Cash or card at hostels in Niue

My advice for Niue: bring both card and cash. Scenic Matavai Resort and Namukulu Cottages will let you pay with Visa or Mastercard, but smaller hostels may not have working card facilities. There’s only one ANZ ATM in Alofi, so don’t assume you can always withdraw. The best move is to carry NZ dollars with you from New Zealand and use your card where possible. That way you won’t get caught short if the machine is empty or a hostel’s terminal is offline.

I stayed near Alofi at a small guesthouse, and while they preferred cash, they actually had a little EFTPOS machine that worked with Visa. The machine went down once, so I ended up handing over NZ dollars in cash. Thankfully, I’d brought some with me. The ANZ ATM by the bank in town did work with my debit card, but it wasn’t always reliable. Basically, if you stick to bigger hostels or lodges, cards are fine, but I’d still keep some notes for when tech fails.

Niue was honestly super easy compared to some Pacific islands. I stayed at Namukulu Cottages and my card went through no problem-Visa worked perfectly at check-in. Around Alofi, most tourist-facing places had card facilities. I only needed cash for little stalls or the village stores. The ANZ ATM in town worked fine for me, so topping up wasn’t stressful. In the end, I mostly used my card, kept a little cash for small spends, and had zero issues paying for the hostel.

In Niue, the main hotel options like Namukulu Cottages or Scenic Matavai Resort accept Visa and Mastercard, but smaller guesthouses and budget stays usually ask for cash. Hostels or family-run lodgings outside Alofi often don’t have card terminals. There is one ANZ ATM in Alofi that works with foreign cards, but it can run out of cash. So yes, you can often pay by card at the bigger places, but bring NZ dollars in cash as a backup, especially for smaller hostels and local stays.