Female travelling solo and Diving in Tonga

Hello! i'm travelling to Tonga in 2 days time for a week and have just booked my tix from Sydney, Oz. I haven't yet booked any internal flights or acommodation on the main island or Vavau or Haapai yet (i kinda just made up my mind to go to Tonga about 3 hours ago).

1. Is it difficult for a young solo female to travel in Tonga?
2. Is it hard to get an internal flight at short notice (say to fly out on Wed if i arrive on Tue)?
3. how much is it to go diving?
4. which is better - Haapai or Vavau for diving?
5. Can I dive with humpbacks? What are the chances of seeing them and which island is better for that?

Sorry about the questions but any help is most appreciated since i've left it to the last minute as usual!

Thanks!!

Cynthia

Gidday

To answer your questions:

1. No problem travelling alone
2. The flights are a bit of a mess at the moment with frequent rescheduling. However, you should be able to get a flight at short notice.
3. If you are qualified then USD 90 for a 2 dive day here in Ha'apai, including boat, tank, weights and refreshments. Other equipment is available for hire.
4. As far as I am aware, Ha'apai is better
5. The same company, Happy Ha'apai divers, do whalewatching trips.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Craig

Hi,

Female solo is not a problem.

Internal flights for this week and the next week are quite a challenge. As you are travelling alone, you may just go to the airport and wait for the last-minute cancellation.

Swim with whales operations are more done in Vava'u.

Cheers,

There re more operators doing swim with whales in Vavau. That being said it is probably easier to snokel with them than dive.
I'm not sure how the whales respond to the bubbles from divers - some people report that it can scare them away and so you should only use rebreathers when diving with them . Not sure if it is true or not but you get just as good a viewing while snorkelling and it is so much easier to get in and out of the boat in time - by the time you get your kit on they could be gone again.

Thanks for the quick response. I plan to go to Vavau first and base myself there. Will suss out the dive operators when i get there. It seems quite expensive as most of the resorts don't package dives in with the accomodation but then - can't complain when there's whales to be seen. I was told that snorkelling is better too so will aim for that then.

Am staying at Ali Baba's GH in Nukalola. Not sure where to stay in Vavau yet, any hints?? I was quoted AUD$115 for Paradise International Hotel.

#4---I stayed at Paradise International for about a week around Christmas a couple of yrs ago. There are two or three levels of accommodation. The newer rooms---about #140 up to #148 (the best, an end room)---had great AC. Not sure if the lower level rooms at the back had AC or not. I know you're on a budget, but when you arrive you might ask them how much extra it would cost to move into the newer wing, if the one they are putting you in does not have AC. If it's only a few bucks. I'd go for it. the beds were new, in the old wing they were pretty old and soft. Then again, at christmas AC was a must, it is cooler now, so it may not be humid enough to need AC. But you'll know this by the time you get to Vavau.

Another choice is the Hilltop Inn/motel, maybe 100m up a small hill behind town.

Adventure Backpackers is in the middle of Neiafu, but fairly basic, and can get a bit noisy from the takeaway noise/blaring boom box above it.

Not much snorkeling off the main island, or the ones connected to it by causeways. You'll probably need to get a boat to one of the little islets to get good snorkeling.

Also, in Neiafu, do NOT swim off the main jetty near town, a Peace Corps volunteeer was killed by shark maybe a yr ago near there.

Stayed @ Ali Baba-the owner smokes inside so it has a rather grubby feel to the place-Germans love it though, breakfast is scanty to say the least.

"in Neiafu, do NOT swim off the main jetty near town, a Peace Corps volunteeer was killed by shark maybe a yr ago near there."

It was 2 years ago and it was nowhere near the main wharf-a place I swam from every day back in February.

There was a Shark attack near a wharf of a nearby village someone was killed and so-a few days later-was the Shark.

No worries now.