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Thursday, October 09, 2014

The Mapu'a'aVaca Blowholes - A Stunning Ocean-Crashing Phenomenon

Waves crashing into the shore, and seconds later spraying up into fountains, for as far as the eye can see. These are the blowholes on the north-western edge of Tonga's Tongatapu island, and definitely worth a look. Stunning and surprising, there is such beauty in the way that the ocean and coral formations play together, at every wave.

Part of my day trip around the main island of Tonga took in this sight, and with no or low expectations of the sight from the guidebook, I was captivated by this wondrous natural sight.


Running for at least 5kms along the coast, there is a viewing platform, but our guide had our small group stand along from that, to get closer to the water. From here we could see the rock shelves and little pools between the waves. The colours, and depths were beautiful, and then a wave would come in, and seem to explode with water up into the air!


We had a child in our group, and he was at first interested, and then scared at the unpredictability of the water fountains - they varied so much in height and volume. The rest of us, however, were fascinated, and could have watched for hours.



Jouljet Notes
Serious Tip: Get down and close to the rock edge, to see the full coast of blowholes, for the full effect.
Time Spent: It was about a 45 minute drive from Nuku'Alofa, through villages, to get there. We stayed for about 30 minutes, but definitely could have stayed longer.
Cost: Part of my day tour from Fafa Island, so difficult to pin point how much this was for me. But I am sure you can negotiate a driver/taxi from town, to bring you out to see these.
Quirky Tip: Going along to see these with such low expectations made this natural phenomenon even more magical, because I had no idea what we were seeing and why! That's what makes travelling so amazing!

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