Portfolio / Funafuti

Arriving in Tuvalu

You don't turn up in Tuvalu on a Thursday afternoon by accident. It's not a stopover on the way to anywhere.

Arriving In Tuvalu

A foodie's Funafuti

Papaya and pork seem to be the key two local grown foods.

Pigs & Papaya

Cemeteries of Fongafale

I noticed that many graves in Tuvalu have a roof built built over them, and can be quite colourful.

Roofed gravesites

Borrow pits

What does a tiny country with no land do to dispose of its rubbish? Paradise is being overrun with waste.

Borrow pits photos

Lagoon sunsets

Sunsets across Funafuti Lagoon can be amazing.

Sunset photos

Departing Tuvalu

The airport is a busy place on flight days, when people come to the terminal to meet and greet.

Photos of leaving Tuvalu

Tepuka

Tepuka is the stereotypical uninhabited tropical paradise island set in the light blue waters of the lagoon.

Photos of Tepuka

Funafuti Airport

Funafuti International Airport (airport code FUN) is like no other international airport. It has 2 flights per week.

Photos of Funafuti International

Pacific Ocean coast

The Pacific Ocean is usually only metres across from Funafuti Lagoon. The ocean floor drops dramatically only a short distance from shore.

Ocean views

End of Fongafale Island

At the tip of the island of Fongafale, only separated from the next islet down the atoll at high tide, mere metres otherwise separate the lagoon and ocean.

End of the Island Photos

The streets of Funafuti

Fongafale Island is 10km long and often no more than 50 metres (or less) wide, only opening up around Vaiaku township and the runway. Here we look at the street scenes from wandering around the island.

Photos of the streets of Funafuti

Boat ride to Funafala

Our bright orange boat took us down the lagoon from Fongafale to Funafala islet.

Photos from a boat on the lagoon

Funafala

Funafala is a beautiful island down the lagoon, and the site of a climate change adaptation project - planting mangroves.

Funafala photos

Funafuti Lagoon

Photos of Funafuti Lagoon from along the shoreline of Fongafale Island.

Funafuti Lagoon

Around town

The population of all of Tuvalu is no bigger than a small town, but it still needs all the usual infrastructure to make it a nation.

Photos around town

The Causeway

The causeway is at the narrowest point of Fongafale Island, just metres from the ocean to the lagoon.

Visit the causeway