It’s hard to capture the beauty of a thousand islands in the Kingdom of Tonga. Small, perfect islands dot the horizon everywhere you look, overlapping in shades of green. Each one ringed by halos of sand, turquoise, then indigo. It really is a little slice of heaven.

The islands sprout palm trees on top, against the sky’s own pantone shades of blue. Warm winds blow from the East. The air is humid, the water warm.

The islands are sparsely populated or completely uninhabited. There are very few tourists. Many islands we had all to ourselves, including one small piece of paradise we wishfully claimed as Voges Island. One of the most scenic locations was a completely enclosed cove, which reminded me of a caldera in the Galapagos where we cruised last summer.

We snorkeled every day in the warm waters, picking out our favorite fish. Most striking were the cobalt blue starfish. School colors included yellow, sea foam, black and white zebra stripes. While some of the fish were brightly colored, the coral was muted brown and dusted with sand. I wish our GoPro had captured better underwater pictures. We’ll try again next week on the Great Barrier Reef.