Tonga Humpback Whale Trip Report 2025

Ha’apai, Tonga
September 24 - October 1, 2025

 September 25, 2025. Day One

It begins! We woke to beautiful blue skies with some wind, nothing too bad. Around 3 a.m. the winds were still howling, so I figured we’d see more of that today. But so far, it’s been nice.

Hardly any clouds, which gave us a real shot at some amazing moments out here.

After about thirty minutes of a slow cruise, we encountered a mom with a small calf and an escort. 

They were swimming slowly, so we followed to see if she might settle down and give us a chance to slip in. 

She never did, so we left them and kept searching for a friendlier mom and calf.

There’s also been talk of a leatherback spotted here at least once a week this season. 

That’s my unicorn, a dream encounter. I’m keeping my gear close, just in case.

It took us all morning, but finally we found a player: a mom and calf.

The calf is already famous around here, known for being friendly and mischievous. 

With the brief time we had, he definitely lived up to the reputation.

He came in super close, forcing us to dodge both his pectoral fin and his tail as he swiped playfully, almost hitting me twice. 

Not malicious, just an overgrown baby eager to play and unaware of his own size and strength.

We managed a couple good jumps with him before calling it a day. 

We’d have loved more time, but after spending all day searching, we ran out of time.

So we called it a day.

Not a perfect first day, but a damn good one.