A holiday in Tonga with financial lessons at every turn

Saturday, 14 February 2026

Janine Starks is the author of moneytips.nz and a financial commentator with expertise in banking, personal finance and funds management.

OPINION: Less than three hours’ flight from Auckland there’s a tropical island with 30,000 rusty cars scarring the landscape.

At 45km in length and 15km wide this Pacific island is roughly the size of Great Barrier. Houses made of breeze block with no windows have multiple vehicles strewn across their backyards. Scattered between the cars are bottles, coconut shells and household rubbish. Home after home looks like a bomb-site of litter and rusty vehicles.

The beaches are dotted with dirty nappies, broken jandals and rubbish stuffed in surrounding bushes. The sea is crystal clear and warm, but sitting in the mess is off-putting. Swim-and-dash is best.

Wild dogs roam every street, teats dangling down inches, thanks to prolific breeding. They bark through the night. You can’t drink the water here. The risk of contamination from leeching rubbish and sewage pits is too high.

Welcome to the Kingdom of Tonga and my January 2026 summer holiday.

After that description you’ll wonder if my tourist dollars weren’t better spent on the Gold Coast or the Abel Tasman. Instead, I chose a week on Tongatapu, home to 70% of the 108,000 Tongan population.

It could be paradise. But it’s not. It’s a devastating display of poverty, low wages and environmental damage. Despite fines for littering, new landfill and household rubbish collections, the culture of tossing rubbish on roads and next to the pristine ocean runs deep. It’s jarring.

So, would I recommend a family holiday? Absolutely.

There are blow holes, snorkelling trips, swimming in caves and swimming with whales (July to November). The King and Queen attend church services. You might spot fishing pigs and flying foxes (giant bats). There are ancient monuments and highly decorated cemeteries with photo billboards, mounds of plastic flowers and flashing lights.

But there’s zero gloss. You’ll struggle to spot another tourist and you can’t hide in a resort. After the 2022 volcano and tsunami many resorts were washed away and they’re not being rebuilt. This is a holiday where you stay in a guest house, rent a car and live amongst the locals.

While you’re driving at 30kph, avoiding wild dogs and dodging potholes, financial realities will wash over you.

Chinese economic control

Tonga maintains its sovereignty, but is controlled economically by China. I wanted to see close up a country which had joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative. This is a long-term project to create “debt trap influence” as I’d call it in plain English. Nearly all Pacific island countries have signed Belt and Road agreements.

But Tonga is the worst off. A tiny population owes $186 million. It was spent on rebuilding the capital, Nuku’alofa, after riots 20 years ago. Annual repayments total 4% of GDP, the third most onerous in the world after Laos and Djibouti. Tonga now struggles to fund basic public services.

What’s in it for China? Tonga has large territorial waters, fish and seabed minerals. Australian and New Zealand underwater cables pass through, creating speculation of intelligence gathering. Debt traps come with the pressure to recognise “one China” in the Taiwan argument, and to secure more United Nations votes at very little cost. China’s strategy is peaceful, but powerfully delivered for long-term geopolitical advantage and access to resources.

The face of Tonga is changing with a strong Chinese grip on businesses – 80% of retail is Chinese-owned.

Everything shuts on a Sunday. Planes don’t fly and you shouldn’t swim at the beach. The only gig in town is church.

As the songs and brass band crank up, so does the level of tithing. Mounds of notes are gifted. The Queen sits at the front and the choir wear white shirts, with ta’ovala, a woven mat. Across the aisle from me, a teenage boy has a large diamante earring and is holding a gold vape.

A cruise ship arrived on Sunday and people wandered the empty streets looking bewildered. They sailed out the following day. Given there are only 15 to 20 ships a year, it was puzzling.

As we drive around, nearly every house has a small table on the street, where taro or watermelon are sold. There’s little variety. Some sit and wave sticks to keep the flies off a pile of fish. Others have tinfoil packets of Topai – dumplings covered in a sweet coconut caramel.

This isn’t a side hustle. It’s not quaint. These stalls are their only income.

Ten-year-olds will tell you: “Dad says I have to learn how to earn a living.” This is a country where an experienced public primary school teacher earns 24,000 pa’anga (NZ$18,500).

Food is hugely expensive. So much so, the pot noodle seems to be a staple. A box of De Winkel natural yoghurt is almost $10 and an extra-large iced mocha is $15. The ice cream parlour had one flavour, Tip Top Boysenberry. Cowley’s Bakery does a pie and lamington, but the coconut buns are better. It’s wise to fly with a chilli-bin of fresh food.

Banking and telecom charges bite.

When you use a card, the surcharge is 4 to 5%. Each New Zealand dollar will buy 1.34 Tongan Pa’anga (TOP). But don’t over-buy cash. Reversing back was 1.49 TOP plus a 10 TOP fee at the airport.

I went through three Spark roaming packs of $30 each. It turned out the One NZ rate of $10 a day was better.

Tonga is not just a holiday. It’s an education in financial reality and shifting world economic power. The Pacific we live in is changing fast. Go see it.

Free attractions

• 12th century Tongan Stonehenge (Ha’amonga Maui).

• Tsunami Rock (Make Lahi) which landed on a clifftop 7000 years ago.

• Blow holes or Chiefs Whistles (Mapu’a ‘a Vaea) in Houma

• Three-headed coconut tree in Liahona, which is so genetically rare they call it the eighth wonder of the world.

• Fishing pigs in Navutoka which dig up shellfish and crabs at low tide.

• Flying foxes (fruit bats) with a 1 metre wingspan glide over at dusk, with the sky full of batman symbols.

• Royal cemetery (Langi) built from 1200 AD, of layered coral limestone blocks weighing 20-30 tonnes each.

• Church services in every village.

• Village cemeteries with highly decorated graves which are lit up at night.

• Royal Palace: no public entry, but free to view the exterior.

Paid attractions

• Swimming in the Anahulu cave with stalagmites and stalactites costs $15.

• Boat trip to Pangaimotu Island from the main wharf in Nuku’alofa costs $38. It runs on a Sunday. There’s no swimming on beaches on Tongatapu on a Sunday. Take food and drinks.

• Fehoko handicrafts $130. Five hours, with a sandwich, taro chips and a coconut provided. Make a bone carving and tapa cloth prints.

• Snorkelling trips with lunch, $190 with Tonga Tahi.

• Boat trips to outer islands and flights - these need to be scheduled early in a holiday as tourists often get stuck for days.

Other essentials

Accommodation - Fale Tonga Guesthouse (2 bedroom) $1300 for seven nights.

Rental Car - Star Rentals (4x4 Mitsubishi Outlander) $1325 for seven days.

Direct Flights - Air New Zealand $1200 return per person (July school holidays currently selling at $945 return).