Tonga

[JONATHAN A]

Hi

I'm looking to spend a few weeks in Ha'apai in August to do some whale watching and diving. The whales are obviously the main draw but I'd like to know what the diving is like out there ??

Thanks
Jonathan

 

[JohnnyQuest]

Diving is actually not bad. The reef is very healthy. There are lots of pretty tropicals. Mostly small stuff; however, I did have great encounters with a tiger shark and a leopard shark. We had a whale swim by during a dive too. However, the whale encounters were via snorkel as you know. Night dives were pretty good. The water is cold. I wore a 7 mm semi-dry with attached hood and was fine. I’ll have to look in my log book for the actual temp. but I think it was in the upper 60 to lower 70s.

It's not a world class pacific dive destination, but it's surprisingly good as something to do when the humpbacks aren't playful.

 

[Cacia]

And excellent kava kava!

 

[JONATHAN A]

Thanks for your responses, I reckon I can survive with some decent diving...and I've never tried kava kava before but with three weeks out there I'm sure I'll get the chance !!

Jonny, I'd love to know more on dive conditions etc, I'd intended taking a shortie but sounds like I'd be better off with my 5mm semidry ?

Cheers
Jonathan

 

[JohnnyQuest]

You people from London are a different breed! We have a friend from London who we met in Midway a few years ago. We did several trips together since then. I'll never forget Galapagos. Everyone was in a 7 mm semi dry or a dry suit and Sir Richard the English was in a 3mm sans hood and then unzipped the suit because he was warm!

If your veins contain what his do, you may be fine with a shortie.

I'll pull my log book out and see the details. I'll let you know tomorrow.

And yes, there is the kava: muddy water with pepper.

 

[JONATHAN A]

ha ha, i don't need wrapping up too much but i'm not quite as hardy as some of my fellow brit divers, the 5mm sounds like it'll be going with me! look forward to your info, it's been difficult to find anything on diving conditions in tonga and more particularly ha'apai.

thanks
jonathan

 

[Travelnsj]

Diving is actually not bad. The reef is very healthy. There are lots of pretty tropicals. Mostly small stuff; however, I did have great encounters with a tiger shark and a leopard shark. We had a whale swim by during a dive too. However, the whale encounters were via snorkel as you know. Night dives were pretty good. The water is cold. I wore a 7 mm semi-dry with attached hood and was fine. I’ll have to look in my log book for the actual temp. but I think it was in the upper 60 to lower 70s.

It's not a world class pacific dive destination, but it's surprisingly good as something to do when the humpbacks aren't playful.

What time of the year did you go?....I've been looking to go but cannot find that much info...plus anything below 82....Is Cold....LOL

 

[JohnnyQuest]

I forgot this was on the Naia page: http://www.naia.com.fj/diary/dd_050813.html

Those are my silver Tusa split fins in the top photo. We had some great encounters. I checked my log book. The water was a balmy 73 degrees. Yes, I did use my 7mm semi-dry with the hood while diving. I thought it was colder. I must really be getting old. I remember the days of ice diving with a 5 mm farmer john 30+ years ago!

I'll have to check the Naia's itinerary for our trip. Every place we dove was about the same. We also spent 5 days here: http://www.fafaislandresort.com Great resort. That's where we saw the tiger shark and leopard.

P.S. In case you're curious....
Looking at the web page I see that there is was a Jon, a John, and a Johnson on board. I'm not any of them as you might expect from my user name!

 

[Travelnsj]

Wow....looks like you had some encounters.....What time of the year did you go?...hopefully it was their winter?....with warmer waters in their summer?....thx for the info.

 

[Maui Finn]

Aloha

I spent a week in Happai, and week in Vavau last year and concentrated on the whales. While I love diving, I opted to concentrate on the whales. The expereince was incredible. So good in fact I am returning this september and again in late August 2008.

I will not bring dive gear on these trips as this Tonga is one of the only places where it is legal to swim with whales. That does not mean they just swim up to the boat, just that you wont go to jail for swimming with them. I live in hawaii where there are thousands of whales each season, but to swim with them one risks a $20,000 fine and jail time.....

There are hundreds not thousands of whales in the Tonga chain, so it is harder to find them. Once successful, there is no guarantee they will intereact and allow swimming to take place. It takes a lot of patience.

Instead of bringing the dive gear all the way to Tonga, I will leave it in Fiji, and spend five days diving after Tonga, on the way back to Hawaii. While only 1.5 hours away, Fiji has the incredible soft coral and colorful anthias as well as pelagics.

We checked out a lot of reefs and saw some good subjects for macro, but nthing really spectacular. However the area does have some good arches and caves.

The water is a bit cool and a five mil suit will be appreciated if doing two or three dives a day. Last year I had a three mil suit for snorkeling and a 1 mil hood and I was fine.

I have chartered a small speed boat that takes no more than 3 participants as interaction is the goal. Fewer people in the water means longer encounters. Its all about making the mother whale comfortable with our presence. If non agressive themother will not be nervous and that when magic happens.


To see images from the last trip go to douglasjhoffman.com


ENJOY!