Your Guide to Diving Tonga

Diving Tonga Overview

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 All Reader Reports from Tonga	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 )
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
Sandy Beach Resort Report in Tonga "Snorkeling With the Humpback Whales" filed Nov 6, 2023 by michael Bahr (Experience: 501-1000 dives, 2 reports)
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
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 )
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
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 )
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
Tongan Expeditions/Vava'u Reef Resort Report in Tonga "Great" filed Aug 2, 2017 by Bruce Cummings (Experience: 501-1000 dives)
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

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.