2 weeks in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa
Summary
Moving from one spot of paradise to the next; super friendly people; picture perfect spots that scream “I want to go!”; and having some truly unforgettable adrenaline-throbbing moments by swimming with Humpback Whales and diving with the Tiger Sharks. For sure Fiji, Tonga and Samoa are in the middle of nowhere, but this is a world class 2 weeks
Below I’ve given the itinerary we took and the links to the individual entries on each of the travel experiences
highlights
#1 Staying in a true bit of paradise in the middle of the Pacific. Various options, but Vava'u in Tonga stood out
#2 Swimming with Humpback Whales in Tonga!
#3 Jumping into the picture-perfect Sua Ocean Trench in Samoa
#4 Diving up close with Tiger Sharks just off Beqa Island in Fiji
#5 Seeing the beautiful and luscious interior of Fiji on a white-water rafting trip down the Navua River
#6 Kayaking to the nearby islands in the Vava'u island chain and seeing one picture perfect spot after another
#7 Diving with 20+ Bull Sharks near Beqa Island in Fiji . . . terrifying
#8 Some more chilled out diving in the beautiful reefs that surround these islands
#9 The peaceful waters that surround Beqa Island and being followed home by pods of dolphins
#10 Enjoying lunches in some gorgeous spots
Rough itinerary
Day 1-6 Tonga. Unforgettable Swimming with Humpback Whales and relaxing in paradise in Vava’u for 6 days / 5 nights. You most likely will fly to Vava’u in Tonga via Nadi in Fiji, so there is the option to spend a couple of nights there, especially after the long flight and to account for flight times down to Tonga
Day 6 – fly from Vava’u back to Fiji, make your way to Pacific Harbour on the south coast via taxi and get a boat over to Beqa Island (the resort on the island will have someone to bring you)
Day 7-9 -Fiji. Diving with bull and tiger sharks off Beqa Island. Don’t watch Jaws beforehand. Leave on the afternoon of the 9th day back to Pacific Harbour
Day 10 – Fiji. White rafting on the Navua River, near Pacific Harbour
Day 11 – fly from Fiji to Samoa and stay somewhere on the south coast
Day 12-15 – Samoa. Chill out driving around the island, enjoying the great food, and visiting the picture perfect The Sua Ocean Trench at the end of the world
Travel Tips
- Be prepared for Island Time – its a real thing. Stuff very rarely starts on time, but, if you give it a chance, you may start to enjoy the super laid back attitude of the Pacific Islanders
- Also be prepared for quite undeveloped spots – in particular some of the local airports
- Go to fly quite a bit unfortunately. Definitely there (did anyone mention these places are in the middle of the Pacific?), but also between islands where you have 4 in total based on this itinerary, and having to go back through Fiji each time
- Costs – rough breakdown per person is (hotels split between 2):
- Tonga – staying in the Treasure Island Eco-Resort on ‘Eua’iki Island US$1400
- Fiji – diving and staying in Beqa Island US$500; Rafting and local hotel US$300; transport US$100
- Samoa – accommodation and driving around enjoying the sights US$250
- Flights within the islands US$400
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Country-wide Trips
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone