{"country":{"title":"Tonga","name":"Tonga","slug":"tonga","flag":"🇹🇴","subtitle":"","summary":"","prose":["In total, we saw 16 whales in a single day, and we were told that was a very good day. Other people we met on the trip said there were days when they barely saw any whales at all. If you have the time, spend at least three or four days out on a boat searching for them. We weren’t prepared for how physically strenuous it is to swim up to whales and try to keep pace with them. They are much faster than you think, and just about the time you catch up, they’re already moving again. Every calorie burned and every second of the experience was worth it.","We were grateful to be in as good of shape as we are. I only wish we had more days in Tonga. What an incredible and sacred-feeling place. No wonder the whales return there year after year."],"pop":"107k","lang":"Tongan, English","adv":1,"vis":0.06,"rar":96,"daysOnGround":3,"mapsUrl":"https://maps.app.goo.gl/cjsrWvxTGYechHtQ7","countedDate":"20 Aug 2025","countryNo":127,"firstArrival":{"date":"2025-08-18","airport":"TBU","from":"NAN","carrier":"FJI","num":"211","duration":"2h 18m"},"hero":"1755762533101-VKPURGSLK9FH47214OPG/maxandhailey_travel_tonga-humpback-whale-swimming+-+17.jpeg","art":"tonga"},"ui":{"words":{"signoffTop":"Toki sio","signoffEm":"atu.","signoffGloss":"Until next time."},"copy":{"recap":"Sixteen humpback whales in a single day, which we were told was a very good day — others on the trip had days with barely any. Nobody warned us how physically strenuous swimming with whales is: they're much faster than you think, and just as you catch up they're already moving again. Worth every calorie. Back on land we walked a local village and ate at Little Italy, wishing we had more days. What an incredible, sacred-feeling place — no wonder the whales return year after year."},"facts":[{"idx":"Jul–Oct","h":"Swim beside a humpback","p":"Tonga is one of the very few places on Earth where you can legally swim with humpback whales — mothers and calves rest in the kingdom's warm channels every austral winter.","chip":null},{"idx":"58 km high","h":"The plume that touched space","p":"The 2022 eruption of Hunga volcano hurled ash and water vapour 58 kilometres up — the tallest plume ever recorded, and the first seen punching into the mesosphere — with a pressure wave that lapped the planet.","chip":null},{"idx":"≈1200 AD","h":"The Stonehenge of the Pacific","p":"Ha'amonga 'a Maui is a trilithon of coral-limestone slabs weighing tens of tonnes, raised around 1200 AD — legend credits the demigod Maui, and some argue its markings track the solstice sun.","chip":null},{"idx":"UTC+13","h":"First light, most mornings","p":"Sitting just west of the date line, Tonga is among the very 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