Tonga Humpback Tours 2023

Itinerary:

Arrival Day: We meet you at Vava’u airport | transfer to the Tongan Beach Resort |free day| 6.30pm Welcome Dinner and Tour Briefing.

Your Whale Watching Days:
Day 1: Breakfast | board whaleswim boat at the resort jetty | boat briefing | how to swim with whales training (how to have great encounters!) | out with the whales & lunch | lots of fun | return to jetty around 4.30pm | transfer to hotel | dinner.
Day 2 – 7: Breakfast | board whaleswim boat at the resort jetty | out with the whales & lunch | lots of fun | return to resort jetty around 4.30pm | dinner or free evening to go into town for dinner. (Farewell dinner on the last night).
Sundays are a day of rest in Tonga. A day to go kayaking, snorkelling, enjoy the beautiful beach or just relax and read a book.

Departing Day: Breakfast | End of tour | transfer to the airport.

Click Here to Book this Tour

Itinerary:

Arrival Day: We meet you at Vava’u airport | transfer to Tongan Beach Resort |free day| 6.30pm Welcome Dinner.

Your Whale Watching Days
Day 1: Breakfast | transfer to whaleswim boat from the resort jetty | boat briefing | ‘how to swim with whales’ training (how to have great encounters!) | out with the whales & lunch | lots of fun | return jetty around 4.30pm | dinner or free evening.
Day 2 – 3: Breakfast | transfer to whaleswim boat | out with the whales & lunch | return to jetty  around 4.30pm | dinner or free evening

Day 4: Resort Transfer Day. Breakfast and check-out | transfer to whaleswim boat – we will arrange for transfer of your luggage to the Tongan Beach Resort | out with the whales & lunch | return to Tongan Beach Resort jetty  around 4.30pm for check-in | dinner or free evening.

Day 5 – 7: Breakfast | board your whaleswim boat | out with the whales & lunch | return to jetty  around 4.30pm | dinner or free evening. (NB: We have our Farewell Dinner on the last night of the tour)

Sundays are a day of rest in Tonga. A day to go kayaking, snorkelling, enjoy the beautiful beach or just relax and read a book.

We recommend that you bring an underwater camera and swap your best photos with the other guests in your group. The latest GoPro is perfect with the short-pole (we ask that you do not use long poles). Also bring an extra battery and a large hard drive to download all your footage. 

Departing Day: Breakfast | End of tour | transfer to the airport

Click Here to Book this Tour

• Our aim is to take you to the best whale-swimming experience possible and to give you so much more than just a fleeting glimpse of the whales and quick encounters.
• We love the whales and are passionate about what we do.
• We know that the best encounters are respectful ones.
• We know that day trips operators cannot take the time to show you the best way to be with the whales and they often have not got the time to work gently with them.
• We know that immersing yourself in many different whale encounters over a minimum of 5 days is the very best way to experience the very intimate and profound privilege of swimming with these magnificent beings.
• We like to take care of the detail! We make sure that your tour flows smoothly so that you can relax and enjoy your whale-watching and island time.
• AND  . .  we know that once you have swum with them, once you have looked into the eye of a whale, you will want to do it again and again.

Tour prices do not include: airfares to Vava’u, some evening meals, activities on leisure day, travel insurance, snorkelling equipment and wetsuit/vest, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, transfers to other accommodation or Tongatapu transfers.

Terms & Conditions of Booking with WhaleSwim Adventures:

Getting to the Vava’u Islands in Tonga

We swim with the whales in The Vava’u Islands, the northern island group in The Kingdom of Tonga.

To join your WhaleSwim Adventure, you need to fly Internationally to Nadi, Fiji (airport code NAN) and then fly via Nadi Fiji directly to Vava’u (flights three times a week).

International airlines flying into Nadi, Fiji, include Fiji Airways, Virgin Australia, Qantas, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific.

You can book flights with Fiji Airways, directly from Nadi, Fiji to  the international airport in Vava’u, where we swim with the whales. See flight details further below.

See below for an overview on getting to Vava’u.

When booking airfares please note: There are no international or domestic flights in Tonga on  Sundays.

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Flights from Nadi, Fiji to Vava’u

GETTING TO VAVA’U

You will need to be in Vava’u by the afternoon of the starting date of your tour. We will gather in the dining room of the resort at 6pm that evening for our Welcome Dinner and tour briefing. Your tour finishes after breakfast and checkout of the last date of your tour.

We will arrange your Vava’u airport transfers to and from the tour resort – you just need to enter your flight arrival and departure information into your WhaleSwim account so that we can schedule this.

FLIGHTS

We are currently recommending that guests get to Vava’u by flying to Nadi, Fiji and then getting a flight directly from Nadi (NAN) to Vava’u (VAV) with Fiji Airways: https://www.fijiairways.com/en-au/book/book-a-flight

If you are planning to fly with Fiji Airways from your country to Nadi, we suggest that you book the Nadi (NAN) – Vava’u (VAV) flight first and separately. If you are trying to book a multi-stop fare with Fiji Airways to VAV their booking system sometimes shows no flights available to VAV, but if booking only the flights from Nadi to Vava’u you will find flights available. 

