Experience our friendly Polynesian way of life. Swim with whales, snorkel, dive, kayak, fish, feast & MORE! The Port Wine Guest House (or in Tongan 'Pota Uaine Fale') is named after His Majesty King George II’s favourite drink Port. Luisa and Pota Tuiniua started inviting tourists to stay in the late 70s, including the Japanese engineers and builders who constructed the Vava’u high school, created
roads and worked on some other projects. As soon as Luisa and Pota’s three children headed off to high school, Pota started working to convert the family home into a guest house. All the while, he continued to work as a town officer and as a fisherman and Luisa worked full time as a midwife. Luisa and Pota formally registered their business in 1983. Being one of the first accommodation providers in Vava’u, the Port Wine Guest House played a large part in establishing the whale watching industry in Vava’u. Specifically, Pota contributed to the guidelines for protecting the whales and helped marine biologists from New Zealand and Australia establish education programs on sustainable whale watching within the local community. Pota’s passion was people and he was very good to guests. Pota passed away in 1998, leaving Luisa to continue running the business. Their eldest son Tai inherited the land, as is the custom in Tongan culture. Tai, who had been living in Melbourne Australia for 20 odd years, came back to his home town regularly to help Luisa and maintain the guesthouse. In 2008, Tai permanently moved back to Tonga to improve the existing guesthouse, build a new guest house and offer guests activities like kayaking, land and sea day trips and lead lighting courses.