Humpback whales, island-hopping sailing, and one of the South Pacific's most perfect anchorages
Vava'u is an island group in northern Tonga — roughly 60 islands and islets surrounding a central deep-water harbour (Port of Refuge) that is one of the finest natural anchorages in the Pacific and the sailing capital of Tonga. From July to October, humpback whales migrate through Tongan waters to breed and give birth — Vava'u is one of the very few places in the world where in-water encounters with humpback whales (swimming with them, not just watching from boats) are legally permitted and ethically operated. The anchorage at Neiafu (the main town) is crowded with yachts on passage between N…
Vava'u was the seat of significant power in pre-contact Tonga — the Tongan chiefs who controlled the northern island group wielded influence across much of the western Pacific through the Tu'i Tonga (Tongan paramount chief) system. The first European contact was the Spanish explorer Francisco Mourelle in 1781, who mapped the harbour he called Puerto de Refugio. The London Missionary Society arrived in the 1820s and Methodism became the dominant religion, as it remains throughout Tonga today.