Our beach on Uoleva - Coconut Trees, beach and reef... that's itFor all its’ natural beauty, the tourist infrastructure in Ha’apai is basic at best. While this is part of Ha’apai’s charm I would like to point out the following:
What not to do if you travel to Ha’apai:
- Think that you can rely on ATMs or other forms of ‘modern’ banking systems to withdraw cash or pay for services.
- Rely on the majority of locally owned accommodation providers to offer food and drinks for guests.
- Think that locally owned accommodation providers have a basic sense of customer service and can in some way, shape or form, work with foreign owned service providers (such as Scuba Diving/Whale watching businesses) to ensure visitors enjoy their stay as much as possible.
After arriving at Ha’apai’s surprisingly modern looking airport we were promptly greeted by one of the manager’s of our accommodation (Taiana’s Place). Although we had booked the previous week we were informed that there had been a mistake and that all the fales were booked for the weekend and we (myself, Tom and Bruce) would have to share a tent during our stay. Fair enough. However, on that very same flight were a couple and their child who had not booked any accommodation and on asking our manager if there were any rooms available he replied there certainly was and they were welcome to stay at Taiana’s. We laughed it off as we didn’t mind the prospect of sleeping in a tent and would more than likely be collapsing every night after consuming too many beers and Tongan rum.
The weekend was spent with Tafi in hand looking out at this view
However, as we were being driven to the boat for our transfer (Taiana’s is located on Uoleva Island – a 15-60 minute boat transfer depending on how fast the ‘captain’ decides to go) the level of Tongan-style customer service confounded us once more. We asked to stop at the one and only dive shop in Ha’apai (Fins n Fluke) as we wanted to go diving that day and get dropped off to our resort after the dives. We were told in a rambling explanation that the owner of Taiana’s would not like that very much and it would be better off to go straight to Taiana’s. We were a bit confused and insisted that we wanted to go diving. The manager stopped at the dive shop but as I got out of the car to organise the dive he said,
“Um….. I think if you go diving…. You will have to stay somewhere else”.
“Sorry?”
“If you go diving with them, the owner will not like it and you will have to stay somewhere else.”
“Right,” I said slightly confused, “can we go diving with you then?”
“Um… no” I have shortened this answer as it was a rambling Tongan-esque answer and it took us a little while to decipher exactly what he meant.
“If you go diving with them, you cannot stay with us,” the manager finished.
After a slightly awkward silent period during which we all had no idea what was going on we decided to cut our losses. We were incredibly hung-over from the night before (in fact we were lucky to make the flight after leaving home at 715am for an 8am flight, Bruce managed to get us to the airport in 15 minutes, a trip that normally takes 40 minutes) and had no idea if we were able to find another place to stay considering all other accommodation options we had called were booked out for Easter. So we decided to book diving for Monday and then stay on the main island before flying home early on Tuesday. We later learnt that the management of Taiana’s and Fins n Fluke had fallen out with each other over a number of issues ranging from Taiana’s running whale watching tours without a license to Fins n Fluke taking people diving and then transferring the customers to Uoleva, thus ensuring Taiana’s missed out on the semi-lucrative boat transfer charge.
Uoleva from the air
In one word, it was ridiculous. Fins n Fluke were more than happy to take us diving but Taiana’s wouldn’t allow it. We even offered to pay the transfer for our luggage so Taiana’s still got paid the fee but the answer was no. The question is how can an accommodation provider ‘not allow’ a guest to use another service provider? The situation perfectly encapsulates the Tongan way of doing business; they have no sense of customer service and no idea about how service now can affect your long term business. That day they actually kicked out two other couples who went diving. Those couples had to find other accommodation - luckily for us this meant we were able to sleep in a fale and not a tent - where else in the world would this happen? I would confidently wager nowhere.
Our fale complete with coconut tree leaf and garbage bag roof
Despite this start we actually had a great time on Uoleva. We spent our days chilling on the beach, drinking beers and rum (while we didn’t bring any food on the trip we brought enough alcohol to get us through four days…. Good planning!!) before going spear fishing to catch dinner and retiring to the beach to drink more beer and rum (usually warm by this stage due to a lack of fridge, esky or ice) before starting up a fire on the beach for the night. It was a great way to spend three days and the marine life was stunning. There were countless fish, beautiful coral while we also saw a number of large reef sharks, a turtle, eels and stingrays.
