Anybody been to Tonga?

Hello,

I just saw a PBS program on whales. It mentioned a place Northeast of
Australia names Tonga. It said that it is one of the only two place in the
world where one can swing with Humpback whales. It sounds great.

Has anyone every been there?
Any reports of vacation/diving experiences in that area?

Thanks,
David Benus

Hello again,

Sorry - My spellchecker was disabled, and the Post went out with bad errors.
I'm really not a moron.
Here's what I meant to say....
************************************************** ********
I just saw a PBS program on whales. It mentioned a place Northeast of
Australia named Tonga. It said that it is one of the only two places in the
world where one can swim with Humpback whales. It sounds great.

Has anyone every been there?
Any reports of vacation/diving experiences in that area/on that island?

Thanks,
David Benus

I also want to mention that I saw that same program you referred to on TV. But
from my conversations with the Naia people, the trip over to Tonga is mostly
snorkeling since bubbles scare the wales. So, we're talking about jumping into
open water with your flippers and snorkel to look at the wales, so that's about
it. Not much diving and the diving in Tonga anyway is just so-so, nothing special.

There is an island way up North in the Tonga group called "tin can island" that has
a big active volcano sitting on it, and not much else. It is so far North that the
climate there is like Samoa, nearer the equator -- hotter than the blazes of hell
nearly all year long. I've always wanted to visit "tin-can island" maybe because
of the name and the topography. If it is a big volcano, then there wouldn't be any
reef-- which is just like all of the islands in the Samoa group..so forget about
diving.

Daniel Kessler wrote:

> The dive touring boat "The Naia" (based in Fiji) goes there during a certain
> season of the year. I think the sites they visit are around the Hap'ai group
> (sp.?).....I've been to Tonga Tapu on one trip, the capital is located
> (southern group) and also on another trip flew up to Va V'au, the Northern
> group of the Tonga archipelago. The "Hap'ai groups is in the middle....just in
> case you wanted to know.
>
> David Benus wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I just saw a PBS program on whales. It mentioned a place Northeast of
> > Australia names Tonga. It said that it is one of the only two place in the
> > world where one can swing with Humpback whales. It sounds great.
> >
> > Has anyone every been there?
> > Any reports of vacation/diving experiences in that area?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > David Benus

Thanks for the info, Daniel,
DB

"Daniel Kessler" <dkessler@pop.cybernex.net> wrote in message
news:406F1489.8CC80A7C@pop.cybernex.net...
> I also want to mention that I saw that same program you referred to on TV.
But
> from my conversations with the Naia people, the trip over to Tonga is
mostly
> snorkeling since bubbles scare the wales. So, we're talking about jumping
into
> open water with your flippers and snorkel to look at the wales, so that's
about
> it. Not much diving and the diving in Tonga anyway is just so-so, nothing
special.
>
> There is an island way up North in the Tonga group called "tin can island"
that has
> a big active volcano sitting on it, and not much else. It is so far North
that the
> climate there is like Samoa, nearer the equator -- hotter than the blazes
of hell
> nearly all year long. I've always wanted to visit "tin-can island" maybe
because
> of the name and the topography. If it is a big volcano, then there
wouldn't be any
> reef-- which is just like all of the islands in the Samoa group..so forget
about
> diving.
>
> Daniel Kessler wrote:
>
> > The dive touring boat "The Naia" (based in Fiji) goes there during a
certain
> > season of the year. I think the sites they visit are around the Hap'ai
group
> > (sp.?).....I've been to Tonga Tapu on one trip, the capital is located
> > (southern group) and also on another trip flew up to Va V'au, the
Northern
> > group of the Tonga archipelago. The "Hap'ai groups is in the
middle....just in
> > case you wanted to know.
> >
> > David Benus wrote:
> >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I just saw a PBS program on whales. It mentioned a place Northeast of
> > > Australia names Tonga. It said that it is one of the only two place
in the
> > > world where one can swing with Humpback whales. It sounds great.
> > >
> > > Has anyone every been there?
> > > Any reports of vacation/diving experiences in that area?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > David Benus
>