I want to explain my whole purpose for going to Tonga. I have, as long as I can remember, always loved humpback whales. I never put rock star or teenage idol posters on my walls...I had posters of whales...beautiful, majestic whales. I have always dreamed of being in the water and seeing a humpback whale. I never thought I would get to live my dream.
Humpbacks are baleen, filter feeding whales. The southern hemisphere humpbacks feed in Antarctica and migrate towards the equator to calf and breed. They have a gestation period of 12 months. Calves are normally 3 to 6 meters (10-20 feet) at birth and weigh 1 to 2 tons. They initially put on 45 kg (100 pounds) per day from their mothers milk.
The calf typically returns with its mother to the breeding ground the following year. The two will separate on the following migration down to Antarctica. Not relying on mom's defences, the calf then begins its struggle to be independent. Juveniles mature at 5-7 years old. Females normally breed every 2-3 years. Like other whales, whaling put incredible pressure on the humpback whales. The human pressures added to the ecological ones and the humpback population significantly decreased. They were placed on the endangered species list in 1966. Since then, their population has been making a comeback.
Tonga banned whaling in 1978. This was important to the humpbacks as the warm waters of Tonga are a calving and breeding ground. The Tongan humpback population has increased since the ban. One niche of Tonga's tourist industry centered around whale watching. In the late 1990's, some companies began swimming with humpbacks. Thus began a new kind of pressure on the population. The Kingdom of Tonga actively embraced the new industry and, in 2001, guidelines were established to protect the whales. These guidelines continue to evolve.
I did not know what the rules were even after I arrived. I had to ask. One thing that needs to evolve is that the rules should be blatantly clear to everyone. I found out that every company is required to have a boat driver and a whale guide that are specifically licensed to interact with the whales. If the boat driver is not licensed, a much larger distance from the whale is to be maintained. Without a whale guide, no one is to jump in the water with a whale. The big thing on the whale swim boats (and the one rule I did learn while researching my trip) is that only 4 people (plus whale guide) are allowed in the water at one time. There are also protocols for how many boats can be in line to swim with the whale and duration of swim time.
There are multiple officially licensed whale swim companies that operate in Vava'u (I saw anything from 9-14 companies listed). Some companies offer only packages, some only day trips and some offer a combo. The number of passengers vary from 4 to 20...doing the math, that is a lot of time not in the water.
Like trip planning for any new location, the amount (or lack) of information can be overwhelming. It was hard to find equivalent information on each company. So in my true style, I created a spreadsheet (if you know me at all...this is not shocking). My spreadsheet listed the company, duration of package, days swimming with whales, total number of people on the boat and other things included like meals, transport, flights, etc. The spreadsheet helped clear up many questions. One thing that became clear to me was the total number of people on a boat was important. I decided to book a package ahead of time and chose the place that would offer me the most time in the water with only 4 people on the boat. Surprisingly the package I selected with only 4 people on the boat was not the most expensive one out there; the most expensive one I found had 12 people on the boat.
I learned that emailing Tonga does not always work and calling is futile. Most places do not communicate. If they do, they do not communicate well. I asked for an itinerary for my 7 day package four times that I already booked and STILL did not get a response. I felt like I was taking a HUGE leap of faith. Oh and one other point of interest...Tonga charges 4-5% for credit card charges (plus whatever your card charges for international transactions). So if you can, try to make time to extract money out (via ATM or arrive with cash) it might save you on the transaction fee. I tried to wire transfer money down. The address and bank numbers sent to me on the invoice did not match up with the official information and my money is still stuck in limbo. Just a heads up. Welcome to Tonga. :)
Despite the challenges and the amount of unknowns on my spreadsheet, I booked my trip to take my leap of faith into my dream.
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