The flights from Nadi to Vava’u generally leave at 8am in the morning, so you may have to stay overnight in Nadi. We suggest, if in transit, that you stay at the Fiji Gateway Hotel: https://www.fijigateway.com/ or contact us for further suggestions. _____________________________________________________

CLICK HERE for: 'Gear you will need to bring'

We will provide you with a comprehensive Trip Preparation guide prior to your tour. This will give you all the packing and supplies information you will need (with good advice re your snorkelling gear) but as a general rule, remember that Tonga is a laid back, tropical place and light, casual clothing is the most suitable.

The most important items on your packing list will be your snorkelling equipment – your snorkel, mask and fins. We do not provide snorkelling gear. Hire gear is never going to fit you as well as your own equipment and, having come all this way to swim with the whales, we want you to have the best experience that you can. You are going to be snorkelling every day for 5 – 7 days and good quality, well fitting gear is going to make your WhaleSwim Adventure so much better.

Please note that, for safety sake, wearing of neoprene wetsuits or vests is compulsory when we are swimming with whales.

You may want to bring a light wetsuit for warmth and buoyancy while swimming with whales. Water temperatures are between 23 degrees C (in the earlier part of the season) and 26 degrees C, so for most people a 3mm shortie wetsuit is fine but if you really feel the cold you may want to bring a full 3mm wetsuit. If travelling light you can purchase or hire one of our excellent WhaleSwim neoprene snorkelling vests. These can be ordered when booking your tour.

Towels will be supplied by your resorts.

This is an ocean adventure holiday and you will need to be reasonably fit, confident in the water and be able to snorkel well. We are often getting in and out of the boat into the ocean, sometimes snorkelling quickly for up to 50-80m and we may occasionally be in choppy seas.

Although humpback whales are 12 -15 metres long and weigh about 40 ton, they are gentle animals and are very aware of us in the water. They will even drop their 5m long pectoral fin or turn their tail fluke to avoid us as they swim by. The calves are sometimes very curious and they often seem to love to be around us.  The thought of being so close to them may be frightening ­but after your first encounter you will understand why they are known as the gentle giants of the sea.

It is very important for you to know that some of the in-the-water encounters with the whales may be in very deep water and well away from land. Your level of skill and confidence will determine whether our Guide will allow you in the water with the whales. If you feel that your swimming and snorkelling skills could be improved, or that you are a little unfit, we suggest that you enrol in snorkelling lessons and improve your swimming skills and fitness levels prior to joining your tour to insure the best encounters possible.

Our tours cater for a maximum of 8 guests only.

Tongan Whale-watching Regulations allow no more than 4 people plus a guide in the water with the whales at any one time. With only 8 guests onboard our whaleswim boat this means that you are in the water with the whales every 2nd time. You will have the opportunity for many in-the-water encounters during our 5-7 days of whale-watching, plus you will have time to enjoy the incredible up-close surface action.

We know that the best whale-swims are respectful ones. If we take care around them and understand the incredible privilege that it is to be with them in their world we are often able to experience extended encounters. The whales decide and when they trust us they stay often stay longer.

We offer package tours with a minimum of 5 days on the water because we know that being out for multiple days with the same group of people allows you to learn how to best be with the whales and it allows us to maximise your chances of amazing encounters.

We also make sure that we only use the best boats and have the best skippers. A good whale-watching skipper knows that the best way to get great encounters is to take the time to let the whales get used to the boat and for the swimmers to be an un-intrusive as possible.

We can create the best whaleswim opportunities because we have the time to teach our guests the best way to be with the whales and we have multiple days to swim with them. It is harder for the day trip boats because they have such limited time and are under pressure to deliver the swims. Their swims can be fleeting.

If you are coming all the way to Vava’u you need to give yourself as many days as you can to experience being with the whales. Just a little warning though… swimming with them is really addictive.

Whale season in Vava’u is mid-July through to mid-October. Some days are sunny; some days are cloudy, some days are rainy and windy. The weather is warm, but you’ll want to bring a wind jacket to keep you comfortable on the boat. Water temperature is around 24C  (75 F) to 26C (79F) later in the season.
Vava’u is the best place in Tonga for  the most in-water encounters with humpback whales as the majority off the Tongan humpback population, mate and give birth on this latitude.
Only snorkelling is allowed with the whales as they don’t like divers’ bubbles, and it’s hard to keep up with whales on SCUBA. The topography of the islands allows us to work in most conditions, excluding intense weather days of course.

Weather, temperatures and whale behaviours will affect our day to day on-the-water plans but we aim to explore the various caves, coral gardens and abundant marine life that inhabit the waters around the Vava’u Islands as a part of our tour. We head back to your accommodation in time for a hot shower and to relax and watch the sun set before dinner.