Travel bucket list ideas:
Multiple countries
Whale-watching is on many a bucket list, and tours are two-a-plenty around the world, but what’s not so well known is where you can actually get in the water and swim with whales.
Given the increased protection afforded to these large, but sensitive and vulnerable, mammals, it’s perhaps not surprising that there aren’t that many places. But there are a few – and these are the best ones.
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Mirissa, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
Bucket List Experience
The world’s largest mammal is surprisingly difficult to see – except here, on Sir Lanka’s southern coast. It’s the best, most accessible and most reliable place in the world to see – and snorkel – with the big blues. Tours depart from Galle and Mirissa between February and mid-March, when the whales feed on giant shoals of krill.
Adult price: £270
Good for age: 13+
Duration: 3 hours
Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia
Despite their name, dwarf mike whales are big – about 7-9m in length and weighing 5-7 tonnes. The whale experience is some distance offshore, so this is a live-aboard trips requiring several days, but itineraries also diving and snorkelling at some of the best spots on the pristine Great Barrier Reef.
Adult price: £2300
Good for age: 18+
Duration: 4-6 days
Moorea, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Bucket List Experience
The pilgrimage to Tahiti for expectant humpback whales takes place from Aug to Oct with the island of Moorea, 15kms from Tahiti, providing a breathtaking location from where to swim safely with whales and newborn calves in what will be an incredibly humbling experience. Set sail into the sheltered waters of the South Pacific onboard a catamaran and swim with whales surrounded by French Polynesian islands.
Adult price: £85
Good for age: 13+
Duration: 4 hours
Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga
Humpback whales are among the ocean’s most impressive creatures – growing up to 16m (52ft) in length, they are famed for acrobatic displays of breaching and slapping the water with their 5m-long fins, and for their extraordinarily complex songs, which can last up to 20 minutes.
Every year, from July to October, 40-tonne humpback whales migrate to the warm Tongan waters from Antarctica to breed, before heading back in November.
Whale watching is therefore excellent, but it’s one of the few places in the world you can snorkel with them too (visibility is excellent) – and surely none better than these azure-blue, warm tropical waters. It’s a humbling and unforgettable experience.
Adult price: £220
Min age 13
Good for age: 13+
Duration: 3-4 hours
Tromso, Western Norway, Norway
Bucket List Experience
The remote fjords north of Tromso are the best, most reliable place to see orcas; each winter, 50-60 arrive to feed on the vast herring shoals. Lofoten Islands Adventure specialists Lofoten Opplevelser offer daily snorkel trips. Min age 16, but you can take younger children on a private boat. Whale Swim offer 6-day safari tours departing from Tromso.
Adult price: £230
Min age 16
Good for age: 16+
Duration: 4 hours
