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ISSUE 61 SPRING 2019
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Destination Pacific Islands, Tonga
A Whale of a Time in The Friendly Islands By Roderick Eime
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© Scott Portelli
etacean tourism is a big deal in Tonga. Roderick Eime speaks to Scott Portelli about swimming with whales and how this has encouraged tourism in general for the little Pacific Kingdom. Watching silently on the surface the only noise is the amplified sound of your breath echoing through your snorkel. Everything is happening in slow motion. Time seems to stand still. Hours tick by like minutes. The majestic, 40-tonne mammals appear to hover beneath the surface. Graceful and agile, these enormous creatures
are hypnotic in their action, moving effortlessly through strong currents and at times appearing stationary just a few metres beneath you. It is a truly humbling experience to be in the company of these sublime, gentle monsters. Such is the experience described by Scott Portelli, a former Sydney advertising executive who gave it all away - not at all reluctantly - to run whale swim tours and photography expeditions in Tonga. “I encountered this one curious calf
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that I knew almost immediately had a mischievous streak,” Portelli recalls, “He was inquisitive and with every probing pass became more confident. Calves are generally curious but are always under the watchful eye of their mothers. However, I came to realise that this mother and calf were special. She was the length of a city bus, one of the largest Humpback whales I had ever seen. As for the calf, he was the most impetuous I had ever encountered and had a knack for clipping me with his pectoral fin whenever he had the chance.
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“The first time I came across this playful youngster, he glided past me inching closer and closer with every move. At one point he slid his pectoral fin across my hand. Within an instant, a resting mother shot open her eyes and gave me a suspicious look. Her reaction was clear. I was not permitted to get any closer, even if I was not the one initiating the contact. I was intrigued by her spatial awareness and amazed at her acute senses. She was always conscious of her inexperienced calf.” Portelli’s tour company, Swimming with Gentle Giants, is now booked out many months ahead. When he is not swimming with whales in Tonga, the award-winning, fulltime professional photographer and tour leader could well be diving under the ice in the Antarctic or trekking with gorillas in Rwanda.
© Scott Portelli
Even though it was never intended to be so, whale tourism in Tonga has become a major earning for the kingdom of just 100,000 inhabitants. With whales strictly protected in all other areas around the world, it was the initial lack of regulation in Tonga that allowed this form of tourism to flourish. In 2008, Tonga enacted regulations and licensing for operators of whale swim tours and since that time, Tonga has served as a ‘test bed’ for this interactive nature tourism, with lessons learned there being used to develop operations in other parts of the world.
© Christopher Hogue Thompson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Accidental Tourism: Tourism in Tonga may seem like a new fad, but in truth, it’s been around for decades, albeit always hiding in a niche sector. Human habitation of Tonga can be traced back to the Lapita people of Southeast Asia who migrated throughout much of the South Pacific beginning some 3,000 years ago, and it was Captain James Cook who spent two months charting the Tongan archipelago on his second visit in 1777 to what he called The Friendly Islands, producing the first accurate maps of the kingdom. Tonga also shares a rare accolade in the Asia-Pacific region as one of the few sovereign nations never colonised despite numerous contacts with
© Scott Portelli
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European explorers including Dutch, English and Spanish expeditions beginning in the early 17th century. A ‘Treaty of Friendship’ existed with the British Commonwealth until 1970, but that was the extent of foreign involvement. Nowadays, Western influence is limited to Christianity and Rugby Union, the latter being the national sport. This rare cultural independence now presents one of the purest Polynesian experiences a visitor can have anywhere in the South Pacific.
© Scott Portelli
Tourism has evolved almost by accident in Tonga and there have been as many failures as successes. The most popular accommodation remains the villa, guest house or lodge-style properties, most of which are owned by local families or small businesses attached to the village network. Recently, the Fijian Tanoa hotel group have taken over the 124-room International Dateline Hotel in the capital Nuku'alofa, restoring it to 4.5-star standard and elevating the services to meet the needs of international visitors. The Scenic Hotel near the airport also offers international standard rooms and facilities and is handy for those with connections to outlying islands. Once a regular stop on P&O cruises of the 1970s, The Tonga Tourism Authority has sought to re-energise cruise ship visitation to the capital with the renovation of the city’s Vuna Wharf. Meanwhile, the smaller expedition ships are able to dock at the ferry wharf at Vava’u.
© Roderick Eime
However you choose to visit, The Kingdom of Tonga offers a rich and authentic Polynesian experience you are unlikely to find anywhere else in the Pacific. Talitali fiefia!
facts: Whale season in Tonga is between July and October and heavily in demand. For more information about whale swim and photographic expeditions in Tonga and other parts of the world with Scott Portelli: Swimming with Gentle Giants W: www.swimmingwithgentlegiants.com E: contact@swimmingwithgentlegiants.com
Tonga also offers superb scuba diving, snorkelling, surfing and kayaking in the relatively undisturbed waters. For more information on all tourism activities in Tonga W: www.tongaholiday.com Airlines serving Tonga: Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia and Fiji Airways fly to Fua'amotu International Airport (TBU)
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