Dive Review of Blue Water Retreat in
Tonga/Eua Island

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Blue Water Retreat: "Humpback Whale Freediving in Tonga at Eua Island", Sep, 2024, by Dan Walsh, CA, US ( 1 report). Report 13173.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This is a small quaint resort with bungalows that are for 2 people per bungalow. Meals were family style with several selections. It is not gourmet by any means, but pretty basic meals. The resort does not offer sodas, beer, or cocktails, but they will make a store run with you and you can buy whatever drinks and snacks you'd like. Meals on the boats were packaged for distribution to each diver and crew. The boats: Large oversized "panga" type boats, there are 3 available, and each one takes 8 to 12 free divers based on how many are diving each day. The boats are well serviced and reliable. Be sure to bring a windbreaker jacket and a towel, as it gets windy and choppy water conditions, which without a good jacket would make for a cold day, even with the sun out. My reason for this trip was to free dive with Humpback whales, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed. We had whales each of the 5 days of diving we went out looking for them; the last day we drifted and had 6 of them come to us and stay for almost 2 hours- that was the highlight of the trip, both in the water and with the surface action and spy hopping just feet from us on the boat. The only downside of the trip was that as an experienced free diver, I was looking forward to making some drops below the whales to get some shots and video looking up to the surface. The Kingdom of Tonga has strict rules now that you can only get within 5 meters, and can only dive down 3 meters- about 10 feet. I got some excellent photos and videos from the trip, but sure wish I could have got the shots I mentioned deeper than 10 feet- which 10 feet is pretty pointless actually! Overall, I'm ready to go back again, I'll take basic 3 mil wetsuit, a couple masks, and one pair of free diving fins. The retreat has plenty of equipment, including weights, in case you want to travel light-- but you must let them know in advance you need equipment. I booked this trip through "Freediving Family", a company owned by Australian free dive champion Adam Stern. He runs several weeks of trips in the summer until the first week of September. He is not at all the week trips, but may or may not be there when you go. He has a very good representative, Arti, who is very capable as a group leader as well as his skills dealing with the groups needs as they arise. There are also 2 other guides that were very helpful, each boat has guides and a very capable boat captain.
Websites	Blue Water Retreat
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	California coastal entire state, and all Channel Islands and offshore banks; Baja west coast including Guadalupe Island and Sea of Cortez top to bottom; Hawaii; Australia; Saba; Florida, Canada; Ponape; Chuuk and other Micronesia islands,
Closest Airport	TBU	Getting There	Flight to Auckland NZ to TBU Tonga, or flight from Fiji to Tonga. I recommend Air New Zealand to Auckland, and then onto Tonga airport TBU. Commuter flight or ferry to Eua Island
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	76-78°F / 24-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Freediving only trip with Humpback Whales; new rules require distance from whales 5meters, and dive depth to 3 meters only. :-(
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	> 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Bring only what you need each day for the boat. It was choppy 3 of the days I was on the boat, which would make changing batteries, sd cards, etc. a bit dicey. I had 2 small camera systems, and I made sure each one had completely charged batteries, and the media cards had been formatted and ready to go.

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Dive Review of Blue Water Retreat in Tonga/Eua Island

Blue Water Retreat: "Humpback Whale Freediving in Tonga at Eua Island", Sep, 2024,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Blue Water Retreat in
Tonga/Eua Island