Diving in the South Pacific

Disregarding all the work I do as a volunteer, one of my most enjoyable extracurricular activities in Tonga has been diving. Diving off of the small islands that surround Vava’u Lahi – where I live – is literally heaven from start to finish. Each of the 5 diving trips (2 dives per trip) has been a unique and special experience.

The diving, and the enjoyment of the trip, starts the moment you finish setting up all of your dive gear and the engine of the boat starts to roar. Leaving the protective harbor on a warm, clear sunny day, you begin to feel the first tinges of excitement – excitement for the dive, for the beauty of your surroundings, for the wind roaring past you and the speed of the boat.

After just a few short minutes you are out of the sheltered enclosure of the harbor and rewarded with your first glimpse of the outer islands. You now have a few choices. Do you maintain your Western heading, or turn North or South? Each direction offers plenty of fantastic dive sites and stunning views, and I have gone diving in all of the areas surrounding Vava’u.

The time in the boat is incredible. Basking in the minutes leading up to the dive, watching the islands fly by, you begin to think about your trek under the water. As you finally arrive at the dive site, usually right off a nearby island, you can’t help but marvel at the light turquoise color of the ocean surrounding you. It is perfect and the ocean does not disappoint when you enter the water and begin your descent, as the water is crystal clear and your visibility extends for many meters – yes I use meters sometimes now, it does grow on you.

Each trip under the water offers something new. My personal favorite part of the dive is observing how the topography of the coral and the underwater landscape always changes, capable of forming into mountains, canyons, plains, and even cities as the aptly named dive site Chinatown attests to. The coral is a myriad of colors, with vibrant reds and yellows somehow simultaneously clashing and complementing spectacular blues, oranges, whites, and more.

The fish are everywhere. All of the fish you know and love from Finding Nemo can be found in this ocean paradise, including the always adorable Clown fish. As you float past them in your weightless state, the fish barely acknowledge your presence, and thus allow you to enjoy their presence closely and unobtrusively. If lucky, as I have fortunately been on several dives, you will gain a glance of a ray or a reef shark. Watching these graceful creatures, it is abundantly clear that they are at home in this Atlantis, and that I am simply visiting.

I have never sky dived or bungee jumped, but no experience that I know of can mirror the sensation of diving. An hour under the water disappears in seemingly minutes, as I grow astounded and enamored by all that I am seeing. It is a truly special experience, one that I try to acknowledge and take a moment to be thankful for every time I glide under the water. It is, in many ways, magical.

Thanks for reading. Unfortunately, I don’t have an underwater camera and the pictures I have seen from our dives do not give the experience justice. Instead, here are a few random samplings.

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers reading this post!