Tonga‘s main island, Tongatapu, which is shaped like a medieval slipper, has a rugged, rocky southern coast on its sole and a sheltered, sandy toe. The blowholes through the coral terraces at Houma on the southern coast are spectacular. To the west, the slipper‘s toe curves around the excellent beach between Ha‘atafu and Monotapu. This section of the coast has safe swimming and snorkelling, and the bestknown reef break in Tonga for boardriders is located at Ha‘atafu.

The Ha‘apai Islands, Tonga‘s central group, are almost all low coral islands surrounded by beaches of creamy sand providing safe swimming, snorkelling and canoeing. Just to the west are two volcanic cone islands, Tofua and Kao. Tofua has a crater lake, and it‘s possible to take a flight on a float plane from the island of Lifuka and land on the lake. The mutiny on the Bounty occurred off Tofua in April 1789.

In the north of Tonga is Vava‘u, the loveliest group of islands in the kingdom. It consists of a few high islands and many atolls, comprising a labyrinth of sheltered waterways and passages, culminating at the sheltered harbour town of Neiafu.

The town is the centre for yacht charters. The vessels are moored at the town‘s doorstep and can be sailed throughout the Vava‘u Group, which offers scores of safe anchorages. Whale watching is very popular off the Vava‘u Islands, as is scuba diving, gamefishing and ocean kayaking. The several resorts around Neiafu provide equipment for all these marine excursions. A striking landmark is Mariner‘s Cave, a hollow in Nuapapu Island approached through an underwater tunnel in the island‘s rocky face. It is named after Will Mariner, a young Englishman who wrote a popular book about these islands after his release from capture here in the early nineteenth century.