Explore Vava'u, AX-Factor Dive, Tonga: Undercurrent 01/2026

Explore Vava'u, AX-Factor Dive, Tonga

a whale of a time

from the January, 2026 issue of Undercurrent

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Dear Fellow Diver,

Australia Map It's hard to explain the magic of being in the water with humpback whales. Having dived for more than 40 years, I've been within touching distance of sharks, dolphins, giant Pacific manta rays, and even whale sharks, but nothing prepared me for the magical experience of snorkeling so close to these humpback whales and their babies that we could look into each other's eyes.

Each day on the boat, I must have got in and out of the water 15 times, and each time I got close enough to a 50-foot humpback to see it looking at me with its huge eye, or to a massive baby swimming around with its mum. I became very adept at climbing the boat's ladders.

Mothers swim with an escort whale (not necessarily a male), which helps protect their babies from danger. And one day, I inadvertently became that danger. As I snorkeled 20 feet away, the escort, an enormous male, its head bearded with barnacles, shot toward me. My heart raced. For sure, this 30- to 40-ton behemoth was going to ram me to get between its family and me. Thankfully, he had other ideas. With long white pectoral flippers spread like airplane wings and a massive tail fluke sweeping through the water, he managed to swim past with the finesse of a ballet dancer, not even causing a ripple. He showed me his white underbelly as he slipped past sideways, without actually touching me. Visibility was about 30 feet.

Humpback whale - mother and calf My good friend and I had spent months planning for an August week of whale swimming, preceded by diving in the Solomon Islands and Fiji. I wasn't clear about what whale swimming involved -- turns out it's just snorkeling -- or what to expect from the whales. Tonga would be our whale swimming destination, three days with the whales (no scuba allowed), with three days of reef scuba diving thrown in.

Tonga, a hereditary monarchy, comprises 171 islands randomly scattered about the vast Pacific. We landed on Vava'u, one of 36 inhabited islands, and more than 200 miles from its capital city, Nuku?alofa, on the largest island, Tongatapu. After breezing through customs at the modest airport, it was a 45-minute US$50 taxi ride to the Harbourview Hotel in Toula village, near Neiafu, where we dragged our suitcases over rough ground to our basic twin room. Adequate, if a little shabby, it had a nice ocean view from our balcony, and it came with a fridge and an electric kettle, but the fittings and furniture were nearing the end of their lives and showed it....

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