Otea Holidays from AU$1,865

A bit dated but super friendly staff and right in the heart of town.

Staff were very helpful and good snorkelling right out front. Pick up for whale swimming off the wharf was handy as it saved a trip to those operators

We came only because of a delay in our flight from Vavau to Tongatapu. But the short stay was so amazing. The hotel operators were very nice and kind, and helped accommodate our last-minute changes due to the flight uncertainty. We will come back again in future to watch the whales!

Mala island resort is not a flash resort but this is largely compensated by the environment. The cabins have great views on the sea and sunset, the island is quiet,and the marine life next door is incredible. Our hosts organised the transport from and to the airport, plus our whale swim day. The room we were had mosquito nets around each bed, but there was not many mosquitos when we were there in September. Meals are cooked by our hosts at a reasonable cost. However, I recommend to buy some snacks before heading to the island at Neiafu during the transfer, as we were a bit hungry after snorkeling and couldn't wait until diner time. The menu includes several options so my child who doesn't like fish could always have the option of a salad or chicken. Snorkeling is great from the beach. The so called "Japanese gardens" are next door with plenty of colourful fish. The coral reef suffered from the last cyclone and there is a big part damaged or dead, but there are still some live reefs that will satisfy any snorkeler. We saw some bigger animals too: a couple of reef sharks and turtles. We didn't have snorkel.equipment for everyone as I thought the resort will have some spares. They don't. So bring all snorkel gear. In September, the water temperature was around 25 degrees. I didn't put any wetsuit but I was a bit cold after 2 hours snorkeling. My family wore wet suits. The reef had enough diversity that we consider coming outside the whale season.