⚠ NOT FOR NAVIGATION. Use official charts and tide tables. This page is a planning aid only. Navigate with the current LINZ chart corrected for notices to mariners, official tide tables and local advice.

Niuafo'ou

Official LINZ charts for this areaTO 201 Niuatoputapu Group and Niuafo'ou (plans)TO 101 Tonga (1:750,000)LINZ is the charting authority for Tonga. Each chart page has a free TIFF image (CC BY 4.0) and the notices to mariners that affect it. LINZ says the images are not maintained for notices and are not for navigation: buy the corrected chart.
Volcanic island · open roadstead · small vessels onlyLast checked: 28 October 2026Report a correction

Niuafo'ou is a volcanic island about 200 miles north-north-west of Vava'u, rising to 260 m at its east end. NGA says there appears to be no safe anchorage here for large vessels. Small vessels can lie in an open roadstead off the village on the west side, which makes this a calm-weather stop at best.

Map of the west side of Niuafo'ou with a marker for Futu Wharf.
West side of Niuafo'ou. Wharf position from OpenStreetMap; approximate. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. Not a chart. Not for navigation.
  1. 1Futu Wharf (OSM)
  2. 2Futu (OSM)

At a glance
What it is Volcanic island, 260 m high at its east end, a Tongan possession (NGA)
Anchorage Small vessels only: 12–18 m off the west-side village, 0.1 mile offshore (NGA)
Landing Futu Wharf on the west side (OpenStreetMap)
Chart LINZ TO 201 (Niuatoputapu Group and Niuafo'ou plans)
Clearance Not on the Customs ports-of-entry list

Anchoring

  • NGA's roadstead. NGA says small vessels may anchor in 12 to 18 m off the village on the west side, 0.1 mile from shore, with the remains of the church bearing 124°.
  • Exposure. It is 0.1 mile off an island NGA describes as having no safe anchorage for large vessels. Have a plan to leave if the wind or swell goes west.

Clearing in

  • Not a listed port of entry. Tonga Customs' ports-of-entry page (read 28 October 2026) lists no port in the Niuas. Ask Customs before planning to stop here, especially on the way in or out of Tonga.
  • After clearing out. Customs form C15 says that once you've cleared out of Tonga, you mustn't call anywhere else in Tonga.

Hazards and cautions

⚠ In an emergency
  • Mayday on VHF 16, and set off your distress beacon (EPIRB or PLB) and leave it on until help arrives.
  • Tonga Police emergency: 922
  • Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand, 24 hours: +64 4 577 8030. Tonga lies inside the New Zealand search and rescue region.
Contacts checked 28 October 2026 on the Maritime NZ (RCCNZ) and UK FCDO pages listed under Sources.
  • Volcano. Niuafo'ou is a volcanic island. Check for current volcanic activity reports before you go.
  • Open water. The nearest other Tongan island NGA describes is Niuatoputapu, 107 miles east-south-east.

Weather and seasons

  • 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.

Facilities

  • Landing. OpenStreetMap shows Futu Wharf and a ferry landing on the west side, at Futu.
  • Supplies. We haven't found an official source for fuel, water or provisions. Arrive self-sufficient.

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: Futu Wharf.

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.

Sources & credits

Written in our own words from NGA Pub. 126 Sailing Directions (Enroute) Pacific Islands, 13th edition (2025), corrected to 27 August 2026, Sector 2 (paragraph 2.68), the LINZ chart pages for TO 201 Niuatoputapu Group and Niuafo'ou, TO 101 Tonga (chart details and notices to mariners read 28 October 2026), official Tongan government pages (Ministry of Revenue & Customs, Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Forests, Tonga Meteorological Services; read 28 October 2026) and OpenStreetMap.

LINZ. Chart titles, scales, editions and notices to mariners from the Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) chart catalogue. LINZ is the charting authority for Tonga. LINZ chart images are Crown copyright, licensed under CC BY 4.0; we link to them and don't reproduce them. Not endorsed by LINZ.

NGA. Pilotage background from NGA Pub. 126, Sailing Directions (Enroute) Pacific Islands, 13th edition (2025), U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a US Government work in the public domain. Some of its reports are decades old; where a page leans on an old report, we give the year. Not endorsed by NGA.

Government of Tonga. Clearance, immigration, quarantine, whale-watching and weather facts from the official pages and forms of the Ministry of Revenue & Customs, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Forests, the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Tourism and Tonga Meteorological Services, restated in our own words. The official versions prevail.

Ports Authority Tonga. Port of Nuku'alofa role and services from its own website, cited for fact only.

OpenStreetMap. Map tiles, facility positions, and anchorage positions that OpenStreetMap mappers imported from LINZ chart data, and the Ashore lists © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Safety contacts. Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (Maritime NZ) and UK FCDO travel advice, checked on the date shown in the emergency box.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? If you have anchored here recently, tell us what you found. Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.
Last checked: 28 October 2026.

Need a boat moved through Tonga's northern islands?

Get a delivery quote

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