Tonga

5 September 2024

Tonga

On the morning of September 2nd, we arrived at the northern island group of the Kingdom of Tonga. The passage between several small islets leading to the capital of this area is truly spectacular! We had been at sea for almost a whole week without seeing any whales. But as soon as we sailed into the slightly shallower waters around the Vava’u islands, the whales appeared. This tiny island nation is famous for whale watching and even swimming with them. During the brief approach to the port, we spotted at least ten humpback whales.

The islands here are quite different from the sandy atolls and high volcanic islands we visited on our previous stops. Here in Vava’u, we are sailing between coral reefs and small cliffs covered with dense vegetation. It almost feels like a tropical fjord. After arriving on September 2nd, we immediately adjusted the time and date—and it was suddenly September 3rd. This is one of the quirks of the Kingdom of Tonga: even though the islands lie east of the 180-degree longitude line, the country has chosen to be on the “other side” of the date line. Tonga is also the only remaining kingdom in Polynesia, and it has never been formally colonized. All of this makes the place truly unique.

The next two days will be spent exploring the islands of Vava’u; on land in the town of Neiafu, in the water swimming with whales, and hopefully finding another beautiful spot to anchor the Oosterschelde. Then it will be time to bid farewell to this part of Tonga, as we head south to the country’s capital on the main island.