.

Stefan Jeukendrup
SV Malaka Queen

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About the Author

Stefan and Stella Jeukendrup are sailing around the world on their Malaka Queen, a 53 foot ketch built by Chantiers Amel in 2002. She was bought in September 2017 on the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and has since sailed more than 43,000nm across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to New Zealand.

Follow their journey at:

• SV Malaka Queen

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