Silky Oaks Lodge
On the island of Kapa in the Vava’u Atoll of the Kingdom of Tonga, you can have an idyllic South Pacific experience and luxurious living at Reef Resort. Staying in your own private villa, the resort is best described as a boutique resort hotel conveniently located far enough from the town of Neiafu to have that island getaway feel, but still near enough for easy accessibility to the airport and town shops. The resort offers 4 stunning air-conditioned luxury bungalows or fales with amazing ocean views. All fales are equipped with walk-in hot showers, refrigerator, private decks, MP3 player/iPod docks, and WiFi access. Two of the fales are only footsteps from the beach and handy to the lounge and restaurant. The other two fales are a little further back up a little grassy rise so that they also have unobstructed views of the bay and the nearby islands, but still, no further than 50 meters from the beach. All are air-conditioned and have a ceiling fan as well. All are situated with guest privacy in mind.
The main building is a real gem; built almost on the beach, the whole front opens up with bi-fold doors to give seamless flow-through to the nice big terrace. This open-plan building houses the bar, a lounge and the restaurant and it makes a lovely central focus for the resort. The meals here are special and the menu changes daily. Seafood is all sourced locally and organic meat is imported by air from New Zealand. Freshly baked cake and coffee is served on the sundeck each afternoon. The restaurant’s sundeck and bar is a great place to lounge and meet like-minded guests and share experiences.
Although Tonga is known for being one of the few places where you can see and swim with humpback whales, there are tons of other water and land activities you can enjoy. Kapa Island is home to the Swallows Cave and Port Maurelle, which are both accessible via kayak or boat. You can also go deep sea fishing, scuba diving, sailing, snorkeling at the Japanese Gardens, one of Vavau’s best snorkeling spots, and go on a guided Polynesian culture tour in the Ene’io Botanical Garden. Kapa Island, being part of the large number of beautiful islands which make up the compact Vava’u Group of islands, gives Reef Resort a lovely isolated feeling but Neiafu Town is literally “just around the corner” on the mainland and the airport is less than 18 kms away by boat and vehicle transfer. If you can drag yourself away from this quality hideaway, the Wednesday cultural show and the Saturday Market in Neiafu are well worth a visit.
Vava’u’s beaches are spectacular and Reef Resort’s beach is no exception. The beach here is ever changing – beautifully white sand lapped by the ocean for months and then a passing storm may give it a little more natural character for a few days. The beauty of being on a slightly hilly island is that if the south-easterly trade winds make the bay a little less than perfect for sun-bathing, there is another superb beach just a 10 to 15-minute scenic bush walk away which is sheltered and is a perfectly secluded spot for sunning and a beach picnic. (Lunch box happily provided)!
A domestic flight is required between Nuku’alofa and Vava’u Airport with a flight time of 50 minutes. Flights normally operate three times daily in each direction. No services operate on Sundays.
