"Tokelau" Tokelau by ollyf

Tokelau Travel Guide: 38 reviews and 86 photos

An ultimate escape

The islands of Tokelau comprise one of the world's most hard-to-get-to destinations. In fact, it has been named as part of the "Holy Trinity" of isolated inhabited places, alongside Pitcairn Island and Tristan da Cunha.

Tokelau is officially a territory of New Zealand, and while it is also Polynesian, it shares nothing else with its governing land. Only 1,500 people inhabit these three atolls which are too small even for an airstrip to be built.

The only way to get to Tokelau is by sea, and if you don't have an ocean-going yacht, it means you have to get the infrequent MV Tokelau cargo boat from Apia, Samoa. The round-trip takes nine days and only happens twice a month, which is why so few people have visited this little-known paradise. In fact, official figures say Tokelau receives just TWENTY tourists per year. Perhaps that's just as well.

Being so far away and so difficult to get to is what attracted me to Tokelau. It promised to be an amazing adventure, and it was - everything from sleeping on deck through the high seas of the Pacific to swimming among coral pillars and just imbibing the atmosphere of being in a place where, should I have chosen to stay, nobody would ever have found me.

Last visit to Tokelau: Jul 2006
Intro Updated Jun 1, 2007
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Reviews (38)

Rising sea levels Favorites (2)

Tokelau is among the nations most at risk from the threat of rising sea levels. It lies flat on the sea level with... more travel advice

The bluest sea you'll ever see Favorites (2)

No, that isn't the Estonian flag to the right - it's a picture of the sea off Fakaofo with the edge of the boat included... more travel advice

Mr Perez taking me around the atoll - Tokelau

Transport to uninhabited islands Transportation (4)

Mr Luciano Perez, the owner of the Luana Liki Hotel in Nukunonu, has a boat available for charter. He can take you to... more travel advice

From boat to shore Transportation (4)

There are no harbours anywhere in Tokelau, so the boat drops anchor offshore and is met by a metal dinghy from the... more travel advice

Nightlife (1)
One bar, limited booze
Restaurants (3)
See All Catch and eat your own
Things to Do (14)
See All Pig city 2
Hotels (2)
See All Sleep on board
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Comments (10)

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Luca1973 Mar 2, 2011 at 2:59 PM

Loved ur description of Tokelau.ive been to the cook isl twice and aitutaki s myfavourite island.even simply amazing Iknow tokelau isan isolated place and i d reallylike togo there in the future.maybe even disappear there.which island did u like the most?
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Te_Fakanava Jul 10, 2009 at 1:49 PM

IfNotuCanStayWithaFamilyThere. TheyWill"adopt"u into their family WillBeANiceGesture2payTho.IfThey declineThen@LeastuOffered. It's a Tokelau custom to take care of the less fortunate (in thisCaseAvisitorWhoHasNoBloodRelativeOnDaIsland).
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kursk119 Jun 20, 2009 at 8:17 AM

HELLO OLLY by chance, did you mail yourself a postcard home. thanks- if you did i would love to see the back side.
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naveisamuelu Jul 6, 2008 at 4:23 AM

big disgrace to all the tokelauans dat enjoyd their comfortable sleep on the boat and yet no one offered to help someone that didn't have any sleeping materials...it's a bit of a shock cos tokelauans are usually very hospitable.
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f2dflyer Jun 26, 2008 at 3:01 AM

thanks or the amazing pages & photos & info!!! great effort ... would love to go here somtime before to long , next time im in samoa will find out more about the boat.
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SLLiew Dec 20, 2007 at 3:15 PM

Great page to a less travelled destination. Cheers from Penang, SL :)
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canuckmike Aug 4, 2007 at 7:57 AM

Such a gorgeous page. These are the pages I love about VT. The ones that are extremely hard to find info about. Give yourself a pat on the back for a page well done.
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thumbs647 Jul 30, 2007 at 2:35 AM

Very interested in reading your comments as we are going to Atafu for 6 weeks in Oct-Nov07!
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jorgejuansanchez Jul 20, 2007 at 6:57 AM

Brilliant!!! Such as wonderful page and usuful tips. I will consult it again during my next journey to Tokelau. Thanks for sharing.
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Ekahau Jul 12, 2007 at 6:53 AM

Tokelau The holy trinity of remote travel -- You have done a fantastic job Oliver on this VT page I will let others know about it that like remote Islands. I read every word and will come back and read it again such useful information an Photos.