It is a special treat to visit an uninhabited island as lovely as Telekitonga.  This island is one of the eastern barrier islands in the Haa’pai island group.  It is located about 65nm from Tongatopu.

We had a short 12nm sail from Kelefesia to Telekitonga.  With very light winds we decided to put up Big Bertha to get us there.  We were not in a hurry and thought it would be nice to enjoy a lazy sail day.  It was hard to keep the sail full as we only had 3-4kts of wind, but we made the best of it.

Telekitonga

Telekitonga has a long 2.5 mile beach around the island that can be walked during low tide.  In the center grows a lush, thick forest.

Telekitonga

We have been running island to island to try to find a protected anchorage where there is no swell.  The swell is coming in from the south and even though we are protected from southerly winds the waves are wrapping around the island creating pretty uncomfortable waves in our anchorage.

So, we decided to go to shore to explore the beautiful beach of Telekitonga. As you walk around the island you encounter all types of ground cover.  Not much sand but a lot of coral which makes it hard to walk barefoot.  A quarter of the island was covered in limestone and another quarter covered in coral rocks.

This little island was hit hard by the tsunami.  You can see the damaged trees and bush trying desperately to come back to its former glory.

We found loads of lobster shells and floats.  Well over 3 dozen of each were strewn about the island.  We also found a treasure marked by a giant “X” and the world’s largest light bulb.

Super nice change to walk around such a large island exploring what the sea brought to us.

Events from this blog post occured during the end of July.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  Did you miss your opportunity to buy your very own private island in Tonga, see our last blog post on Kelefesia?