The 171 extraordinarily diverse islands of the Tongan archipelago are scattered over an area in the central Pacific Ocean nearly as big as Japan. The dry land, however, would fit easily into New York City with room to fling in a few extra coral reefs. Tonga's nearest neighbours are Samoa to the north, Fiji to the northwest and New Caledonia, more then 1000km (600mi) west. Despite the widely scattergunned placement of the islands, Tongan culture is remarkably homogenous. The four main island groups - Tongatapu, He'apai, Vava'u and the Niuas lie in two parallel lines just east of the Lau Basin, where the sea floor is opening up, causing some unsteady ground at times on the islands. Fewer than 40 islands are inhabited, but most of the land has been converted to plantations or towns. Large areas of rainforest and bushland do remain on the Niuas, 'Eua and many of the volcanic islands.

Tonga has seven officially protected areas, including five national marine parks and reserves, one national historic park, and the 'Eua National Park. Two species of iguana call Tonga home, as do several colonies of flying fox, large fruit bats that enjoy sacred status and protection on the islands. Tonga supports surprisingly few species of birds, although it does harbour a few interesting ones like the blue-crowned lorikeet, the red shining parrot and the incubator bird - that leaves its eggs to hatch warmed by volcanic mud - found on Niuafo'ou. The main land attractions are the flowering plants, such as frangipani, several species of native hibiscus and the

Tonga is far enough away from the equator to enjoy a more comfortable climate than the Samoas or the Solomons, and winter (July to September) temperatures are pleasantly cool at 17°C to 22°C (62°F to 71°F), although rainstorms and strong southerlies can cause decidedly wintry weather. From December to April, the southern summer, temperatures rise to 25°C to 33°C (77°F to 91°F), although nights can still be cool. A light breeze often tempers the humidity, and the islands receive most of their annual rainfall late in the season. The archipelago lies squarely in the South Pacific's cyclone/typhoon belt, with the greatest possibility for wild weather from January to March. The big cyclones come around roughly every 20 years, with a medium one every three to four years.

Basic food and accommodation are more reasonably priced than in most South Pacific countries, but forget about upgrading your Roller, as Tonga's not a great place to buy electronic goods, film, packaged foods or cars. They're all imported and considerably more expensive than in the USA or Europe. If you're really squeezing your budget you can get by on US$35 a day, but US$60-70 will make your trip quite comfortable. If you like your creature comforts and top restaurants, you'll need to budget for US$130 a day or more.

Tonga has yet to make the move to ATMs, but credit cards - generally Visa and MasterCard - are widely accepted. The currencies most commonly accepted for exchange are the US, Australian and New Zealand dollars and British sterling, although the Fijian dollar, deutschmark, franc and yen are also fairly standard currencies of exchange. Banks are open from 9 am to 4 pm on weekdays, and and in Nuku'alofa and Neiafu they're open on Saturday mornings as well. Several of the mid-range and more expensive hotels will also exchange currency, but at a lower rate than the banks.

Tipping and bargaining are not practised. According to custom a tip is seen as a gift and imposes an obligation on the receiver to return the favour. If a price is asked, that's what the seller wants for it and it would be ill-mannered to suggest a lower price.

May to October is the best time to visit. Summer, from November to April, is the hurricane season and can be hot, humid and wet. Large numbers of Tongans living abroad also return home in December and January, and if you're planning to be there then you'll need to make reservations well in advance.