I thought I had to sneeze. Okay. What's up, guys? Kristin here with "Be My Travel Muse,"
and today, we are talking about which place is better, Tonga or Tahiti, if you want to
swim with humpback whales?
This is pretty much the coolest thing I have ever done, and I've now done it both in Vava'u
in Tonga, and I've done it in French Polynesia, and both places allow you to swim with humpback
whales, unlike most of the rest of the world where it's not possible or the governments
don't allow you to get in the water with them. But let me just tell you that these are some
of the most playful creatures, and it's such a magical experience, but you might be wondering
where you should do it. Now, both countries are in the South Pacific and both of them
receive humpback whales coming out from Antarctica. Their seasons are pretty similar with the
whales coming up anytime between the end of August until mid to the end of October. So
where should you go if you're trying to decide between the two in terms of the best possible
whale swim experience?
So let's start with Tonga. This is the first place that I ever swam with humpback whales,
and it was a magical experience.
So the way that Tonga is a bit different is they have
a permitting system and they only allow up to six people in the water with a whale at
a time. I believe there are 3 to 40 permits available in the entire country. They are
expensive, and that does mean that in some parts of Tonga like Vava'u, which is a little
bit more popular, you might have to wait in line to get your turn to swim with a whale.
So the pro is that there's only six people in the water at a time with the whale but
the con is that your swimming time is usually limited. We do groups of...
...no more than four in the water at a time with the whales. So, the first group's
going now and then I'm gonna be next.
On the pro side, I did have more variety in Tonga than I did in French Polynesia.
So I swam with a mom and calf. We found a heat run, which is when multiple male whales
are following a female in heat, kind of, vying for their chance to be the one to mate with
her. We found males that were upside down singing, which is really cool, and just I
had a few more variety of experiences. That doesn't necessarily mean that you can't have
the same experience in Tahiti. It might have just been luck of the draw. To be honest with
you, that's usually the case when it comes to swimming with humpback whales. It comes
down to weather, it comes down to luck, and so you just never really know what you're
gonna get. But based on my personal experience, in Tonga, I did have a bit more variety. I
bring up a con, at least for me, coming from the U.S., Tonga is a little bit harder to
get to. I had to have a layover in Fiji in order to get to Tonga and then from there,
I had to take an onward flight to get to Vava'u. So it's not necessarily a huge deal, especially
if you have your heart set on swimming with the whales there, but just keep in mind that
you might have more layovers and it could be more expensive for you, but you can always
set up a fair deal to see if maybe you can get it for a little bit cheaper. One other
thing to keep in mind is that Tonga is more expensive, and that's because the permits
are so expensive for the boats to get, and there's just more regulations, which means
that there aren't as many people who are gonna get a chance to swim with the whales. I believe
it's also a more famous destination, so the supply doesn't really meet the demand and
that drives up the price. Simply economics.
So now, let's talk about Tahiti.
I went to French Polynesia this year to swim with the
whales, and one thing that is really different between Tonga and French Polynesia, in terms
of swimming with the whales, is the laws. So you can have plenty of people in the water
with the whales when you're in Tahiti. You could have 40 or 50 people in the water with
the whales. It's really not capped. So that is one con, but at the same time, you could
swim with the same whales for an hour or two. My longest swim in French Polynesia was actually
two hours with five whales and it is the, hands-down, most magical whale swim experience
I've ever had. I did really appreciate not having to limit myself to only 20 minutes
with the whales so that other people could have a turn, yet at the same time, it wasn't
as fun when there were, like, 30 or 40 people in the water, and I got kicked really hard
in the nose by somebody. So another reason why I really enjoyed swimming with the whales
in French Polynesia is because I really felt connected to the people who live there. They
were super welcoming in a way that I have experienced in few other places. I mean, they
really treat you like they know you immediately. It's so cool. And I just thought that that
was a really beautiful experience. It was also slightly cheaper in French Polynesia
and you don't necessarily have to book a whole tour in order to do it. If you just want to
do it for a day or two out of Tahiti or Moorea, which is the island just next door, and that's
where most of them take place. So just keep in mind that you can do other things in addition
to the whale swimming in Tahiti, where I feel like there's a bit more things to do than
in Tonga. The other pro is that Tahiti is really easy to get to. You can fly there direct
from Los Angeles and San Francisco, and it's cheaper overall.
So in Tonga, there's fewer people in the water with the whales, but it's more expensive to
get to and just more expensive experience overall, mostly because it's so popular. In
Tahiti, you will pay less and it doesn't have to be the whole focus of your trip, but you're
gonna have to share it with other people. So it's hard for me to say which one is really
better than the other because I had truly magical experiences in both places. That said,
I did have instances in French Polynesia where there weren't a lot of other people in the
water with the whales and I got a chance to swim with the same whales for about an hour
without tons of other people in the water with me. And because there is always the chance
of having that opportunity, that's what makes me pick French Polynesia over Tonga at this
time. Things can always change. So I hope this maybe helped you figure out whether you
want to go to Tonga or French Polynesia for your humpback whale swimming experience but
just know that it all comes down to luck, it also comes down to weather, and you can't
make a bad choice.
So I hope that this helps you. Feel free to watch the other videos on whale swimming on
my channel to see which one appeals to you more. And if you've never tried free diving
before, I videoed my whole experience getting certified as well in Indonesia. So I hope
that you enjoyed this video. Let me know if you like videos like this. Give it a thumbs
up and share it if you've got some friends wondering which destination you should go
to. Thanks, guys. See you soon.