Vava'u, Tonga · 2027

Swim With
Humpback Whales

Nine nights in Vava'u. Six days in the water. Six guests, one boat, and a few thousand humpbacks who come here every year to breed, calve and sing.

5 – 14 Aug 26 Aug – 4 Sep 5 – 14 Sep
See the dates Day by day
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The trip

Ten days, and
one very big reason to be here

Every winter, humpbacks make the five thousand kilometre run up from Antarctica to Vava'u. They come here to give birth, to mate, to socialise, and to rest after a journey like that. The water is warm, it is sheltered, and it is safe, which is why they have been coming for longer than anyone has been counting.

You get time with mothers and their calves. And at some point in the week you will almost certainly be in the water when a male starts singing, which you do not so much hear as feel, right through your chest. None of that happens in an aquarium or off the back of a big boat. It only happens out here, in their water, on their terms, and Tonga is one of the only places on earth where you can legally get in with them.

I have been running this trip for a few seasons now. It is small on purpose. Six guests, so everyone gets real time in the water instead of taking turns from a crowded boat. We go out every day the weather lets us, and we stay out.

You do not need to be a freediver. You need to be comfortable in open water with a mask and fins, and you need to be patient. The whales decide how the day goes. That is the whole point.

2026 sold out. For 2027 I am running three groups.

A humpback whale cruising just beneath the surface with sunlight fanning down through the water, Vava'u, Tonga

Just under the surface, with the light coming down behind it. Vava'u.

How this one runs

Small boat, local crew,
and a lot of time in the water

There are plenty of ways to go and look at a whale. This is not really one of them. Here is what you are actually signing up for.

The boat

Queen Esther

Twin outboards, a big open back deck with room to spread your gear out, a flybridge up top for spotting, and a ladder off the stern. Getting in and out all day is easy and nobody is clambering over anybody else to reach the water.

The crew

Tongan skipper, Tongan guides

We run with a licensed local operator and a Tongan guide who holds the permit. They know this water and these animals far better than any visitor ever will, and they are the reason we find whales.

The group

Six guests, never more

Tongan rules cap how many swimmers go in at once, so a big group just means you sit on the boat waiting your turn. Six means everyone actually gets in. It is the single biggest thing that makes or breaks a week like this.

The days

Seven hours, every water day

Out at seven, back around two. These are wild animals and nobody can tell you how long they will take to find, which is exactly why we stay out as long as we do. It goes quicker than you would think.

The evenings

We edit, then we talk

We sit down together and go through the day's photos and video, one on one. Later, around dinner, I will take you through the whales, Tonga and the people here, and how to shoot in this kind of water.

The work

You give VEPA a hand

We partner with the Vava'u Environmental Protection Association, who have been working these islands since 2009. Reef surveys, erosion monitoring, whale monitoring. Real data that actually gets used.

The right fit

Who this
is for

People with a bit of adventure in them. You do not need to be an athlete or a freediver, you just need to be the sort who is still enjoying themselves when the day stops going to plan, because out here it often does, and that is usually where the best of it happens.

  • You are at home in the water. A mask, a set of fins and open ocean is your idea of a good day, not something to get through. No certification needed.
  • You like a proper day out. Early starts, long hours on the boat, salt in everything, and you would not swap it.
  • You roll with it. Some days they turn up in twenty minutes, some days you search. The people who enjoy the searching get the most out of this week.
  • You want to go home with pictures you are genuinely proud of, whether that is a proper rig or a phone in a housing.
  • You are as interested in the place as the animal. The village, the food, the people, the Sunday that stops everything.
If that sounds like your kind of week then you will fit in here without trying.
Three snorkellers hanging at the surface as a humpback whale rises toward them from the blue below

You spend most of the time on the surface, watching, and letting them come to you.

9
Nights
6
Days in the water
6
Guests max
3
Departures
Pick your week

Three departures
for 2027

Every trip is nine nights with six full days on the water. Same format, same small group, same stretch of ocean. The only thing that shifts is which day the Tongan Sunday lands on.

