Dive Review of Dive Vava'u/The Moorings charter in
Tonga/Vava'u

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Dive Vava'u/The Moorings charter, Aug, 2007, by Mike Binnard, CA, USA ( 2 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 3685 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Sailing: as we had been promised, Vava'u is a pretty ideal sailing environment. The weather was good, the navigation is easy, and the islands are great. Anchoring is easy, because the water is so clear and you can see exactly what you're doing. The only trouble we had was that VHF radio contact is a little less reliable than advertised. "Sailingbird's Guide to the Kingdom of Tonga" is by far the best reference book to use. Their charts and pictures are much more detailed and helpful than the guide from the Moorings. You can sail just about anywhere in Vava'u in 3 hours or less. And usually there is something interesting to stop and see on the way. The Moorings: We didn't learn until the end of the trip that "split provisioning" includes free resupply of food (if you return to the base to pick it up) and a Tongan Feast at a village. Provisioning was more expensive than shopping locally, but it's very convenient. The Moorings were very laid back & easy to deal with, but provide quick and good service. We had a few maintenance issues on our boat (missing cotter pin so the boom fell off once; engine needed a new starter motor), but the Moorings guys came right out wherever we were and fixed things right away. Diving: Scuba diving was better than I expected. Lots of places had very healthy and colorful coral. Not a whole lot of big fish, but much better than Kona or Bermuda. Water temp was 76; we were fine with 3/2 full suits. Several places had great snorkling: "Coral Gardens" at Vakaeitu is the best snorkel site I've ever seen. The north side of Ava and the edge of the reef at Maninita (outside of the coral head on the NW side of the anchorage) were also great. Dive Vava'u: Pretty much as perfect as possible for a dive operation. Paul and Karen are really great dive guides: good briefings, the right attitudes about ecology, lots of knowledge about the critters (from whales to fish to nudibranchs), and really good at pointing out little interesting things (orangutan crab, nudibranch, cleaner shrimp, Spanish Dancer eggs, etc.). Rental equipment was great, and they definitely have the best dive boat in Vava'u. Good food, too. Whales: We did two days of whale-watching with Dive Vava'u. This is the real Must-Do activity in Vava'u. We booked 2 days because there's no guarantee that the weather or animals will cooperate. Dive Vava'u said they see whales from the boat about 85% of the time, and get to swim with them more than 50% of the time. First day we saw some whales from the boat in the morning, but they were going someplace in a hurry. Middle of the day was slow with no sightings. Then we found another whale who settled down to sing. We jumped in the water and snorkled over the singing whale. It was completely mind-blowing looking down through the blue to see the whale 40 feet down, while listening to the whalesong. You can feel the vibrations in your chest and arms. Being in the water with a whale really gives you a good understanding of how big whales are. Second day we spent an hour following a group of 4 whales who were fighting. It was really surprising to see how agile the whales are, and to see their tactics: lifting each other out of the water, blowing bubbles to disguise their location, and hitting each other. At one point they were only 10 feet from the boat. Definitely not a time for us to go swimming. On other days, we frequently saw whales from the sailboat, sometimes only 30-40 feet away. We often heard whales singing while snorkling. Tonga: It was very clear that Tongans are more motivated and hardworking than other islanders. The villages are neat and orderly, and we often saw Tongans doing construction projects. Of course they are very friendly and cheerful, and love joking and teasing each other and us. Vava'u has a big variety of islands, from 800 foot cliffs to dense jungles to tiny sandy motus. It was a lot of fun to sail around and explore all of them. In Nukualofa, we did a taxi tour of the island to see the major sights in about 3 hours. Visible damage from the November riots was a lot more minor and isolated than I expected (although I don't know what it looked like before). Interisland flights were punctual. Our only disappointment on the trip was that we didn't catch any fish from our boat. But that's probably because we are clueless fishermen.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Maldives, Palau, Fiji, Kona, Bermuda
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	noCurrents
Water Temp	76-0°F / 24--18°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-80 Ft/ 9-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	>2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Dive Vava'u/The Moorings charter in Tonga/Vava'u

Dive Vava'u/The Moorings charter, Aug, 2007,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Dive Vava'u/The Moorings charter in
Tonga/Vava'u