Your Guide to Diving Tonga
All of Undercurrent's information on diving Tonga, including articles, reader reports, Chapbook sections, ...
Diving Tonga Overview
This island grouping, with all the beauty of the classic South Pacific, lies 600 miles to the southeast of Fiji and can be reached via Hawaii, Fiji, or New Zealand. There are few dive operations here, but reports suggest that the diving is good, and whale season attracts the adventurous. Tonga is seeking more tourism, although it has been slow to develop . . . Tonga Seasonal Dive Planner
Tonga's 170 islands cover a long distance in latitude, but the individual climate doesn't differ all that much. The average air temperature in the northern islands is 80°F (27°C) while the southern islands average 74°F (23°C), ranging from a cool 59°F (15°C) in the winter (July to September) to a high around 85°F (29°C) the summer (December to April). By November, the water temperatures reach mid 80°F (29°C), and then drop down as low as 70°F (21°C) during their winter months. December through April is also the rainy season, with the most rain falling in February and March. Tonga is prone to tropical cyclones, getting an average of a couple each year. They usually develop in the south and move north, meaning that the odds go up in the northern islands. Cyclones happen as late as May but are most likely from November to March.
Diving Tonga Reader Reports and Feature Articles
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Latest Reader Reports from Tonga
from the serious divers who read Undercurrent
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All 10,000+
Reports |
Sandy Beach Resort Report
in Tonga/Ha'apai, Foa Island
"Whale Swim in Tonga" filed Nov 11, 2023 by Bill Rigby (Experience: 501-1000 dives, 5 reports, Reviewer )
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This trip was originally booked in 2019 with Cindi LaRaia at Dive Discovery. After being cancelled due to covid we finally got re-book... ... Read more
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Sandy Beach Resort Report
in Tonga
"Snorkeling With the Humpback Whales" filed Nov 6, 2023 by michael Bahr (Experience: 501-1000 dives, 2 reports)
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The reason for this trip was to snorkel with humpback whales and their calves. We were not disappointed. The trip started in LAX follow... ... Read more
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Nai'a Report
in Tonga/Ha' apai
"No wonder the whale trips sell out 2 years in advance!" filed Aug 7, 2018 by Lisa Jabusch and Steve Nieters (Experience: 251-500 dives, 24 reports, Sr. Contributor )
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Snorkeling with humpbacks in the cool Tongan waters was as awesome as we were hoping. We were on the first charter this year, for 9 da... ... Read more
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Sandy Beach Report
in Tonga/Fua, Ha'apai
"finally in water with humpback whales" filed Aug 4, 2018 by Frederick R. Turoff (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 35 reports, Top Contributor )
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Ha’apai, Tonga trip July 19-24, 2018 - this was a snorkeling trip - my only goal was to swim with humpbacks
Sandy Beach Resort, sist... ... Read more
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Tongan Expeditions/Vava'u Reef Resort Report
in Tonga
"Great" filed Aug 2, 2017 by Bruce Cummings (Experience: 501-1000 dives)
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We went to Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga to scuba dive and swim with the humpback whales in July 2017. Humpbacks migrate from Antartica to ... ... Read more
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Complete Articles Available to Undercurrent Online
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Diving Tonga Articles - Liveaboards
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Available to the Public |
Nai’a, Tonga and Fiji, two trips for seeking whales and diving Fiji’s reefs, 2/15 |
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Tonga Sections from Our Travelin'
Diver's Chapbooks
Reader Reports filed for
that year |
Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Tonga
The books below are my
favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are
available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just
follow the links. -- BD
Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach
Paul Humann and Ned Deloach have done it again, releasing a definitive identification guide to 1600 extraordinary reef creatures of the Tropical Pacific. with this 500+ page softbound guide, you get upwards of 2000 exceptional photos of shrimp and crabs and stars and worms and lobsters and nudibranchs and slugs and squid and bivalves . . . well, all those invertebrates that move along the reefs of this region without fining, so it seems. There are several photos of some creatures to help you identify them during different life stages, and about ten percent of the book is descriptive copy so you can tie down your identification. Even if you have no plans to go to the tropical Pacific, just to thumb through the pages, gawk at the complexity and uniqueness of these animals, and read a thumbnail sketch will give any serious diver vicarious thrills for endless hours.
Click here to buy it at Amazon.
Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Gerald Allen, Rodger Steene, Paul Humann, & Ned Deloach
At last, here's a comprehensive fish ID guide covering the reefs of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The generous 500-page text, displaying 2,500 underwater photographs of 2,000 species, identifies the myriad fishes that inhabit the warm tropical seas between Thailand and Tahiti. The concise text accompanying each species portrait includes the fish's common, scientific and family names, size, description, visually distinctive features, preferred habitat, typical behavior, depth range, and geographical distribution. This is an essential book for every diver traveling westward. 6x9 inches.
Click here to buy it at Amazon.
Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef
by Neville Coleman.
With
2900 reefs in 220,000 square miles, the enormous Great Barrier Reef has incredible
dives -- and some very ordinary ones. If you're contemplating a trip, Neville
Coleman's Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea will help you
ensure you pick the best. This 176 page book, with good maps and scores of colorful
photos, describes the significant sites, the topography and the critters, then
rates and ranks them so you can pick the best. Don't even consider a trip to Australia
without consulting this. $24.95
Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide
by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene.
I was trying to pack
light for a change. Surely the Solomon Sea would have good identification books
aboard. Not so; the only book on the boat belonged to a fellow passenger. It was
one that I had not seen before, the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide,
by two of the best fish guys around, Gerry Allen and Roger Steene. The problem
was this fellow passenger kept it in a plastic baggie most of the trip and I had
to beg to see it. Great book, good traveling size, and it covers everything from
fish, shells, marine plants, mammals, corals, and invertebrates to sea birds and
more. Now I've got my own, and it won't do you any good to beg me to borrow it.
This is one of two books that I will not travel to the Pacific without. Good for
travel to the Red Sea, East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Andaman Sea,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii,
it has 1,800 color illustrations in a 6x8 1/2 paperback format with 378 pages.
$39.95.
There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent
The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.
Shipping now is our brand new, 240-page book filled with the best of the unusual, the entertaining, and the jaw dropping stories Undercurrent has published. They’re true, often unbelievable, and always fascinating. We’re offering it to you now for the special price of just $14.95.
Click here to order.
You might find some other books
of interest in our
Editor's Book Picks
section.
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