Caves, Coral & Clear Water
NAI'A's Tonga Humpback Whale Expeditions includes excellent scuba diving opportunities separate from whale watching. We plan at least one dive each day, in the afternoon and/or night after spending an exhilarating day sailing among whales. We will choose our evening anchorage specifically with the intention of finding an interesting dive site nearby. After eleven years exploring the remote untouched sites of the Ha'apai Islands in Tonga, we have logged dives on some exceptional reefs and marked them on the charts for our return. As always though, our itinerary is flexible - dictated by the desires of our passengers and the moods of the weather. If we strike a rainy day and whales are hard to find then we can simply escape underwater. On the other hand, if we are surrounded by playful, breaching, singing whales, it's unlikely you'll want to leave the scene for a dive.
Diving in Tonga truly means exploring new frontiers. While Vava'u is home to several well known sites visited regularly by the local shore-based diving operations, the remote Ha'apai Islands are virtually virgin territory. Only a fraction of the country's 170 islands and many more submerged reefs have been explored - fewer than 40 islands are inhabited! Yet, Tonga was the first South Pacific nation to set aside marine reserves. Two of those 10 sites where collecting and some fishing is prohibited are giant clam farms. Tonga's astounding visibility (in the 76-degree winter water 150ft plus is not uncommon) means the concentration of fish and invertebrate life on the reef is less than in Fiji. But the view it opens up of the rising and falling seascape, sweeping detail of hard coral gardens, towering pinnacles, schools of open water pelagics and gaping caverns is a spectacular alternative. Most of the Ha'apai Islands are low coral atolls, althought there are several active volcanic islands and the main landmasses boast extremelyh fertile soil. Kau Island is a volcanic cone reaching 1109m and neighbouring Tofua, the site of the Bounty mutiny, is an active, spewing volcano. Tonga is experiencing the earth's fastest shift at 10 cm in the direction of Samoa each year!
If you are going to travel all the way to Tonga, why not spend some time before or after your NAI'A adventure in Vava'u, an idyllic vision of brilliant blue water surrounding shallow fringing reefs and high island peaks. Some dramatic coastal caves below the surface harbor white tip sharks, lobster and schooling fish - others form interesting dive sites by their shape alone. Mariner's Cave is a giant bubble cave that materializes about 10 feet under and tunnels 20 feet into a submerged ledge of coral. Other unique sites in Vava'u include Gorgonian Valley - layer upon layer of giant sea fans growing upright from an undersea gully - and the wreck of the 300-foot Clan McWilliam copra trader in Neiafu Harbour.
