Tongatapu
The closest island resort to Nuku’alofa, Pangaimotu makes an easy day trip. Daily departures (including Sunday) chug out from the wharf beside the Fish Market at 11am, returning at 4pm (Sundays departing hourly 10am to 1pm, returning 4pm, 5pm and 6pm). The trip takes about 10 minutes. There’s a decent beach, a good restaurant and shipwreck snorkelling – bring the kids!
If you want to stay the night, Pangaimotu Island Resort has simple fale (doubles from T$100).
10.14 MILES
On an especially good day at Mapu’a ‘a Vaea (Chief’s Whistles), hundreds of blowholes spurt skywards at once. Time your visit for a windy day with a…
7.12 MILES
The South Pacific’s equivalent of Stonehenge, the Ha’amonga ‘a Maui (Maui’s Burden) trilithon near Niutoua, is one of ancient Polynesia’s most intriguing…
2.73 MILES
Want to see the real of Nuku’alofa? Wander through the aisles at Talamahu, Tonga's main fresh-produce hub. You’ll find produce piled into handmade woven…
12 MILES
On the sunset side of the island, Ha’atafu Beach is a sandy slice protected by a reef, where some of Tonga's best surf peels in (experienced surfers only…
8.52 MILES
Near nowhere in particular is this impressive arch, aka ‘the pigeon’s doorway’ – a natural land bridge over the pounding Pacific waves, formed when the…
4.36 MILES
The Mu’a area contains Tonga's richest concentration of archaeological remnants. In AD 1200, Tu’itatui, the 11th of the Tu’i Tonga kings, moved the royal…
2.46 MILES
Honeymooners, start your engines! Fronting onto a magnificent beach, Fafá Island Resort is the most elegant on Tongatapu’s offshore islands, but it makes…
6.72 MILES
Tongatapu’s most famous cave is an over-loved, slightly eerie place full of stalactites and stalagmites, and blackened from the soot of flaming-frond…
1.96 MILES
St Mary's Cathedral, near Faua Jetty, is worth visiting for its beautiful rose gardens, stained glass and vaulted ceiling.
2.46 MILES
Honeymooners, start your engines! Fronting onto a magnificent beach, Fafá Island Resort is the most elegant on Tongatapu’s offshore islands, but it makes…
2.73 MILES
Want to see the real of Nuku’alofa? Wander through the aisles at Talamahu, Tonga's main fresh-produce hub. You’ll find produce piled into handmade woven…
2.84 MILES
Encircled by expansive lawns and casuarina trees, the white weatherboard Victorian-style Royal Palace, erected in 1867, is the pinnacle of Tongan grandeur…
5. Basilica of St Anthony of Padua
3.01 MILES
Nuku'alofa's most distinctive structure is the Basilica of St Anthony of Padua, opposite the Royal Tombs. It has a beautiful interior of stained glass,…
3.03 MILES
Royal watchers and rubberneckers (regardless of denomination) head to this towering white church for a glimpse of Tonga's royal family at Sunday service,…
3.13 MILES
Mala’ekula, the large parklike area opposite the basilica, has been the resting place of the royals since 1893. The statue-studded white concrete tomb…
3.56 MILES
As you round the coast to the north of Mu’a, keep an eye out for Tonga's famed fishing pigs. When the tide is out, these unusual porkers trot out into the…