Kara and Nate & a Tonga Recap

Wow. Never have I had such thrilling fishing. First off, you can effortlessly catch little snappers and groupers straight off the beach. However, when you head out onto the outer reef you are greeted with large pelagic fish like jacks and trevally. For those who are accomplished at spearfishing, it is a great chance to target these species.
I cast out over the reef from the beach with these comically large popper lures (about 12 inches long) and started to get very large fish take them. (I assume tuna or Trevally). However, even with 60lb line and 100lb leader, I was having my line snapped before I even got into the fight. I lost a couple this way before deciding it was unfair on the fish. If anyone has tips on what I could do differently, please comment below.

For those who would like their own Tongan island adventure, you can check out our dates here, but hurry, we are almost sold out…

For the second time in just over a year, we welcomed the lovely Kara and Nate of YouTube stardom for their second island survival adventure with us. Last year it was Panama, this year it’s a Kara and Nate Tonga survival challenge.

This year, instead of Nate bringing his brother Rusty and wife Sarah, his fantastic mum and dad, Christie and James, joined. Christie and James had never done anything like this before, but they were seduced by the promise of swimming with humpback whales and were willing to put themselves into a simulated survival situation!

All of them enjoyed 4 days instead of our normal 5 days of survival training from myself, Tom Williams, Tom McElroy, and Azreal Nickens. We taught all of the basic survival skills, from shelter, water, fire, and food, and all of them saw success with their friction fires! Then, after their training with the group was complete, it was time for their survival phase.

So, How Did They Get On?

They thrived! The big difference between Panama and Tonga is the sheer abundance of resources. Panama is not lacking, but Tonga is simply a garden of Eden. Tonga has such a low population and is extremely isolated, so there is little competition for resources with local communities. As such, the palm trees are bursting with bountiful amounts of drinking coconuts, and the waters are teeming with fish. As Nate shows, he was catching snappers straight off the beach with his first cast!

They built an absolutely cracking shelter with the help of builder James, and we were particularly impressed with Kara’s coconut climbing skills this time around, not to mention her fire lighting success using the bow drill!

A Bit About Tonga

Tonga is abundant and stunning. Then there’s the wildlife. Tonga boasts meter-wide flying foxes (fruit bats). Though incredible to see, they are major competition for any ripe fruit on the island. The pigs are also problematic, as they push over trees and dig up any tubers one could eat. They can be very territorial and have been known to chase locals up trees, even goring dogs.

However, the star of the show is unquestionably the humpback whale. Here in exceptional numbers to give birth and rear their young, who guzzle 500 litres of rich milk a day. Straight off the beach, we were treated to breaching, tail slapping, and fin flaps, upward of 50 times a day, every day. One day, while snorkelling, I dived down and held on to a rock. As I lay motionless on the seabed, I could hear the young whales talking to their mum!

Swimming with Humpbacks

After survival, we were rescued by Kite Surf Tonga’s plush RIB and treated to a big old breakfast onboard. Then, it was time to swim face-to-face with these wonderful animals. I think swimming with humpbacks is one of those experiences for which you can have high expectations and still have them exceeded. We jumped in and were greeted by a playful calf. Acting like a 3-ton puppy, it seemed to say, “Look at me, I’ve got these amazing fins!” as it rolled on its back, flailing its appendages just a couple of meters away!

You can catch up with part one of their island survival adventure here, and part two here!

A word on the fishing in Tonga from Tom.

Wow. never have i had such thrilling fishing. First off you can effortlessly catch little snappers and groupers straight off the beach. However , when you head out onto the outer reef you are greeted with large pelagic fish like jacks and trevally. For those who are accomplished at spearfishing, it is a great chance to target these species.
I cast out over the reef from the beach with these comically large popper lures (about 12 inches long) and started to get very large fish take them. (I assume tuna or Trevally). However, even with 60lb line and 100lb leader, i was having my line snapped before I even got into the fight. I lost a couple this way before deciding it was unfair on the fish. If anyone has tips on what i could do differently please comment below.

For those who would like their own Tongan island adventure, you can check out our dates here, but hurry, we are almost sold out…