Funafuti

Funafuti, Tuvalu

The coral runway of Funafuti airport runs toward the lagoon at sunset, with two children walking along its centre.

Funafuti is a slim ribbon of coral round a vast lagoon, a quiet Pacific capital for travellers happy with simple stays, snorkelling and island time.

The place

Funafuti is an atoll in the central Pacific and the capital of Tuvalu, home to about 6,000 people, which is more than the rest of the country's islands put together. The land is a thin ribbon of coral islets curving round a big lagoon called Te Namo, and in places it is so narrow that ocean and lagoon are both in sight from one spot.

The main islet, Fongafale, holds Vaiaku, the centre of government. Offices, the airport, a small hotel, shops and a church are strung along one road, so the whole capital can be seen on foot or by scooter in an afternoon. The pace is slow. Children cycle past, pigs and dogs wander, and the airport runway doubles as a social space when no plane is due.

Honesty matters here. Funafuti is not a beach destination in the usual sense, because the shore is mostly sharp broken coral rather than soft sand. The pleasures are on the water and in the details: the lagoon, the reef, the wartime remains, and how islanders go about the day. The climate is hot and wet. Rain falls in every month, about 3,500 mm in a typical year, and the temperature stays close to 28 °C all year round.

Visitors are few and facilities are basic. There is one government-run hotel and a handful of simple guesthouses, and restaurants are mostly attached to lodges. The land is low and the sea is always close, which gives the place its quiet sense of exposure. People come for a different kind of trip, built around the lagoon, conversation and the feeling of having reached the far edge of a map.

Its story

Funafuti's own oral history says the founding ancestor arrived from the Samoan islands. The name is linked to a Samoan word for a chief, and one of the atoll's islets, Funafala, is remembered as the pandanus of that chief. Long before any ship appeared on the horizon, the atoll already had its own leaders and its own story.

European contact began in the early nineteenth century, when an American captain sailing under British colours sighted the atoll and named it after an English politician, Edward Ellice. The name later spread to the whole island group, which became the Ellice Islands. Traders followed. One of them, Jack O'Brien, settled in the middle of the century and married the daughter of the paramount chief, and his family name continues on Funafuti today. Later in that century a US Fish Commission ship came to investigate how coral reefs form on Pacific atolls, and the lagoon became a small chapter in the history of science.

The group was declared a British protectorate and later joined the Gilbert Islands as a single colony. The Second World War changed the atoll more than anything before it. American forces arrived to use Funafuti as a staging ground, dredged the lagoon harbour and built the airstrip that is now Funafuti International Airport.

In the early 1970s Cyclone Bebe did extensive damage to the atoll. Even so, Funafuti was chosen as the capital when Tuvalu became a separate nation, and it has been the centre of government and trade ever since.

What to see

Culture

Funafuti is the most urban place in Tuvalu, but community life still runs on island lines. Family, church and the village meeting hall come first, and visitors soon notice how many people know one another. Faith is central. Sunday is a day of worship and rest, with services, hymn singing and a quiet main road.

The maneapa is the traditional meeting house, where chiefs, elders and families gather. Dancing and song are performed there at celebrations and on national occasions, and the dance known as fatele is the best-known form. Gatherings are shared affairs, with food, speeches and time set aside for everyone to take part. Visitors who are invited are expected to listen and join in rather than watch from the edge.

Sport is social too. The national game, te ano, is played with a ball kept in the air by two facing teams, a bit like volleyball, and matches draw spectators and plenty of good-natured noise. The runway, the lagoon shore and the church steps are all places where news and humour pass from person to person.

Crafts survive alongside modern life. Women's groups make woven mats, fans, baskets and ornaments, and buying directly supports the people who make them. Take time with greetings, accept offers of a drink or a seat, and treat conversation as part of the trip.

Ask permission before photographing people or entering a maneapa, and keep Sundays quiet and modestly dressed.

What to wear

Funafuti's traditional dress is built from local plant fibre. Pandanus leaf is dried and woven into fine mats and into skirts and ornaments for dance performances, and these are often worn with garlands of flowers or leaves. Wrap cloths, called lavalava or sulu in much of the Pacific, are a long-standing everyday garment for women and men.

Day to day, people wear light clothes suited to heat and humidity: T-shirts, shorts, printed island dresses, wraps and flip-flops. In the capital there are some office clothes such as shirts and dresses, though dress is relaxed. On Sundays and at church, people turn out in their best, with neat dresses, shirts and often white or bright colours, and traditional woven pieces appear at feasts and national occasions.

Visitors should pack for hot, wet weather: quick-drying cotton or linen, a light rain jacket, a hat and sunscreen. Modesty matters in a church-going community, so shoulders and knees should be covered in villages, at church and at gatherings. Swimwear belongs on the lagoon or boat, not on the main road. For footwear, bring sandals with a firm sole or reef shoes, since the coral shore is sharp and the paths can be wet.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. June to August is the driest stretch, though rain falls in every month and the temperature stays near 28 °C all year. December to February is the wettest. Cyclones are a risk in the wetter months, so check forecasts before booking.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Fly to Funafuti International Airport, with connections via Fiji, and check the airline for current schedules, which are limited. The hotel is a short walk from the terminal. Other islands of Tuvalu are reached by ship.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources