I was in Tonga last August with Naia liveabord and I'd like to share my experience .
Naia is a well known liveaboard sailing Tonga during July , August and September and Fiji during the other months .
All on board is great : cabin , food , service , professional cruise director , wonderful fijian staff !
The trip was 10 days - 9 nights - 8 full day in water with humpback whales . A lot of time with only one target : .... whales !!
Seeing whales above water and underwater as well ( snorkeling only allowed )
I must confess at the beginning I was afraid to get bored , but day by day I understood that all that time is necessary to " get in touch " with the whales . This means not only take a snapshot but let the whales accept me in water !
The trip start from Nukuʻalofa with a full night sailing to north to get the middle area of Tonga ( Ha'apai, ) where there are only a couple of resort so we were the only divers in the waters ( the area were resort are concetranted is the north one : Vavau ) .
We spent our time in that area , in the morning after breakfast the boat start moving in search of whale action , and usually we had two session in water per day ( 2 - 3 hours each one ) .
We were splitted in two groups to board the two skiff ( 8 person per skiff ) .
Rule of whake watching is 4 snorkelers in water + 1 guide , so we switched every more or less 15 minutes .
Freediving was allowed only when dive guide said "OK" , to avoid scare the whale away .
Sometimes if the action is more above water ( ie ... whales jumping ) we spend more time looking at their jump !
Sea condition was good ( almost flat ) as well the weather ( no rain , no strong wind ) .
Water temperature 25 C .
A word of advice about water activity : there is a lot to swimm ! a lot ! so better to get fit well in advance to enjoy at best this kind of trip .
And also jump in and out of the water many times per day is tiring .
I can say I liked this trip immensly .
May be the best of my life .... to see these gentle giant slow moving in the water ... always looking at me .... and also hear them singing .. !
No word to describe this experience .... better to show you some photos , hope you like :
Naia is a well known liveaboard sailing Tonga during July , August and September and Fiji during the other months .
All on board is great : cabin , food , service , professional cruise director , wonderful fijian staff !
The trip was 10 days - 9 nights - 8 full day in water with humpback whales . A lot of time with only one target : .... whales !!
Seeing whales above water and underwater as well ( snorkeling only allowed )
I must confess at the beginning I was afraid to get bored , but day by day I understood that all that time is necessary to " get in touch " with the whales . This means not only take a snapshot but let the whales accept me in water !
The trip start from Nukuʻalofa with a full night sailing to north to get the middle area of Tonga ( Ha'apai, ) where there are only a couple of resort so we were the only divers in the waters ( the area were resort are concetranted is the north one : Vavau ) .
We spent our time in that area , in the morning after breakfast the boat start moving in search of whale action , and usually we had two session in water per day ( 2 - 3 hours each one ) .
We were splitted in two groups to board the two skiff ( 8 person per skiff ) .
Rule of whake watching is 4 snorkelers in water + 1 guide , so we switched every more or less 15 minutes .
Freediving was allowed only when dive guide said "OK" , to avoid scare the whale away .
Sometimes if the action is more above water ( ie ... whales jumping ) we spend more time looking at their jump !
Sea condition was good ( almost flat ) as well the weather ( no rain , no strong wind ) .
Water temperature 25 C .
A word of advice about water activity : there is a lot to swimm ! a lot ! so better to get fit well in advance to enjoy at best this kind of trip .
And also jump in and out of the water many times per day is tiring .
I can say I liked this trip immensly .
May be the best of my life .... to see these gentle giant slow moving in the water ... always looking at me .... and also hear them singing .. !
No word to describe this experience .... better to show you some photos , hope you like :