Staying Home Sucks, home
Wreck of the coast of Tongatapu, Tonga - panoramio (1)
Near Hakau Ualanga 'Uta, 2 km away. Photo: David Broad, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Hakau Ualanga 'Uta

Dive site · Tonga

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

72Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

3 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Tue 3 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
12 kn
Gusts
25kn
Air
26°C

Wed 4 · 72 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
10 kn
Gusts
20kn
Air
26°C

Thu 5 · 73 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
10 kn
Gusts
20kn
Air
26°C

Fri 6 · 72 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
10 kn
Gusts
21kn
Air
26°C

Sat 7 · 73 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
11 kn
Gusts
27kn
Air
27°C

Sun 8 · 73 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
11 kn
Gusts
22kn
Air
27°C

Mon 9 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
13 kn
Gusts
25knboats in
Air
27°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 9 days

Full forecast
  1. Mon 241, poor
  2. Tue 370, good
  3. Wed 472, good
  4. Thu 573, good
  5. Fri 672, good
  6. Sat 773, good
  7. Sun 873, good
  8. Mon 970, good
  9. Tue 1074, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 18 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 26 °C3 mm wetsuit
  • Faces Nswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Hakau Ualanga 'Uta
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Mon 2Nov41, poor1.0 m13 kn28knboats in25°C
Tue 3Nov70, good0.9 m12 kn25kn26°C
Wed 4Nov72, good0.7 m10 kn20kn26°C
Thu 5Nov73, good0.6 m10 kn20kn26°C
Fri 6Nov72, good0.6 m10 kn21kn26°C
Sat 7Nov73, good0.6 m11 kn27kn27°C
Sun 8Nov73, good0.6 m11 kn22kn27°C
Mon 9Nov70, good0.7 m13 kn25knboats in27°C
Tue 10Nov74, good–12 kn30kn27°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Mon 2 NovHigh 00:38 +0.6 mLow 07:03 −0.6 mHigh 13:23 +0.5 mLow 19:30 −0.5 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 01:42 +0.5 mLow 08:02 −0.6 mHigh 14:22 +0.5 mLow 20:34 −0.5 m
  • Wed 4 NovHigh 02:45 +0.5 mLow 09:00 −0.5 mHigh 15:19 +0.5 mLow 21:36 −0.5 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May6of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug7of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep7of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov7of 7: a trip from Tue 3 Nov
  12. Dec7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site and its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

More diving near here

4 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Hakau Ualanga 'Uta

A reef dive. It goes down to 18 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces N: swell from the N reaches it, and wind from the S blows out to sea. No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 36 km away. The sea is about 24°C in July, its coldest month (5 mm wetsuit), and 28°C in January, its warmest (3 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Nukuʻalofa. Within 5 km we also list 3 dive sites.

  • What it is Reef.
  • How deep Down to 18 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 36 km away.

Water about 26°C: 3 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 10 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Feb, Apr, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov and Dec (about 15 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,180–US$2,300 each

about US$1,180–US$2,300 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to TBU, estimated from distance and season, changing at DFW and AKL, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$724–US$1,510
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$33–US$54
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$201–US$328
Food7 days eating outabout US$221–US$415
Totalabout US$1,180–US$2,300

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Nukuʻalofa

Closest

Nukuʻalofa

about 5 min by car · 31 places to stay

See 31 places to stay in Nukuʻalofa · Booking.com

About Nukuʻalofa its beds, food and every spot near it

Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 31h

About 31h door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → TBU, changing at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Auckland International Airport (AKL), then 35 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

No dive centre mapped within 25 km.

Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week's visibility, the current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.