Penrhyn to . . . TONGA!

It’s almost 1000 miles between Penrhyn and Pago Pago (at least the way we sailed it - I think the straight line is closer to 800 and change), and we’d watched friends kind of get the snot beat out of them. Weather forecasting, challenging enough on longer passages like this, gets an added twist when the South Pacific Convergence Zone is a major player.

Our ultimate path looked like a smile, as we skirted around areas of high winds and high seas and made it in without any of the awful conditions our buddies had, conditions that forced them to divert (with permission) to a holding anchorage about 50 miles short of Pago Pago.

American Samoa is probably a nicer spot than we give it credit. As long as you had a car, it was good for provisioning, especially a few American goodies we hadn’t seen in a long time (hello Triscuits!!!) and cheap rum. But cruisers are limited to the dirty commercial port of Pago Pago and it’s expensive as a stopover, especially for short stays. We opted for a strategic strike and were gone after 3 nights. (Total cost for 3 nights in American Samoa, including 3 nights tied to the dock? $266. $182 of that was just port and clearance fees.)

*the Starkist tuna cannery is one of the big attractions in Pago Pago harbor*

*Ingenious method of chafe protection on the rough dock*

We’d initially thought we would go to Samoa, and in fact had cleared out with that intention stated on the clearance form. But weather in the morning suggested it might be prudent to opt for Tonga instead, so plans changed in an instant.

*Gorgeous evening en route to Niuatoputapu!*

On to TONGA!

Tonga, like French Polynesia, is a country made up of separate archipelagos. We cleared into the northernmost one, the Niua group, trading our yellow Q flag for the distinctive red Tongan ensign after a short visit from customs and biosecurity.

Costs for clearance into Tonga:

(costs in TOP, the Tongan Pa’anga, which is very roughly a 2:1 exchange with the USD.)

26 TOP for biosecurity
100 TOP for health

*A gorgeous Tongan sunset in Niuatoputapu*

This gives US citizens a 30 day visa, easily extended at either Nieafu (Vava’u group) or Nuku’alofa (Tongatapu group) for just about $1 USD/day. EU citizens get a 90 day visa.

*People tuck money into the clothing or stick it onto baby-oiled arms*

Our week in Niuatoputapu (cruisers sometimes call it New Potatoes; Tongans seem to universally refer to it as Niua - Nee-Uh-Wah) flew by in not especially great weather. We attended a school fundraiser, had our first (but not last) experience with a Tongan earth oven feast, enjoyed time with friends, and would have been happy to stay longer. Weather windows, though, this season have taught us that we need to jump when we see one; to wait might mean another week or 10 days. I was antsy about my visa running out, plus we were running out of fresh goodies.

*Tongan UMU (earth oven) being emptied for our lunch*

*Dock road towards the anchorage, volcano to starboard*

cost of cruising, destinations, formalities, small boat living, South PacificNica WatersSeptember 6, 2026Tonga, American Samoa, Passages, cultureComment