Tonga Holiday Part 1!

Hello everyone. So once in a while there would be a public holiday in Tonga. These days are very special as whole families get to get out and enjoy the surroundings. Either it be going to an island for a "roast a pig" picnic or just hanging around the local beach. For much of the weekdays, everyone is busy either working or "gathering" (going to the bush as they say) or fishing. Saturday is only half a day and people get ready for Sunday, buying goods for the next day as everything shuts down on Sundays. Since the locals are not allowed to work or seen having fun on this "God's Day", holidays are really the only time for an outing.

Today's post is how I spent such a day in Tonga.

Today I decided to go hang out at my favorite "fishing hole" on a lovely beach. So pretty much there are no cars on the road as everyone is already at the beach or having relatives over for a feast. The road above is the main highway that cuts through the island. It would take you about 45 minutes going 30 miles an hour to go from one side of the island to the other, so yes, it is a pretty small place.

Here is the little road leading to the beach, a real tropical paradise ahead!

It seems some people are already here!

This beach reminded me of Serangan turtle island in Bali!

The tide was going low and always excited about venturing out!

A large chubby Acropora abrolhosensis colony nestled in between some macro algae!

Crystal clear water where waves are rough are a prime place for Micromussas. I always look out for these corals but none were seen today, only bunches of mostly Acropora species.

And here is my favorite fishing hole!

I picked up this shrimp fly in a Hong Kong fishing store. Looks pretty real and if I was a fish, I'd eat it!

I tied this little curly tail jig on the same line as the shrimp fly.

There were some kids swimming in the hole and I had to watch out not to hook them!

First cast yielded me this very cool purple goatfish!

As you can see, this hole is pretty deep, drops down to about 20 feet in a matter of footsteps!

Little kids were amazed that I was able to catch this trumpet fish with a lure!

Got another fish but got snagged on the bottom at the same time. This kid swam down and got my fish out - way cool!

Another goatfish caught on the curly tail jig. Actually I didn't catch anything on the shrimp fly but everyone loved the jig. Must have been the curly tail squirming in the current that the fish can't resist.

Locals love to eat raw fish. This goatfish soon became a snack!

Being the nice cool guy I am, I let one of the kids try out my pole.

He caught another goatfish!

Tongan gangstas!

More and more people started showing up and soon couldn't fish anymore.

So how big are Tongans? These kids are only 14 years old and taller than me already. You can take a look at these kids in action here.

Conclusion

So after the above picture was taken, we decided to check out the famous Tongan blowholes way down the coast. That is coming up next!

Cheers,

Eddie