Dive Review of Sandy Beach Resort in
Tonga

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Sandy Beach Resort: "Snorkeling With the Humpback Whales", Oct, 2023, by michael Bahr, MN, US ( 2 reports). Report 12698.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The reason for this trip was to snorkel with humpback whales and their calves. We were not disappointed. The trip started in LAX followed by a 13 hour flight to Aukland, New Zealand. We had a layover in Aukland and flew on to Tongatapu, the capital of Tonga where we spent the night. From there we flew to Ha’Apai where we picked up and driven to Sandy Beach Resort on Fox Island, Tonga. It was a full two days of travel and worth it. Sandy Beach Resort has 12 beachfront bungalows. They were clean, spacious, quiet and secluded. The stay included breakfast which insisted Made to order eggs, cereals, breads and fruits. It was filling and adequate. The resort has a sister resort which is 1/2 mile away. We had all of our meals at either one and the food was good, with seafood, beef, and lamb. Jake the chef made delicious meals and was very accommodating for dietary restrictions. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and on Sundays there is no whale snorkeling. We did hike around the property and looked at hieroglyphics and snorkeled on the house reef. On Monday we got into the boats and headed out to sea to look for the humpbacks. There were 8 of us to a boat, along with a captain and a guide. We spotted several humpbacks and the rules are you can travel no faster than 8 knots/hour. If the whales leaves the rules say you can flow them up to three times. If they leave a fourth time then the follow is stopped. The adults are 40-50 feet long and weigh between 40,000-65,000 pounds. If the whales stop and stay then 4 of us slipped into the water and slowly snorkeled over to them. It was truly fantastic to be in the ocean and be so close to these surreal animals. Many had their calves with them and the babies were curious. We got within 8-10 feet of them. Each group stayed in the water for about 10 minutes then switched with the other group of 4. We stayed out on the water for 6 hours. We also witnessed a heat run where the males were chasing a female. There was a lot of breaching and fin slapping. It was everything we expected the trip to be. We were unsure if the whales would be there because they head back to Antarctica to eat and fatten up in October and early November. We were so happy to find them there in the second week of October. Sandy Beach Resort also has scuba diving and we did hear about a dive where they spotted a tiger shark. None of us dove.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	South Pacific, Pacific Ocean, Caribbean, Tonga
Closest Airport	Ha’Apai	Getting There	LAX to Auckland, New Zealand to Tongatapu to Ha’Apai
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	70-75°F / 21-24°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Strictly snorkeling, no diving with the whales.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	> 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Sandy Beach Resort in Tonga

Sandy Beach Resort: "Snorkeling With the Humpback Whales", Oct, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Sandy Beach Resort in
Tonga