Ha’apai Group
When you reach Ha’apai, you will find that time has stopped. There are no traffic jams, no crowds, no queues – just peace and tranquility.
Independent travellers consider the Ha’apai group to be Tonga’s best-kept secret and one they hope will never be discovered by mass tourism. With its prolific wildlife and pristine natural beaches, Ha’apai is a wonderful eco-tourism destination, and a paradise for divers and snorkellers.
The Ha’apai group is comprised of 62 islands. The islands include barrier reefs, shallow lagoons, coral shoals, and even active volcanoes, but most are small low-lying coral atolls. The size of the smallest island is less than 1 hectare, and even the largest island is less than 18 square miles. The total land mass of the Ha’apai group is less than 43 square miles, and those islands are spread over less than 4,000 square miles of ocean.
Of the 62 islands in the Ha’apai group, only 17 are inhabited. On those 17 islands, there are approximately 8,000 people settled in 30 villages. As throughout Tonga, all but a few of the population are of Polynesian descent, and almost all are active members of a Christian church.
There are east-west passes between islands which somewhat separate islands in to groups. However, the Ha’apai islands are most obviously separated in to an east and west group. The eastern islands are a series of barrier islands running north-south, and the western islands are individual islands. However, the east-west passes between the barrier islands do define the ‘soft’ boundaries between the four groups of western islands. From north to south, the western islands are sometimes described as the northern group, Lulunga group, Nomuka group, and southern group.
It was on Lifuka Island that Captain Cook landed and, after a warm reception, later described the Kingdom of Tonga as “The Friendly Islands”. It was also in the waters of Ha’apai, near the volcanic island of Tofua, that the famous ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ took place and Captain William Bligh was set adrift in a small boat.
A walk around the sleepy capital of Lifuka on the main island of Pangai is a must, if for no other reason than to savor the slow pace of life. Visit the Shirley Baker monument in the European cemetery and the site of the Velata Fortress.
Relax and put on your bathing suit (swimmers), hire some snorkels and flippers or diving gear and discover the magnificent coral reefs and caves that abound in Ha’apai. You can also try your skill at sea kayaking or horse riding along a beautiful white sandy beach.
Hire a boat for a day and explore one of the many other islands in the Ha’apai group. Some are inhabited but you may find you own deserted South Pacific Island.
