Trip Report: Humpback Whales in La Réunion, August 2024

As we do every year, in August 2024 we visited one of our favorite islands, La Réunion in the Indian Ocean. For two weeks, we joined guests from Germany, Switzerland and Thailand in search of humpback whales and got to know a beautiful region.

A Humpback Whale is heading straight for us!

Both weeks started similarly: with lots of wind! Boat trips were out of the question, so we turned the first day into an island tour. While the first group was able to enjoy the waterfalls and steep cliffs under a blue sky in the Cirque de Salazie "Jurassic Park Valley", group 2 was lucky enough to experience the island's volcano "Piton de La Fournaise" above the clouds! Fantastic impressions were guaranteed.

After the wind died down, we were able to go back out to sea on day 2 of both weeks, where the interactions with the humpback whales began immediately! In both weeks we were able to experience great interactions under the surface on the first day as well as on every following day. The highlight of week 1 was a group of 6 whales and a beautiful encounter with mother, calf and escort. The escort even started singing while the 3 whales slowly swam past us.

In week 2, we were lucky enough to observe mother and calf up close twice. The highlight, however, was a single whale that slowly floated to the surface from the depths, sleeping on its back. After a slow turn, the whale then came straight towards us before swimming away with 1-2 movements of its mighty fluke.

The highlights of these weeks have also been captured on film. The video can be viewed here:

Once again this year, we have to say that swimming with humpback whales off La Réunion is excellently organized. Strict rules and the checking of the boats by the police make it possible to have lasting and enjoyable experiences where all protagonists are safe and the animals are not disturbed. After many reports from all over the world (e.g. Australia, Tonga, Tahiti, Mauritius) where interactions bring more and more problems, La Réunion can serve as an excellent example of how whale swimming can work.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the weeks on La Réunion! It was incredible fun with you!