Search results for "sacred land"

Sunday is the perfect day to go to the beach in Tonga – if you're a visitor; an islander found swimming on the Sabbath is subject to a fine. Yes, they do take their religion seriously in the "Friendly Isles." Tonga, like its neighbor to the west, Fiji, is not just one island, but an entire archipelago of far-flung isles. In Tonga's case, the islands number about 170 (only about 45 are inhabited), geographically divided into four distinct groups. Tongatapu, with the capital of Nuku'alofa, is the hub of this island chain in western Polynesia. Two of every three Tongans live here ...

At less than a million years old, the Big Island of Hawaii is, geologically speaking, a youngster. And with the help of lava flowing from Kilauea volcano, it's still growing. So, unlike the other islands in the Hawaiian chain, the Big Island hasn't had time to develop many sandy beaches along its shores. Although they are few in number, the beaches of the Kona and Kohala coasts (especially the bright white strand at Hapuna Beach State Parks) are beautiful, and the black-sand beach at Punaluu is otherworldly. What the Big Island does have in spades is big-game fishing (particularly ...