Vava’u Tonga,
Not only is Vava’u a cruiser’s paradise, the islands and barrier reef of this group make for some fantastic diving. One does feed into the other. In order to get to the dives sites you have to be able to traverse the water between the islands, which means hiring a dive boat or bringing your own. This keeps a limitation on how many people actually get to the sites which in turn keeps the dive areas in pristine condition.
Underwater Tonga was unique in that among all the islands we’ve seen, in Tonga the coral really steals the show. With colors including lime green, purple, red and every hue in between not to mention varying in size from the size of a hand to well larger than a human, the coral in Vava’u was a sight to behold. Most of it was close enough to the surface and received enough sunlight to really bring out the beauty lying just below the surface. The crystal clear water everywhere you went didn’t hurt either.
Also, you remember Finding Nemo? We don’t think they actually live in Australia. Yes well we’d bet even money that the story began in Tonga because everyone but the key grip was represented during our explorations. In fact, Tiffany has noticed the more west we travel, the more species of both coral and sea life we encounter. Not sure if this is just how coral migrates, but it is interesting…and ridiculously gorgeous!
For more South Pacific diving, Click on “Then we swam UNDER the island”
About the authors
Greg and Tiffany are traveling around the world on sailing yachts and keep a video blog of their (mis)adventures. If sailing to Tahiti on a 44 ft sailboat, getting pooped on by seagulls, opening coconuts with dull machetes, sailing past tornadoes and ukulele Christmas carols are for you, then check them out at www.CoastGuardCouple.com!
