- Carmen Ellis, 47, volunteered for a whale tour operating in Tonga
- Yearning to swim with whales every day, she started up her tour business Majestic Whale Encounters
- Since launching, Carmen’s husband Matt, her sister Sarah, and her brother-in-law Nathan, have also joined the tour team
Here she shares her story in her own words.
Pulling the snorkel and mask over my eyes, I sat on the edge of the boat and jumped in. Dipping my head below the surface, I spotted an enormous humpback whale and her calf just five metres in front of me.
Watching in awe as they moved majestically through the deep blue, tears filled my goggles. It was August 2009 and I’d just swum with one of the largest animals in the world.
Growing up in Cronulla, NSW, my sisters, Judy, Sarah, Lara and I often spent hours sitting out on the rock cliffs watching the whales migrate.
Seeing them jump out of the water and land with a splash, I was captivated.
At 14 I did an introductory dive at the Great Barrier Reef with Dad, then 41, and Judie, 15.
Hooked, two years later, I completed my scuba diving course in Cronulla.
‘It’s a different world under the waves,’ I beamed to Sarah, then eight, after.
Leaving school, I got a job in a wildlife park which eventually led to me working at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo.
But my love for the ocean meant I spent as much time in the sea as I could, and dreamed of swimming with whales. A fantasy, I never imagined it was even possible.
Aged 26, I married my hubby Matt, a paramedic, then 32.
Setting up home in Dunedoo, NSW, we welcomed two girls – Mackenzie in 2007, and Harper 15 months later.
Matt, a keen surfer, supported my love of the sea and my dream.
One day in 2009 when I was 31 I typed swim with whales into Google.
That’s when I stumbled on a tour operating in Tonga, Polynesia.
‘I have to go,’ I told Matt, who agreed to stay home and care for Mackenzie, then almost two and Harper, six months.
The next thing I knew, I’d signed up for a one-month volunteer program and booked a flight to Tonga.
Now, a month later, I was bobbing on the crystal blue waters off a remote island in Tonga, geared up and enjoying my first swim.
In Tonga I worked with guests, leading them out to swim with the whales.
‘It’s everything I could have imagined and more,’ I told Matt excitedly on the phone.
Every swim was magic, so when it was time to head home, I had a crazy thought. What if I could spend every day with the whales?
And so the idea to set up my own Tonga whale tour business was born.
Matt was totally behind my plan when I told him.
After days working with the animals at the zoo and caring for the kids, I spent my nights researching the perfect itinerary for tours, cultural experiences and accommodation.
With the impact tourism has on our globe growing each year, I knew my tour had to contribute to the conservation of the ocean, and educate guests on the importance of this.
So I designed a tour that would leave a minimal environmental footprint while still giving guests the experience of a lifetime.
And I made sure any suppliers we used followed water-saving and recycling practices, employed locals and supported marine conservation.
In April 2013, aged 34, I officially registered the business name Majestic Whale Encounters.
Three months later, I sent my first group of whale watchers to Tonga.
With the whale season running for 15 weeks between July and October, it was a long time to be away from my hubby and kids, so instead I managed everything from home.
Juggling mum life, work at the zoo and organising whale tours, I quickly discovered I couldn’t do it all. So in 2014 I had an idea.
‘Will you come and work with me?’ I asked my sister Sarah, then 29, who was working in sales and marketing.
‘I’d love to!’ she agreed.
We split the season between us, taking it in turns to fly between Tonga and Australia.
‘Soon our kids were jumping in and snorkelling too.’
By 2016, at home our girl gang had grown to three after Matt and I welcomed our daughter Billi.
Always supportive of my dreams, my hubby used his annual leave to join me, with the girls, on my travels.
While I jumped in the water with the guests and whales, Matt cared for our kids, then eight, seven, and six months, spotting whales from the boat.
With every season in Tonga, our kids got a little more confident in the water, and before long they were jumping in and snorkelling too.
‘Did you see the baby whale?’ they’d exclaim, excitedly.
Since then, Matt and Sarah’s hubby, Nathan, have also joined the tour team.
Now 16 years since my first swim, we run tours in Tonga, Norway, French Polynesia, Antarctica and Mexico. Each destination brings new experiences, such as snorkelling among orca, humpback whales and ice caps in the middle of winter in Norway, and swimming alongside orca and thousands of mobula rays in Mexico.
While it’s incredible to get up close to the majestic mammals, it’s important to respect their space too.
By us snorkelling along the surface, rather than diving down with scuba gear, the whales don’t feel threatened by the bubbles released by the mouthpiece. The less uneasy the animals feel, the longer they stick around.
I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend life.
My girls now 17, 16 and nine, are so proud of what I’ve achieved and are keen to follow in my footsteps.
I’m living my wildest dreams!
Visit majesticwhaleencounters.com.au