Trip One
5 – 14 August
2027
  • Nights 9
  • Days in water 6
  • Group size Max 6
  • Price $4,000 USD
Enquire
Trip Two
26 Aug – 4 Sep
2027
  • Nights 9
  • Days in water 6
  • Group size Max 6
  • Price $4,000 USD
Enquire
Trip Three
5 – 14 September
2027
  • Nights 9
  • Days in water 6
  • Group size Max 6
  • Price $4,000 USD
Enquire
“

What a life changing experience. Swimming with humpback whales in Tonga was truly unforgettable.

David Girsh was an incredible guide. His knowledge of the ocean, the whales, photography and the local community made the whole experience feel peaceful, authentic and eye opening.

It was so much more than just swimming with whales. We explored local islands, enjoyed local dining and sightseeing, and really got to experience Tonga.

The itinerary was perfectly paced, with an ideal balance of adventure and downtime. I finished the week feeling like I had had an incredible once in a lifetime experience and an actual holiday.

Absolutely unforgettable and something I would recommend in a heartbeat.

A guest from a recent Vava'u trip
Day by day

How the ten days run

The shape of the trip is the same whichever week you pick. Land, settle, get your bearings, then six days chasing weather and whales with one day off for a proper Tongan Sunday. On the two August departures that Sunday falls early in the week. On the September one it falls later. Either way you get six days in the water.

Every water day
0700
Leave the dock
1400
Back in off the water
PM
Rinse gear, eat, rest, swim
EVE
Editing, then talks over dinner

Roughly seven hours on the water, every water day. These are wild animals in open ocean and nobody can tell you how long it is going to take to find them. Some mornings it is twenty minutes. Some days you search. That is exactly why we stay out as long as we do, and it is the only honest way to run this. For what it is worth, it never feels like seven hours. The day goes quicker than anyone expects it to.

Evenings are where a lot of the learning actually happens. We sit down together and edit the day's photos and video, and I go through them with you one on one.

The talks tend to happen later, around dinner, once everyone has eaten and is sitting about. Across the week I will take you through the whales themselves, Tonga and the people here, and photography and how to shoot in this kind of water. Nothing formal, just everyone around a table. You are not left to figure any of it out on your own.

The coaching is not a scheduled session either. It runs the whole trip. I am in the water with you and on the boat between drops, every water day, working on settings, angles, breathing, positioning, and how to not spook an animal that is forty times your size.

Once we have had our time with the whales we usually go and find something else. Coral gardens, sea caves back in among the islands that you can swim right into, beaches on the outer islands with nobody on them at all. Vava'u has a lot going on underwater besides the humpbacks, and it would be a waste to come all this way and only look at one thing.

01
Day one · Arrival

Land and settle in

You fly into Vava'u and we get you to your accommodation. The rest of the day is yours. Unpack, sort your gear out, have a swim, sleep off the flights. We will catch up in the evening, run through the week, and answer whatever you want to ask before we get going.

Elevated view over a sheltered turquoise cove and white sand beach in the Vava'u island group
02
Day two · Dry day

Around the island

No boat today. We head out and have a look around Vava'u, stop at a few lookouts, and get a feel for where you actually are. If conditions are good we will get in for a snorkel somewhere easy. Mostly this day is about getting your kit sorted, checking your camera housing, and being properly ready for tomorrow morning.

The group gathered at a clifftop lookout above the ocean on Vava'u
03
Water day 1

First day on the water

Early start, on Queen Esther by seven. Big open back deck, a flybridge up top for spotting blows, and a ladder off the stern, so getting in and out all day is easy and nobody is clambering over anybody else.

Queen Esther, the expedition boat, at anchor in Vava'u with crew aboard
Split level view of the expedition boat at rest, crew on the back deck and the swim ladder running down into clear water over the reef

The first day can be a lot to take in. The whales, the ocean, the boat, all of it landing at once, and plenty of people come up from that first drop not quite sure what just happened. That is exactly what the day is for. You are not meant to have it worked out, you are meant to get comfortable, so the rest of the week has something to build on.

