Nomuka & Nomuka Iki

Nomuka is the main island of the Nomuka Group, between Tongatapu and Lifuka. Its harbour lies between Nomuka and Nomuka Iki, open to the north-west but protected in other directions by the two islands and their reefs. East of here, NGA warns, the water is thick with steep-to reefs you can't easily see even from the masthead.

At a glance

Getting in

The north-west approach. NGA lists depths of 7.3 m, 9.1 m and 8.2 m in the north-west approach to the anchorage, 0.6 mile NE, 0.4 mile NNW and 0.5 mile NNW of the light on Muifuiva.

Lua Vaila. A 3.7 m patch in the middle of the channel, 0.8 mile east of Muifuiva (NGA).

The channel. NGA says the channel between Nomuka and Nomuka Iki has a least navigable width of 0.3 mile.

Landing. NGA says a fringing reef surrounds Nomuka, up to 0.3 mile offshore, but there are breaks where boats can get in. OpenStreetMap shows a slipway by Nomuka village.

Anchoring

• Nomuka Harbour. NGA gives 24 m, coral sand, with the north-west extremity of Nomuka Iki bearing 244°, 0.4 mile. LINZ chart data in OpenStreetMap marks an anchorage here.
• Exposure. The harbour is open to the north-west (NGA). Have an exit plan if the wind goes round.
• Mango. NGA gives a small-vessel anchorage off Mango, 5 miles south-east, in 22 m, sand and coral, with the tangents of Mango bearing 126° and 196°. It warns the passage between Mango Iki and Mango is bad, especially in southerlies.

Hazards and cautions

• Nomuka Iki reef. NGA says the reef around Nomuka Iki runs 1.3 miles east-south-east from its south end, and the breaking reefs off its south and west sides haven't been fully examined.
• Otu Tolu and the area to the south-east. NGA says the area between the reefs south of Otu Tolu, Nomuka and the islands to the south is thickly studded with reefs and shoals, steep-to and hard to see even from the masthead, and only suitable for navigation in good light.
• Currents. NGA says currents near the reefs are uncertain and variable, and after strong easterlies set strongly west, with rips and blind rollers.
• Hakaufisi. A steep-to reef 7.5 miles north-west of Nomuka that always breaks, with a stranded wreck charted on it (NGA).
• Kelefesia. NGA says foul ground runs 4 miles south-east of Kelefesia, the southernmost island of the group, with a rock marked by heavy breakers 5 miles further on.
• Volcanoes to the west. NGA Pub. 126 warns that the eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai and the tsunami that followed it caused extensive damage to the shoreline and port facilities, so aids to navigation and depths may be unreliable. Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai lies about 31 miles north of the west end of Tongatapu (NGA). NGA also reports a magnetic anomaly at 20°42'S, 175°01'W.

Weather and seasons

• Swell. NGA says south-west swell from gales in high southern latitudes causes heavy surf on the south coasts of the islands.
• Cyclone season (dated). Tonga Meteorological Services' Tropical Cyclone Seasonal Outlook for 2026–2027 (released 28 October 2026, read 30 October 2026) gives the official season as 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027 and notes that cyclones have occasionally formed outside it. It expects an average season, with 2 to 4 tropical cyclones affecting Tonga and a moderate to high chance of at least one severe tropical cyclone, and the highest risk from January to March 2027. It also reports drought declarations in force for Tongatapu, 'Eua, Ha'apai and Niuatoputapu, with Vava'u and Niuafo'ou under drought warning, so plan your water. NGA Pub. 126 adds that at Nuku'alofa sudden, violent west and north-west squalls are common from December to April.

Rules in brief

• Special Management Areas. Many coastal communities manage their own Special Management Areas under the Fisheries Management Act 2002. The Ministry of Fisheries' brochure says nobody may enter or fish in an SMA's Fish Habitat Reserve without the community committee's permission. The brochure is from 2010 and shows only the first six SMAs, so ask the Ministry or the local community before you fish.
• Whales. Tonga's Whale Watching and Swimming Regulations 2013 say a private vessel may not approach closer than 300 m to any whale (unless it meets the swimming rules). If a whale approaches you, keep out of its path and, where practicable, keep 300 m away. Nobody may swim with whales except from a licensed whale-swim operator's vessel, jet skis must stay 2,000 m away, and when leaving whales go at idle or no-wake speed until you are 300 m clear.

Facilities

• Clearance and supplies. Nomuka isn't a Customs port. The nearest are Pangai (Lifuka) and Nuku'alofa. We haven't found an official source for supplies here.

Ashore

What's within about a 15-minute walk (1.2 km) of each marina, ramp or landing on this page, measured along streets and footpaths in OpenStreetMap. Addresses are from OpenStreetMap where it has one; where it doesn't, we show the name and distance only. Listings as fetched from OpenStreetMap on 28 October 2026; check opening hours before you walk.

Nothing mapped within the 15-minute walk of: Nomuka slipway.

OpenStreetMap shows no bars, restaurants, shops or marine stores within a 15-minute walk of the landings on this page.

No marine stores or chandlers are mapped in OpenStreetMap within the walk.

Places, types, addresses and walking distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), fetched 28 October 2026.

About this page

These are free planning notes written by a working delivery skipper from public sources. They are not for navigation. Use the current LINZ chart corrected for notices to mariners, current local notices, official tide tables and local advice. Spotted something out of date? Please use Report a correction below.

Official links

Check these before you go. They beat anything on this page.

• Ministry of Fisheries: community Special Management Areas (brochure, PDF)
• Whale Watching and Swimming Regulations 2013 (PDF, Ministry of Tourism)
• LINZ Notices to Mariners (cover the TO charts)
• NGA Pub. 126 Sailing Directions (Enroute) Pacific Islands (free PDF)
• Tonga Customs: private crafts (advance notice, temporary admission)
• Tonga Customs forms (Advance Notice of Arrival for small craft, C15 outward clearance)
• Tonga Meteorological Services: forecasts, tides and cyclone outlooks
• Tonga Meteorological Services: marine forecasts
• Maritime NZ: search and rescue in the Pacific (Mayday, beacons)
• TO 403 Ha'afeva and Nomuka (1:25,000)
• TO 402 Southern Ha'apai and Nomuka Groups (1:75,000)

Sources & credits

Need a delivery skipper for this coast? Get a quote from Garry Hartshorne, AMSA Master <45.