Tonga - „Best day of my life“

Seven years ago, only weeks after I did my first Freediver course, I made a major decision. I changed some things in my life, ended my longterm relationship, started to create new dreams and started to follow them.

In October 2016 I did a daytrip to another part of my country. There’s an IMAX Cinema and they had «Humpback Whales 3D on the programme. As I was the only one there to watch this movie, they started it and i had the whole cinema to myself. The movies soundtrack is «Best day of my life» by American Authors.

The movie was so beautiful and I knew: I want to see Humpback whales up close and personal. A new dream was born.

In summer 2017 I was ready for my Advanced Freediver course. As the course started we began to talk about whales and all of a sudden the plan was set.

After my trip to Australia in 2018 I booked the trip to Tonga for 2020. I was so excited and counted days but then the trip was postponed due to Covid.

Now… three years later we finally started this trip. After two days of travelling around the world we arrived in Ha’apai – Tonga. The beautiful little Resort «Sandy Beach» is located at the beach.

Our amazing Fale (Room) is only a couple of steps away from the beach. It’s so nice to fall asleep to the sound of the waves.

When we hoped on the boat for our first humpback whale swim I was dealing with many different emotions. Only 30mins after we started we had a resting mum and her calf. We were really close and they stayed completely relaxed. We spent quite a long time with them, then left them to find other whales. On the next encounter the calf was very playful and curious while mama was resting on the surface.

Once while we were in the water the little calf dove down and then showed as a perfect breach. For a couple of minutes both, mama and baby whale, were breaching, slapping their tales and blowing air. It was awesome! It was magical and I could feel the energy, I could hear them.

Spent the evening kayaking along the shore, watching breaching whales from a distance.

The following two days were a bit calmer. We saw breaching whales a bit further away and tried to find some more playful ones. But only found mama and calves resting on the surface. Sometimes the calves started to play a bit but there was no « action ».

Day 4 was literally the best day of my life. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we were able to head out further. Our guide Amy did her best to find those playful juveniles we were looking for. After 2 hours we finally found a pod of 3 male juveniles. Once we were in the water they started to swim around, circling us and waving their tales. The came surprisingly close to check us out. I started to turn myself around and one whale started to do the same while looking at me. I’ll definitely never forget this moment. Being eye to eye with a 20tonne Humpback whale, realizing he’s copiyng my behaviour…. That’s the stuff dreams are made of. I still can’t describe what happened that moment, and it left me crying on the boat for 20minutes.

Day 5 was our last day out on the boat swimming with the gentle giants. The sea was super rough and the whales were not in a playful mood. Had some short encounters, lots of exhausting swimming and even harder trials to get back on the boat. But still – every day in the big blue, being surrounded by those wild animals is a blessing.

I spent my last day on the Island of Ha’apai teaching freediving together with Chris. Our student did a great job and was so grateful for the experience he got. He served us the most amazing dinners every night, he well deserved this experience.

In the afternoon we went snorkeling in the channel which was quite nice. Unfortunately we didn’t find the leopard sharks.

After another delicious dinner I spent a couple of minutes to enjoy stargazing, enjoying to see the milkyway.

Now it’s time to say farewell Ha’apai. I had an amazing time on this beautiful little island. Lovely locals, delicious food, a beautiful fale with the most beautiful view from bed.

Malo Aupito Ha’apai – thanks for your hospitality.

Now off to Fiji