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If you’re planning a trip to Tonga you’re in for a treat. The remote islands offer a taste of what the South Pacific was like before heaps of tourism.
But there’s a catch. Tonga is not set up for tourism as much as the more popular Fiji or Tahiti. You may just find yourself stuck in Tonga. Or delayed. At least temporarily.
I had heard stories of people getting delayed or just outright stuck on the outer islands. I thought I would just be a lucky traveler and no transportation drama would fall on me…. Then I got stuck on ‘Eua for a week.
It happened to me, it can happen to you too, but there’s a way to help combat the (sometimes terrible) transportation in Tonga…
Plan for buffer days! That’s it. That is my #1 piece of advice and truly a must do when traveling in the Kingdom of Tonga.
I’ve got all the hacks and details you’ll want to know when planning a trip to Tonga. Including what happened to me and how buffer days saved us! PLUS I’ve included our 17 day itinerary to help you plan your trip to Tonga!
‘Eua is just 30 miles away from the main island of Tongatapu, but it gets a fraction of the visitors.
‘Eua is known as “the forgotten island.” With a population of just 5,000, there’s a church and a grocery store on every block, but guest houses and resorts are few and far between. It really is a “locals” island, where you can melt into island time.
Basically, it sounded like my kind of place! I booked 4 nights at Kikos Guesthouse and couldn’t wait to drink from coconuts and eat papayas.
Well spoiler alert, those 4 nights at Kikos turned into 8. But I could not imagine a more kind host to be “stuck” with! What could have been a very stressful travel situation turned into an opportunity to see more of ‘Eua and learn more about the Tongan culture.
Yes, I was having to make travel logistics related phone calls and check the weather and ferry schedules daily. BUT I never felt a deep sense of dread.
Why? Because I had booked in buffer days.
Now let me be clear, buffer days may not always save you. One of our new friends on ‘Eua booked in 2 buffer days before their international flight and they STILL missed it.
My partner and I had buffer days and unplanned days for a week during our trip. And we used Every. Single. One.
So what are these oh-so-important buffer days, how do you plan for them and why do you need them? Here’s our story of getting stuck on ‘Eua for 5 extra days and why you absolutely need buffer days (and travel insurance) when visiting Tonga.
Our original plan vs. what happened
Our original 17 day Tonga itinerary was this:
Day 1: Tongatapu OR ‘Eua (if there was a ferry)
Days 2 – 5: ‘Eua
Day 6: Fly to Ha’apai
Day 7 – 9: Stay in a hostel in Ha’apai
Days 10 – 15: Stay at a resort in Ha’apai
Day 16: Fly back to Tongatapu
Day 17: International flight
This was our actual trip:
Day 1: Tongatapu
Day 2 – 10: ‘Eua
Day 10 – 15: Resort on Ha’apai
Day 16: Flight back to Tongatapu
Day 17: International flight
We were delayed on ‘Eua 5 days until we were finally able to charter a water taxi with our new friends back to Tongatapu – where we went straight to the airport to catch our newly rebooked flight to Ha’apai.
We didn’t lose any money in the process, because we had 3 buffer nights planned at a hostel before our splurge at the resort.
Practically every traveler we met in Tonga had some sort of issue with their transportation. Whether it was with the local Lulutai airlines or a ferry, something usually went awry. That is why you’ll want to plan in some buffer days to your itinerary, so lets get into the best way to do it.
If dealing with the local transportation sounds like a nightmare to you, there are a few other things you may want to know about before traveling to Tonga. Check out my post “Is Tonga Worth Visiting?“
What is a Travel "Buffer" Day?
Okay so what even is a buffer day? You might call it a bonus day, safety day, layover or contingency day. It’s an extra day (or 2 or 3) that you build into your schedule in case something goes awry. If you want to fly out of Tonga on Friday it means you should get to the main island (where the only international airport is) on Wednesday.
Planning a buffer day just might save you money in Tonga!
What I learned About Buffer Days
Learn from my mistake!!
I misunderstood how much time to plan into a buffer day! I thought that I just needed 24 hours between arriving back to Tongatapu and my international flight. I assumed that if my morning ferry got canceled there would be another in the afternoon, and I could still make the flight the next day.
WRONG.
There’s often only one flight or ferry per day in Tonga from some of the outer islands. So if you miss the one you have to wait until the next day.
The Most Effective Buffer Day
In order to have the most effective buffer day, you need to have a full day in between the travel days.
I.e. if you have an international flight on Friday from Tongatapu and are coming from an outer island, you need to fly from that island on Wednesday. Thursday will act as a full layover or emergency travel day. This is paramount if you are catching an international flight!
How I planned Our Buffer Days
While I didn’t make the mistake of planning 2 flights for the same day, I did plan our travel days back to back, thinking the “buffer” was the 24 hours between transportation.
For ‘Eua, I planned on a Monday ferry, with a domestic flight Tuesday. When we got delayed indefinitely we were able to move our domestic flight for later in the week for free. But if we were trying to catch an international flight we would have missed it.
Learn from some of my mistakes but also my successes!
