You stand a fair chance of landing a crew position if you loiter at major yacht clubs in the USA between May and October, when yachties take advantage of favourable winds and weather conditions. By late November the Pacific empties of yachts as the cyclone season fires up. If you're not planning to sing in the rain with the locals, you probably should scatter with the sun-chasing nautical types. Getting Around A number of privately owned boats are for hire. If you feel energetic, Funafuti's main island can be explored by bicycles which are available for hire at the Vaiaku Lagi Hotel.
Minibuses run regularly around the island and a taxi service is also available.
Atoll-hopping on Tuvalu can be frustrating and expensive. Ideally, you will have borrowed your uncle's yacht and can move around at will. More likely, though, you'll be one of the hundreds of visitors a year who make it to Funafuti and no further. There are no other airstrips aside from the international airport on Funafuti, so sea travel is your only option. There is one government-run passenger and cargo vessel, the Nivaga II , that plies the coral reefs between the islands.