Could be mothers and calves, could be escorts, could be a singer sitting head down below the boat. You take what the day gives you.

A humpback mother and her calf hanging in deep blue water below the surface, Vava'u, Tonga
04
Rest and culture

Tongan Sunday and a proper feast

Whichever week you are on, one day of it is a Tongan Sunday, and Sunday in Tonga is Sunday. Nothing runs, and that is a good thing. We take the day off the water and spend it with the local community instead. There is a feast, cooked in an umu, which is an earth oven dug into the ground and covered with banana leaves and hot stones. It takes most of the day and it is worth every hour.

There is usually music, and it is the real thing, not a show put on for visitors. Rest up, eat too much, and let your body recover before the back half of the week.

Lifting the covers off an umu earth oven in a village on Vava'u, steam rising through banana leaves
Local Tongan musicians playing stringed instruments together during a village gathering
05
Water day 2

Back out

From here the water days run back to back, seven in the morning until two in the afternoon. Every day is different. Some days you find a calm mother and calf and stay with them for an hour. Some days you spend the whole day looking and get one encounter that makes the entire trip.

A humpback mother and calf swimming side by side just under the surface in clear blue water
06
Water day 3

Reading the ocean

By now you are starting to see things you missed on day one. Blows on the horizon, the shape of a fluke going down, the difference between a whale that is moving through and one that is settled. That is the skill, and it comes faster than you think.

This is also around where the reef starts getting a look in. Once we have had our run with the whales there is usually time to drop onto a coral garden on the way back.

A healthy hard coral reef in the shallows of the Vava'u island group

Back in among the islands there are sea caves cut into the limestone, and some of them you can swim right into. The light comes down through the openings in the roof until the whole chamber glows.

A freediver silhouetted against a shaft of sunlight pouring into a flooded sea cave among the Vava'u islands
07
Water day 4

Out in the open

If the weather is with us we head out into the open and work our way around the northern bays of Vava'u, looking for animals we have not already found. It is a different kind of day, more searching, bigger water.

This is often where the heat runs turn up, groups of males moving fast behind a female. You do not swim with those, you watch them go past, and it is one of the loudest things you will ever see in the ocean.

Four humpback whales in a heat run moving together through deep blue water off Vava'u
08
Water day 5

The difference a week makes

Somewhere around here is where most people notice it has happened. You are not thinking about your gear any more. You are watching the animal, picking your moment, and getting in the water calm instead of thrashing at it.

That shift is the entire reason this runs six days on the water instead of two. You cannot buy it and you cannot rush it, you just have to put the hours in, and by day five you have.

A guest holding position calmly at the surface, shooting a humpback whale passing just below them
09
Water day 6

Last day out

Final day on the boat and we make it count. Back in the afternoon to rinse gear, pack, and go through the last of the week's photos together before dinner somewhere in town with everyone still half salty.

Split level view with the green islands of Vava'u above the waterline and a humpback whale hanging in the blue below
10
Day ten · Departure

Fly out

No swimming today. Transfers to the airport depending on your flight. Go home, sleep for a week, then start looking at your photos properly.

The group together on the bow of the boat in front of a Vava'u island at the end of the week
When the Sunday falls. On the 5 August and 26 August departures the Tongan Sunday is day four, so you get one water day, then the feast, then five more. On the 5 September departure it lands on day eight, so you run five water days first and the last one after it. Six days on the water either way.

A note on the weather. This is an ocean trip and the ocean does not read itineraries. If a day gets blown out we move things around, swap a water day for a dry one, and get the time back later in the week. Six days in the water is what we plan for and what we have consistently achieved.
How it works here

Tonga has rules, and they are the reason this still works

In 1978 King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV banned whale hunting in Tongan waters by royal decree, eight years before the rest of the world agreed to a moratorium. The humpback population here had been hunted down to around 250 animals. It is back over 2,500 now, and that recovery is the only reason any of us get to be in the water with them. Tonga then built a licensed, regulated swim industry around them instead of a free for all, and the rules are why the whales here still tolerate people.

