In the late spring of 2015, Mary & I visited the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, home of our local IMAX Theater, to see 'Humpback Whales', a documentary by Greg MacGillivray. It takes you on an extraordinary journey with one of the most awe-inspiring marine mammals on the planet. The film was shot in Alaska, Hawaii and Tonga, and offers a close-up look at how these whales communicate, play, care-for and feed their young. Captured in IMAX 3-D, it gives you the incredible sensation of being in the water with these gentle giants, but without getting wet.

On the drive home from the theater and excited about what we had just seen, we knew we’d once again go swimming with humpbacks. The question was, where? In ’01 & ‘03 we flew to the Dominican Republic and took a week-long liveaboard boat trip out to the Silver Bank, a breeding and calving area about 60 miles off-shore and one of the few places in the world where you can legally swim with whales.  

When we looked into going back to the Silver Bank, we found the boat was booked through 2017, so we thought, “What about Tonga?” The question then became, ‘Where the hell is Tonga?’

Located in the South Pacific, it forms a triangle with Australia and New Zealand, with it being the right pointy part of the triangle. If that’s still unclear and you’re one who relies heavily on a GPS to maneuver your way through everyday life, its coordinates are 19.7503 S, 174.3667 W. For the rest of you, here’s a map.

Tonga map

After we made the decision to go to Tonga, we researched which of the 170+ islands to stay at.  We found the Ha’apai group of islands within Tonga offered the best opportunity for whales, and specifically, Foa Island. One of the drawbacks, or pluses depending on which pant leg you put on first, on Foa there are only 2 places to stay on the island; Sandy Beach Resort, or Matafonua Lodge. Ten months out, Sandy Beach was booked, so we ‘’settled’ on Matafonua. Settled isn’t really quite right, as Tripadvisor rates in #1 (out of 2) on Foa.

Ha'apai consists of islands, islets, reefs and shoals with a combined area roughly 42 square miles. To give you some perspective on how small these islands are, the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport is 30 sq. miles.