Shell Hunting on a Deserted Island in Tonga
Shell hunting on a deserted island, wind howling, reef right there — this is why we cruise. 🐚 We're on Uonukuhihifo, a remote uninhabited island in the far south of Tonga's Ha'apai group, with its twin Uonukuhahake across the sandbar. Trade winds were blasting about 23–30 knots on the open beach, so Meghan beachcombed for shells while we headed into the trees for a picnic in the lee. The Pacific side is lively; the protected side is almost calm. Dinghy security gets serious out here. I ran a chain and anchor all the way up onto the shore — losing the dinghy on an island this remote would be a real problem. The coral and reef off the beach are outrageous, and walking a place with no charts in Captain Cook's day is hard to imagine. Fun fact: hihifo means "west" and hahake means "east" in Tongan, so Uonukuhihifo and Uonukuhahake are a matching west-east pair. For a longer Tonga watch, swim with us and a humpback: "Swimming With Humpback Whales in Tonga | Face to Face With a Giant." #shorts #sailing #Tonga #Haapai #Shelling #SailingAroundTheWorld — Steve and Meghan, sailing around the world on our catamaran Some Tuesday with our pugs Colonel Mustard and Mr. Pickles. More at sometuesday.com