  • Licensed operators onlyNobody can just take a boat out and sell a whale swim. We run with a licensed Tongan operator and a local guide who holds the permit.
  • Small numbers in the waterThere is a hard cap on how many swimmers can be in with a whale at one time. This is the single biggest reason the group is capped at six.
  • The guide goes firstYour guide enters the water first, reads the animal, and decides whether the group follows. If the answer is no, it is no.
  • No touching, no chasing, no crowdingYou never approach head on, never block where a whale is going, and never put yourself between a mother and her calf.
  • The whale decidesIf an animal moves off, we let it go and find another one. Pushing a whale that has told you it is done ruins the encounter and ruins it for the next boat.
  • A defined seasonThe humpbacks are here roughly July through October. We run in August and September, which is the middle of it.
A snorkeller keeping a respectful distance at the surface while a humpback whale passes below over the reef

Watching from the surface and letting the animal come to you. That is how most of the best encounters happen.

Conservation

We work with VEPA

This is not just a whale watching holiday with a conservation sticker on it. We partner with VEPA, the Vava'u Environmental Protection Association, which has been working in these islands since 2009 under Karen Stone.

During the week the group gives them a hand with the work they are already doing. Reef surveys. Coastal and land erosion monitoring. Humpback whale monitoring. You are collecting data that actually goes somewhere and gets used.

It is a genuinely good way to spend a morning, and it changes how you look at the place for the rest of the trip.

A VEPA researcher on the boat running through survey recording with the group before getting in the water

Survey briefing on the boat before a drop. Vava'u, 2026.

The details

What it costs,
what you get

$4,000 USD
Per person, based on single occupancy. Nine nights.
$1,000 deposit, then two even payments of $1,500.
Enquire now

Included

  • Nine nights accommodation, single occupancy, your own room
  • Six full days on the water with whale swim permits
  • Licensed guides and boat crew
  • Breakfast and lunch
  • Photography and video coaching with me, in the water and on the boat
  • VEPA conservation sessions
  • Sunday Tongan feast
  • Island day and local transport during the trip
  • Airport transfers in Vava'u

Not included

  • Dinners, around $35 USD a day
  • Flights, international and domestic
  • Travel insurance, which you do need for this one
  • Personal gear, wetsuit, mask, fins and camera
  • Tips for the boat crew, customary at around 50 pa'anga per person per day
  • Drinks, souvenirs and anything else personal
Accommodation. I am still finalising where we are staying for 2027. It will be a comfortable local place close to the water, same as previous seasons, and the price above is based on single occupancy, so you get your own room. I will confirm the details with everyone well before the trip.
Securing your spot

You do not pay for it
all at once

Six spots per trip, and they go in the order people commit. A deposit holds yours, then the rest is split evenly across two more payments so it is not one big hit.

Step one
$1,000
On booking

This is what actually holds your spot. Until it lands the place stays open to whoever asks next.

Step two
$1,500
Part way through

The balance is split evenly across two further payments. We set the dates between us when you book, so you know exactly what is due and when.

Step three
$1,500
90 days before you fly

Everything is settled three months out. After that the only thing left to do is pack and get on the plane.

The deposit is non-refundable, but it is transferable. If something comes up and you cannot make your week, we move you to another date or you pass it to someone else. It does not just disappear.
Travel insurance is not optional on this trip. Get a policy that covers in water activities, and sort it when you book rather than the week before you fly.
Tips for the crew, around 50 pa'anga per person per day. Not compulsory, but it is the norm here and the Tongan crew work hard for you all week. Bring it as cash. Vava'u runs on cash and the ATMs are limited.
Before you fly

What to pack

We are on the water a lot and the days are long. You will be hopping in and out chasing whales, the wind picks up on the boat, and between drops you cool down faster than you would think, even on a sunny day. Sort your warmth and your in water kit and you will have the time of your life.

