Tonga - Pre Whale Watching

Planning a humpback whale swimming trip? Here some things to consider:

There are two major places to view humpback whales in Tonga. There are Ha'apai and Vava’u archipelago. Reaching both archipelagos requires two legs, an international and domestic flight, or an international flight and a domestic ferry. The international and domestic terminals are located near each other at Fua’amotu Airport on Tongatapu Island. It’s recommended to take two days to allow flexibility if one flight is delayed or canceled. 

Another recommendation is to book well ahead of time, up to year in advance, if possible. I didn’t know and tried to book at the last minute. I sent out about 15 emails to whale swimming operators. All the responses I received stated they were fully “booked for the season”, except one. In retrospect, I was extremely lucky that Whale Discoveries responded and they had an open space.