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Tonga has a charter season of about 16 weeks. From July 1 through October 31, the humpback whales calve and rest in the Vava'u group north of Tongatapu, the trade winds are reliable, and a small fleet of around 12 to 15 charter yachts operates in the 35m to 70m range. Outside that window, the cruising ground reverts to local cargo traffic and the occasional repositioning yacht. The fleet is small and the rate band is narrower than Fiji's: $140K to $360K per week as of May 2026 for the standard 30m to 50m range, plus 30 to 35% APA.
The reason to charter in Tonga is the in-water humpback whale encounter. Tonga is one of three countries (the others are the Dominican Republic and Niue) where swim-with-whales is regulated and licensed. The Tongan system permits up to four swimmers per encounter, requires a licensed in-water guide, and limits the encounter to a calf-and-escort or cow-and-escort pair. Done well, you spend 20 to 40 minutes in the water with a humpback calf and its mother at a respectful distance of 5 to 10 metres. Done badly, it is a chaotic flotilla of day-boats from Vava'u town and a yacht client paying $350K a week for what a $150-a-day operator delivers. The difference is the licensed guide aboard the charter yacht and the captain's willingness to run out to the harder-to-reach encounter zones.