Beach Holidays in Tonga

tonga beach resort picture

Tonga beach holidays offer unrivalled seclusion with absolutely no crowds and the feeling that you are really lost in heaven somewhere in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. There are plenty of stunning uninhabited islands to explore throughout Tonga with the most accessible being right off Nuku'alofa Town on the main island of Tongatapu.

The beaches in Tonga are mostly fringed by a coral reef with a sheltered inner lagoon good for snorkelling. Generally, these beaches do not have waves for body-surfing and are often littered with coral heads in the lagoon making them dangerous for small children with sharp coral pieces on the sea-bed, and the lagoons are often too shallow for swimming especially at low tide. There are of course exceptions, such as Sandy Beach in Ha'apai which has a beautiful swimming lagoon. The most popular beach in Tonga is at Ha'atafu on the main island of Tongatapu, although even here you're unlikely to see more than a handful of people at any one time. The day-trip island of Pangaimotu is often busy at weekends with locals and a fun place to visit.

Tongatapu Beach Holidays

Tongatapu Lagoon here has about a dozen uninhabited islands with gorgeous beaches that are seldom visited by tourists and a couple of these islands have small resorts. There are also good beaches on Tongatapu at the western tip of the island (Ha'atafu Beach) and a string of smaller cove beaches along the craggy souther coast as well as at Oholei on the remote eastern side of Tonga.

Ha'apai Beach Holidays

The beaches in Ha'apai are the prettiest in Tonga with the deep stretch of sand along the west coast of Foa Island being amongst the best in the South Pacific, the location of Ha'apai's only two resorts. If you want to explore a wild beach setting head over top the east coast of Lifuka Island where an unusual assortment of debris from the South Pacific ocean washes ashore and makes for great beachcombing. If you simply want to get lost and leave solitary footprints in the sand, wade over to uninhabited Uolevu Island which has several kilometres of beach strewn with palm trees to enjoy.

Vava'u Beach Holidays

The beaches of Vava'u are not the main selling point with snorkelling, diving, sailing, kayaking, game fishing and whale watching the main reasons to visit this island group. The nicest beaches are found on the offshore islands which can be visited on day cruises or by staying at one of the island resorts.