The water gear

  • Mask that actually fits your face
  • Basic snorkel, nothing fancy
  • Open heel fins and neoprene socks
  • Wetsuit, a 3mm shorty is the sweet spot

Warm and dry

  • A windproof shell or spray jacket
  • Hoodie or fleece for between swims
  • Change robe or poncho towel
  • Beanie if you feel the cold

Sun and salt

  • Reef safe sunscreen, high SPF
  • Wide brim hat
  • Polarised sunnies with a strap
  • Long sleeve sun shirt or rashie

Camera kit

  • Far more batteries and cards than you think
  • Laptop and drives, back up every night
  • Lens cloth, silicone grease, a blower
  • Float strap on anything you would hate to lose

On land

  • Modest clothing for the village
  • Casual clothes plus a layer for evenings
  • Walking shoes or sandals, and reef shoes
  • Toiletries and a small first aid kit

The boring but important

  • Passport valid 6 months beyond our dates
  • Travel insurance covering in water activities
  • Cash in Tongan pa'anga, ATMs are limited
  • Seasickness tablets and a dry bag
The full checklist Everything above with the detail and the reasoning behind it, plus the bits most people forget. Two pages, written for this trip specifically.
Download the PDF
From the last two seasons

What it actually
looks like

Split level view of a humpback whale just under the surface with cloud filled sky above
A hard coral garden with a large table coral in the shallows off Vava'u
A humpback whale hanging motionless over the sand, seen from directly above
A humpback whale near the surface with a tiny snorkeller silhouetted beside it showing the scale
An empty white sand beach fringed with palms on a remote island in the Vava'u group
Over and under view of a white sand island with seabirds overhead and clear shallow water below
A humpback whale hanging vertically in the blue with its tail toward the surface
Split level view of a humpback whale at the surface under a bright sky
Two humpback whales moving together just beneath the surface in clear water
View from a clifftop lookout down over a sheltered lagoon on Vava'u
Food being served from the back of a truck at a village feast on Vava'u
A guest in a wetsuit and mask sitting on the gunwale of the boat in open water, ready to go in
A Tongan woman with a flower in her hair smiling during a village gathering
Two humpback whales together in deep blue water below the surface
Two kids on the shore of a village lagoon in Vava'u, small boats moored behind them
A humpback mother and calf resting together just beneath the surface in bright blue water
A humpback calf swimming alongside an adult whale in clear open water
A humpback mother and her calf close to the surface, lit by sunlight coming through the water
A humpback whale turning in open blue water lit by shafts of sunlight
Before you ask

The usual questions

Will I definitely get in the water with whales?

Nothing is guaranteed with wild animals, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What I can tell you is that Vava'u in August and September is about as reliable as it gets anywhere on earth, and across six days on the water we have never had a group go home disappointed.

What camera should I bring?

Whatever you already own and know how to use. I have seen people get frames they will keep forever on an action camera and people struggle with gear worth more than the trip. Bring what you are comfortable with and I will help you get the most out of it.

Why only six guests?

Because Tongan regulations limit how many swimmers go in at once, and because a big group means you spend most of your day sitting on the boat waiting for your turn. Six means everyone gets properly in the water. It is the single biggest thing that makes or breaks a trip like this.

What happens if the weather turns?

We move things around. A blown out day becomes a dry day and we take the water time back later in the week. The ocean gets the final say on this trip and pushing into conditions that are not safe is not something I am willing to do, for you or for the whales.

Can my partner come along if they are not getting in?

Have a chat to me about it. The six spots are for people going in the water, so a non swimmer takes up a place that somebody else wants. There are usually ways to make it work, it just needs sorting out early rather than late.

I am travelling on my own, is that alright?

Very common on this trip, and you are not stung for it. The price is single occupancy, so everyone has their own room whether they turned up with someone or not. No solo supplement, and nobody gets paired off with a stranger.

Come and see it

Three groups, six spots each, and 2026 sold out. If one of these weeks works for you, send me a message and let me know which one.

Enquire about 2027 Read the story
Or get me directly: Dave.prodiving@gmail.com · 0478 706 748