Whales, Volcanoes & Virgin Coral Reefs
9-DAY WHALE SAFARI ITINERARY
NAI'A Adds More Days To Whale Expeditions
In
September 1999, NAI'A returned to home waters from her
longest and fullest season yet, cruising and diving throughout
the Kingdom of Tonga among humpback whales. It was a remarkable
season, with many exhilarating in-water encounters - some
lasting hours and some with these magnificent whales so
close that we could barely avoid touching them! Several
times we experienced the thrill of swimming above a singing
humpback. We encountered many beautiful mother-calf pairs
that stirred in us grand hope for the future of this Antarctic
population. Among our most wondrous sights were the raucous
displays of groups of sparring males -- breaching, tail
slapping, lunging and peduncle throwing! We spotted many
other marine mammals too - spinner dolphins, common dolphins,
minke whales, false killer whales.
Our experiences aboard NAI'A in 1999, led us to make some
important and dramatic changes for our Whale Watching
Charters. It became overwhelmingly clear to us and our
passengers, that the journeys are simply not long enough.
There is so much to see, such distances to cover, and
the constant addictive possibility of more and better
encounters ("if only we had more time") that
we were in the awkward situation of people refusing to
disembark when the time came! We also dearly wanted to
extend the trips as we felt that we knew of more locations
and experiences that we had not been able to share with
our guests during a single 6-day voyage.
Some guests even rearranged or cancelled their existing
travel plans to stay aboard NAI'A for another trip. Others
had already anticipated this situation and booked two
trips back to back.
After much discussion and planning, we re-scheduled the NAI'A Tonga 2000 season, replacing six 6-night trips with four 9-night trips - extending each charter by three full days. We did not take this decision lightly. Following are the facts and opinions that led us here:
- Tonga is a long way for most of our guests to travel for such a short trip. The majority of our clients indicated they preferred more diving, cruising and whale watching aboard NAI'A.
- The Ha'apai Islands are remote and cover a large and varied area that cannot nearly be fully appreciated during a six night voyage. After four seasons there, we have found many fine dive sites, beautifully idyllic islands, warm welcoming villages and mysterious unexplored destinations (such as the Tofua and Kao volcanoes in far west Ha'apai). It has been heartbreaking not to have the time in our past itineraries to make the most of such rare opportunities in such an unusual destination.
- Patience and time are rewarded generously in the realm of whale watching. The longer we have to find, observe and get to know whales, the better our encounters. The more different areas we can visit, the more different individuals we can meet.
We remain dedicated to making real your dream (and ours) of swimming with a humpback whale. We have redesigned our Tonga voyages to include more snorkelling and diving as well as relaxed shore visits and cultural exchanges. NAI'A, as the region's only such comfortable and capable expeditionary vessel, can make Ha'apai's most remote and pristine corners accessible to travellers like you.