There were also a few characters on the island, which kept things interesting. The resort is a family run resort and the head of the family is Kalafi, a one-armed Tongan who used to be the national boxing champion of Tonga, before he lost his arm obviously. Kalafi was telling us one night that while he was born and bred on Uoleva, he discovered that he just “loved to fight” and that as a youngster he would go across to the main island of Pangai to drink and basically look for fights. This led him to take up boxing where, according to Kalafi, he quickly beat opponents from all over Tonga regardless of their weight divisions to become champion of Tonga. This was all before losing his arm in a drunken fight where he was thrown through a glass door; his arm was shattered and had to be amputated.
Kalafi
Taiana’s also had a semi-permanent resident in the American, ‘Lefty’. Lefty (we thought he may have been nicknamed Lefty as he cut Kalafi's right arm off) is 62 and has spent the past four months living at Taiana’s, he has apparently travelled to Tonga each year for the past decade and spent two to six months living on Uoleva each trip. Lefty is a retired gardener/artist/dancer/musician who would like to turn Taiana’s into an “Artist’s Colony”. Personally I thought that was code for a hippy commune where Lefty could smoke all the green he likes and spend his days producing his “modern art”. During our stay Lefty treated us to such entertainment as producing a piece of modern art (it was like one of those paintings you see sometimes where the artist has just thrown different coloured paint at the canvas and called it art), some interpretative dance at breakfast (it was all we could do to keep a straight face after waking up with rum induced hangovers to watch a 62 year old bronzed, topless man, with hair the length of his back dance interpretively for us) and some soothing music which consisted of Lefty simultaneously playing the harmonica, maracas and finger symbols.
Silhouette of Lefty
As Monday rolled around we asked for our bill before setting off to go diving and stay our final night at Matafonoa Lodge on the island of Foa. We only had 525 Pa’anga between the three of us and it turned out (partly due to the fact that Taiana’s seemed to be making up costs and inflating costs as they went along) that we didn’t have enough. At this stage we were unaware of the lack of ATMs in Pangai, the main town of Ha’apai, and asked if we could go to the bank to withdraw the extra money to pay our bill. After being transferred to the main island and visiting the bank of Pangai (which was shut due to it being Easter Monday) we learnt there was not a single ATM in the whole of Ha’apai. We were lucky that one Palangi (white person) owned business, Mariner’s Café, was open and the generous owner Magda, agreed to lend us the money. Again, the owners of Taiana’s seemed to have no idea what to do if customers didn’t have enough cash to pay their bill, however if they informed us at the time of booking that they only accepted cash (which you would think quite sensible), we would have made an effort to carry more money.
After lunch at Mariner’s Café we went diving with Brian and Sabina at Fins n Flukes. I have been living in Tonga for six months and these were my first dives and all I can say is that it was an amazing experience. The visibility was unbelievable and the marine life and coral formations were incredible. Brian and Sabina were great and I would love to travel to Ha’apai again and go diving with them once more when the whales arrive on their migration in June/July. Again we didn’t have any cash to pay our bill, however Brian and Sabina had no problem giving us their bank details to transfer the cash in at a later date.
Our final night on Ha’apai was spent at Matafonoa Lodge on Foa Island. Foa is connected to the main island of Pangai by a crudely constructed causeway and Matafonoa is located right on the tip of the island. It is a beautiful location and the accommodation is pretty decent too with a number of Tongan-style beach front fales scattered about their premises. Matafonoa is owned by an English couple, Darren and his wife (not sure we actually got her name!!), and Darren has previously worked as an underwater cameraman for all manner of documentary channels. We spent the night drinking COLD BEERS (an absolute luxury by that stage), eating a delicious home-cooked dinner and talking rubbish to Darren.
Didnt move far from these chairs most days
Ha’apai is a beautiful place and I would recommend anyone travelling to Tonga go there and spend a few nights relaxing in this beautifully isolated part of the South Pacific. The sad thing is, is that a little bit of service made all the difference in leaving a great impression. If I were to return to Ha’apai I would almost definitely stay at Matafonoa once more, this is despite Taiana’s being cheaper and arguably at a more aesthetically beautiful location. Unfortunately, the issues experienced at Taiana’s pervade elsewhere in Tonga. If Tonga is to become the truly popular tourist destination that its’ natural beauty deserves, Tongans need to learn the basic 101s’ of customer service.
Our pilot Callum ahead of our flight back - managed to get the co-pilot's seat on the flight!
Tonga from the air
Hi You dint happen to bring back a can of Tafi beer. I collect beer cans. Please let me know. Thanks
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