Lushly forested volcanic mountains and white beaches are easily accessible. The dusk flights of the sacred fruit bats are not to be missed. The country also has a growing reputation as a sailing and game fishing destination, with many sheltered waterways to explore and remote bays to anchor in for the night. Tourism infrastructure is not as developed as larger Pacific Islands, but there is still a wide range of comfortable, clean accommodation and a growing range of activities on land and sea. The country is easy to get to, and easy to get around.
Food is plentiful and includes dishes unique to the islands.
And the Tongan people are as welcoming now as they were to Captain Cook. Tonga is the first country to grace the globe west of the International Dateline, lying as it does at about 175 o West and 20 o South. With an actual land mass of only 750 square kilometres, it is an archipelago of 170 islands spread over 360,000 square kilometres of Pacific Ocean. The islands are a fascinating mixture of rugged volcanic mountains and coral atolls - often with the coral beaches fringing the imposing volcanic structure. However, as a rule, the eastern islands, including the main island of Tongatapu, are atolls, while the western islands are more volcanic.