Australia's Getaway TV Show joined us in 2005!

The Getaway crew loved being with us and the whales during October 2005 in Vava'u.

Natalie, the presenter couldn't get enough of being in the water with the whales over the 6 days they were with us and the rest of the crew will definitely be back with their families in the future!

We loved having them here - they were certainly an easy crew to work with.

http://getaway.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=87143

You can also view the Whaleswim Adventures 'Getaway' sector by clicking
Just Click Here

Ireland's 'No Frontiers' TV travel show joined us in 2007!

The No Frontiers crew joined us and the whales during October 2007 in Vava' and were great to share the humpback whale experience with.

Katherine Thomas, the presenter was terrified on her first swim with the whales but on the second encounter that fear just melted away and she had the experience of her life with a beautiful and gentle mother and calf.

To view the video - go to http://www.rte.ie/travel/nofrontiers/20080101.html

The show was screened in Ireland on 1 January 2008

   
 Katherine's mother & calf                 The crew at Blue Lagoon Resort           Katherine - ready to swim

Daily Telegraph - London

A bigger splash
A marine encounter to top swimming with dolphins - swimming with whales. Julie Conway reports.
(Filed: 24/09/2005)

an excerpt from this story.....
"With my head down in the water, all I could see was the blue abyss. Then I looked up, and there she was: a 45ft humpback, floating just 20 feet away.
She gazed right at me with a black eye the size of an orange but was still, unhurriable, watching me closely. In that moment, everything stopped. If there had been the greatest storm I don't think I would have noticed.
It seemed as if a cloud of blissful emptiness had surrounded us and only she and I existed.
My heart stopped pounding and my breath slowed down to long inhalations to meet her rhythms. But the stillness was broken by a large splash, as her baby, the size of an elephant, came zooming up from beneath her and charged straight towards us.
There was no threat in his intention; it was simply the boisterous playfulness of a youngster who hadn't yet learnt to respect his strength.
As he came towards us, twirling, his fin just missed my husband. But determined to show us, his new friends, how clever he was, he rolled on to his back and came up close again.
This time his mother decided to intervene. Now, it's one thing when a calf comes within inches, but quite another when his submarine-sized mother does.
With her long nose, she gently nudged him away from us, then curled her pectoral fins, which were double the length of my body, under her huge mass so they wouldn't bump us as she gracefully glided by just a few feet away.
I didn't feel my heart beat once the entire time, but as soon as she had gone it started pounding from the thrill and shock of being so close."
For the whole story go to . . .
.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.html?view=DETAILS&grid=T6&xml=/travel/2005/09/24/etwhale24.xml

National Geographic Special "Whales in Crisis"
The Tonga section of this documentary was filmed in Tonga during 2003. . . . .
Whales can be found in all the oceans, but the ravages of pollution, commercial fishing gear, and whaling have contributed to the near extinction of many of the species of this, the largest creature on Earth. Part of the family of mammals called Cetacean, which also comprises dolphins and porpoises, whales are warm-blooded, breathe air into lungs, give birth to live young (they don't lay eggs like fish), and females nurse their calves via mammary glands. These traits, which they share with humans, as well as their majestic size and unique vocalizations, have endeared them to many of us, even though we are the greatest threat to their continued survival. But there are dedicated men and women working throughout the world to ensure that these creatures do survive and even thrive. Travel with National Geographic to Antarctica to meet a scientist studying bowhead whales, which may be one of the longest-living mammals on Earth; to the South Pacific nation of Tonga to see humpback whales and enter into the continuing debate over commercial whaling; and to the Florida Keys to learn about efforts to aid stranded whales in this new special, "Whales in Crisis."
You can purchase the DVD at http://www.gpstore.co.nz/DVDs/1469243.html
or download at http://www.mininova.org/tor/129159

"Auf der Datumsgrenze durch die Südsee"
Mit Klaus Scherer auf Inseltour
Unterwasserhöhlen voller Seeschlangen, die giftiger als Kobras sind, weiß blühende Korallenriffs, versunkene Militärtreks des Pazifikkrieges, Buckelwale, denen man ins Auge schaut: Nach fünf Jahren als ARD-Berichterstatter im Fernen Osten und der Südsee nimmt Grimme-Preisträger Klaus Scherer seine Zuschauer mit auf eine Reise, die auch oft unter Wasser führt.
Fast sieben Wochen ist das ARD-Team unterwegs. Die Route führt über Neuseeland und die Cookinseln nach Pukapuka, vom weltgrößten Korallenfelsen Niue ins Königreich Tonga und die ehemalige deutsche Kolonie Samoa, schließlich von den Fidschis über das französische Überseeterritorium Wallis in die einsamen Weiten Kiribatis, auf die Marshall-Inseln um das atomtestgeschädigte Bikini-Atoll und zu den Westinseln Hawaiis.
Unterwegs lernt Scherer Piloten kennen, denen zwischen den Zeitzonen schon mal Weihnachten verlorenging. Er trifft Fischer in ihren Hütten, Schulkinder, Kirchgänger und Tänzer. Und Inselbewohner, die als treue Untertanen ihren alten König mit Geschenken überhäufen. In Tonga schwimmt das Team mit den Walen. Samoa durchquert es in einem Autobus, der eine Mischung ist aus Oldtimer-Truck und rollender Musikbox.

Auf dem heiligen Maori-Berg Neuseelands steigt das Team bei Eiseskälte aus dem Helikopter. Auf den Atollen Kiribatis berichten ihm Anwohner unter der Äquatorsonne von ihrem inzwischen bedrohlichsten Problem - dem Wohlstandsmüll.

Von Hamburg aus legt er mit seinem Fernsehteam insgesamt 60.000 Flugkilometer zurück, um entlang der internationalen Datumsgrenze noch einmal jene Inseln zu besuchen, die die Sonne jedes Erdentages als erste aufgehen und als letzte sinken sehen.

http://www.ndrtv.de/doku/20050515_datumsgrenze.html

USA - "Outside" magazine

Our tours to swim with humpback whales was among the Top 50 adventure trips of a lifetime!

America's top adventure travel magazine, featured Whaleswim Adventures in Tonga in March 2003 in its special about the 'Best 50 Adventure Trips in the World'.