Humpbacks of Vava'u

On strict instruction I had followed the guide with three other swimmers. As the mass of swim kick bubbles cleared, two dark blue shapes appeared out the deep azure water!

Shaking the bubbles that had accumulated on my dome port, the cameras auto focus struggled to find something to home in on. I kept shooting as the two giants glided past us, their swimming effortless compared to our unwieldy splashing efforts. As they passed they turned on their stomachs and we were blinded by the sunlight reflecting off their white underside. 20 seconds later they disappeared into the blue....whale watching Tonga style!

Between June and October each year hundreds of humpback whales migrate to the Kingdom of Tonga. They come to this tropical isolation to breed and calve, from their feeding grounds in the Antarctic. It’s estimated that several thousand came to the islands in the 1800’s but by the time commercial whaling stopped in the 60’s that had been reduced to a few hundred, with today’s numbers up near the 700 mark. Given the recent media surrounding the Japanese’s ‘scientific’ whaling in the Antarctic and efforts by Sea Shepherd to stop them, it brought it home as I was writing this article and remembering my experience. Whale tourism is however on the increase in Tonga, with official figures being around 2500 whale swimmers each year in Vava’u.

Despite being in its infancy, the government has set strict guidelines for whale interactions to make sure the whales are not adversely affected by the eco-tourism. Tonga is only one of three places in the world that you can legally swim with Humpbacks. The whale watch days are focussed on locating whales from the boat with no diving taking place.

Swim groups are a max of four so time is split between watching on the surface and actually snorkelling with them - both just as good with numerous breaches, spy hops and tail shots to see topside. In the water their song is very interesting, not what I had imagined at all, a lot of burping and farting noises along with the classic whale ‘song’. The noises are very deep and vibrate through your body making the experience both amazing and funny. Sightings aren’t guaranteed, as one day I had up to 10 swims and the next day only one - however even a ten second sighting is magical.  

Information for whale watch season visitors to Tonga

• Whale Season June-Oct with Water Temp around 25deg
  
• Take a taxi tour round Tongatapu if you have spare time in transit to Vava’u.
  
• Mango has a nice ‘cultural’ show and does good food with a sunset view.
  
• Aquarium cafe does excellent food and has free wireless!
  
• Confirm your internal flights as they can be very variable, they also have reduced baggage allowance.