How to Get to 'Eua
I planned our first buffer on day 1 of our trip, when we were trying to get to ‘Eua. There’s no ferry schedule posted in advance on Tonga, so I planned a layover day on Tongatapu before the unknown departure of the ferry to ‘Eua.
Ferry to 'Eua
There are three shipping companies that offer passenger service. Tofa Ramasy, Malau and Friendly Island Shipping.
In 2025, Wednesday was the designated “cargo only” day. If you’re looking for info from the ferry company, check their facebook every day for schedules. You cannot buy tickets in advance because the schedules are always changing!
There are no flights or ferries on Sundays in Tonga.
How to Get to Ha'apai
Here’s where our money saving buffer days came in.
I planned a travel buffer day as well as buffer days at a hostel before our pre-paid stay at Matafonua Lodge.
We planned on leaving ‘Eua on a Monday morning ferry, with a domestic flight mid day Tuesday. Our Tuesday flight was to Ha’apai where we had 3 more buffer days before staying at Matafanua Lodge.
I had no idea at the time of planning, but those were our most important buffer days.
The Planning Mistake I Made
The biggest mistake I made when planning this trip? Thinking that I just needed 24 hours in between my scheduled flights. If something gets canceled, it’ll likely be a full day before it’s rescheduled. So you really need a full day in between the travel days as your buffer.
When planning our return flight home, I only planned for 24 hour buffer before the international flight. I booked our domestic flight for Wednesday and our international flight for Thursday.
If I were to plan it again I would have planned the domestic flight for Tuesday.
It worked out alright because our flight from Ha’apai left on time, but had that flight been canceled, we pretty much would have been out of luck. And flights get canceled in Tonga all the time. There was a nice family we chatted with on our flight who had originally been on a flight earlier that day that had gotten canceled an hour before departure.
Basically, give yourself as much time in between leaving an outer island and your international flight from Tongatapu. 12 hours is not enough, 24 hours is doable but I think 48 hours is safest.
Our Story: Stuck on 'Eua
We originally planned to leave ‘Eua on a Monday because we had a domestic flight from Tongatapu to Ha’apai on Tuesday.
Sunday night the Monday ferry got canceled due to weather, we were able to move our Tuesday domestic flight to Friday for free. The local airline is pretty unreliable, but at least they let you move your flights around!
Also, there were no flights from ‘Eua due to construction on the tarmac and no information about the next ferry. We were in total limbo.
Inbetween checking Tofa Ramsey’s facebook, checking the ticket booth and asking Kiko if he’d heard anything, we were still able to have some fun on ‘Eua. I used the extra time to try to see as much of the island as possible.
Kiko was an amazing host through all of this! We swam at the beach, opened coconuts, hiked, became regulars at the grocery store and even got offered some fish at someone’s BBQ. Kiko was even kind enough to cook us lunch every day!
But by Thursday tensions were starting to get a bit high. If we didn’t leave Friday or Saturday then we’d have to wait until Monday, because nothing runs on Sunday.
Thankfully, the weather Friday morning was good enough for a private water taxi (a local fisherman) to take us to the wharf on Tongatapu.
I didn’t really believe we were leaving until we were well out of the harbor that Friday morning. But at 9am we were finally back on Tongatapu. We parted with our castaway friends who no doubt were relieved to be getting on an international flight and leaving Tonga. We, however, were the “crazy” ones for continuing on to Ha’apai.
But ultimately we made it to Ha’apai, it just took a little longer! We used every single one of our buffer days. Between the built in travel buffer days I planned and the hostel buffer days, we made it to Matafanua right on time. Island time.
Lessons From Being Stuck in Tonga
Here’s what you need to know about traveling in Tonga and the reality that you may be there a bit longer than you planned
- Plan for buffer days any time you move between islands and ESPECIALLY before your international flight!
- Book a flexible international fare so that you can move your flight at little to no cost if needed
- Stay in communication with your accommodation (they may even be able to help you!)
- Camaraderie is the best tool to combat “oh sh*t we’re stuck” dread
- Get yo’ self travel insurance! I use SafetyWing!
I honestly can’t imagine our trip going any other way.
We made the most out of every extra day we were “stuck” on ‘Eua. Honestly, what a beautiful place to be stranded. Your mindset will determine how detrimental things feel!
At first when we were delayed getting to Ha’apai I was pretty bummed. I was ready to get off ‘Eua and try out a different island. But the prolonged time on ‘Eua gave me a better perspective of what it’s like to live there. I even got to go to a zumba class! Traveling in Tonga can be tough, but it sure is worth it.
If you’re planning a trip to Tonga and need travel advice or guidance, I’m more than happy to help you out! Just send me an email using the contact form or leave a comment.
Bree is a travel writer who specializes in adventure travel – from backpacking guides to ocean escapades! She has worked in marine based tourism in Alaska and in ocean outdoor education on Catalina Island. She is currently living with her partner in New Zealand where she is working and backpacking.
Ahoy! I’m Bree and I’ve started this blog to help you plan your next great outdoor adventure. With a background in marine science, I’ve got an aptitude for all things ocean, but you’ll find land based adventures here too! Everything you see here is based on my own travel experience and paid for myself. I hope you stick around!
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