The Long Way Round to Anahulu Cave: Exploring East Tongatapu

by

During our three month stay in Tonga we explored most of Tongatapu, the kingdom’s main island. One of the more memorable experiences was our day trip to the east of the island. Our destination was Anahulu Cave and we took the long way round — probably not the best idea considering the state of the road we took but we eventually made it!

Captain Cook’s Landing Site

Our day started with a visit to Captain Cook’s Landing Site. The name says it all really (he landed here in 1777, his third visit to Tonga) and there’s not much to actually see there, but it’s a nice spot for a quick look at the lagoon.

Our two year old son loved this place, mostly thanks to the banana trees — one had over 100 bananas on it which he was very impressed with.

Tombs

There are tombs scattered around Tongatapu and some of the older ones are interesting to look around. We visited Paepae o Tale’a Royal Tombs on an earlier trip but I’m mentioning it here as it’s one of the best things to see on this side of the island.

There are several tombs which look like crumbled pyramids here including that of the former king Tele’a which is over 500 years old. It doesn’t take long to look around and it’s free to ente — there are also other tombs in the area.

Fishing Pigs

Next we headed for Ha’amonga ‘a Maui Trilithon, another popular historic site. We stopped at a couple of beaches and saw some pigs by the side of the road. I later read that there are pigs there who like to go fishing at low tide. I’m not sure how interesting it could be to see pigs scavenging for seafood but you might want to check it out (they hang out at Niutao Beach).

Ha’amonga ‘a Maui Trilithon

Looking a bit like a tropical version of Stonehenge, this historic site is one of the most popular places to visit on Tongatapu. The small stone trilithon dates back to the 1300s. There are some other ruins nearby and lots of trees for shade.

We had the place to ourselves and stayed around an hour (lots of room and shade for our son to play). From there we drove to a small village and then onto a road that leads to Anahulu Cave and beyond. Google Maps recommended we go back the way we came and take another road, but we didn’t listen!

A Bumpy Drive

The road started out rough and continued to deteriorate. There was another car ahead of us but they soon turned off and it was just us and a road we weren’t sure we should be driving down.

After a while we checked the map and saw we were around halfway — that means no turning back!
My driving skills were tested by the bumpy road and huge potholes full of water. It was slow going, but then a truck pulled onto the road and seeing that navigate the potholes made it easy to follow.

We finally made it back to civilization after around an hour (slower than it would have been if we took the other route)– I wouldn’t recommend this road but it was fun in a way — definitely don’t consider it unless you have a 4WD and even then I don’t reckon it’s worth as there isn’t much to see.

Anahulu Cave

Anauhulu Cave is a popular spot to visit for tourists on Tongatapu. From the ticket booth it’s a short walk down into the depths of the cave. From there you can walk along the slippery path to a swimming spot.
I only swim in perfect conditions so there was no way I was going to swim in a dark cave like this — we saw someone else do it though and it does seem to be common.

Anahulu Beach

After a walk through the cave we relaxed for a while at Anahulu Beach. It’s one of the best beaches on the island and it actually has some shade (which most beaches on Tongatapu are lacking).

You can see ‘Eua (Tongatapu’s largest neighbour) in the distance and apparently you can see whales here in the right season. After hanging out at the beach we drove back to our accommodation in Nukualofa — a fun (slightly stressful) day trip complete.

Are you planning a trip to Tonga? Let me know in the comments below!

The following two tabs change content below.

Jon Algie

A travel blogger from New Zealand who hates talking about himself in the third person and has no imagination when it comes to naming websites.

Leave a comment