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Sandy Beach Resort
Sandy Beach Resort & Matafonua Lodge are situated 400 meters apart on one of the South Pacific's most beautiful beaches on the northern tip of Foa Island. It is 12 km to the airport and 14 km to Pangai, the capital of the Ha'apai island group, which are both located on Lifuka Island. Foa & Lifuka are linked by a causeway.
Photo copyright Sandy Beach Resort.
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Matafonua lodge and SandyBeach Resorts Ha'apai Tonga
Video copyright Sandy Beach Resort.
Overview
Sandy Beach Resort & Matafonua Lodge are situated 400 meters apart on one of the South Pacific's most beautiful beaches on the northern tip of Foa Island. It is 12 km to the airport and 14 km to Pangai, the capital of the Ha'apai island group, which are both located on Lifuka Island. Foa & Lifuka are linked by a causeway.
Juergen Stavenow originally moved to Tonga in 1987 and lived with his family in Tongatapu where they owned and operated the Seaview Restaurant. In January 1994 Juergen and his wife left Tongatapu, relocated to Ha’apai and broke ground on the Sandy Beach location. The entire resort was built by villagers from Faleoa using axes, shovels and spades. The largest tool was a 2kva hand generator for the drill and circular saw. During the two-year construction period, 15 villagers were employed full-time. The resort was officially opened on the 15th May 1995.
In 2004 Juergen realised that there was a gap in the market that needed to be filled to attract families and younger travellers to Ha’apai and so came about the building of Matafonua Lodge. Matafonua was opened in June 2006.
Since 2010 Darren and Nina Rice have run Matafonua Lodge and as of the 1st July 2017 will also be running Sandy Beach Resort as after years of hard work and dedication Juergen will finally be retiring and doing some traveling.
Darren & Nina have a long history in tourism and underwater filming having started working in the dive industry in 1983. Their work has taken them all over the world working at some of the finest resorts and on live aboard dive boats , filming for most of the U.S tv networks, until they finally came to rest in Tonga with their 3 young children.
Since the resorts opened they have always employed the majority of their staff from the local village supporting the local community wherever possible. In a further effort to support the local economy we also source and buy local fish, seafood and vegetables.
Sustainability is a concept we don’t take lightly. The resort is built to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
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