SDL Expeditions
Three oceans.
Three animals.
Six guests.
Sperm whales in Dominica. Humpbacks in Tonga. Orca and mobula rays in Baja. Three in-water trips, booked and planned by people who have been on all of them.
What we run
The three trips
Each one has its own site, its own dates and its own booking. Pick the animal, and that site has everything — day by day, boat by boat, price by price.
Dominica · Caribbean
Sperm whale swims
Dominica’s sperm whales are resident — the same families, year after year, in deep water a short run from shore. Six guests, six days at sea.
- Season November to May
- Length 7 nights, 6 sea days
- Group 6 guests
- From $6,850
La Ventana · Mexico
Orca & mobula rays
Orca off La Ventana and the mobula ray aggregations of the Cerralvo Channel. We log every day we run and publish it — hits and misses both.
- Season May to August
- Length 7 nights, 6 sea days
- Group 5 – 6 guests
- From $6,500
Vava’u · Tonga
Humpback whale swims
Humpbacks come to Vava’u to calve and mate in warm, clear water. The only dedicated four-person boats in Tonga run here, alongside the six-guest boats.
- Season Mid-July to early November
- Length 7 nights, 5 swim days
- Group 4 or 6 per boat
- From $4,250
A year on the water
When each trip runs
Three oceans, three seasons — and between them they cover the whole calendar. There is no month of the year without one of our trips running.
Dominica runs November through the end of May, Baja May to the end of August, Tonga mid-July to the beginning of November. Mobula rays in Baja peak in May and June; Tonga’s calves are biggest and boldest late in its season.
Why book through us
Three trips, done properly
We are a specialist agency. We don’t sell a catalogue — we sell these three, and we know them in detail.
01
Small, and we mean it
Six guests or fewer in the water on every trip, and Tonga has dedicated four-person boats. Not six in the water out of sixteen aboard.
02
Three trips, not three hundred
No catalogue, no filler destinations. Three animals in three oceans is the entire list, which is why we can answer a question about any of them properly.
03
In the water, not watching
These are swim trips, not boat tours. Everything is set up around getting people in quietly and properly, with crews who do it every day of the season.
04
The right week, not just any week
Within every season there are better and worse weeks. Tell us when you can travel and we’ll tell you what that week usually looks like — including if another one would suit you better.
05
No stranger-sharing
We won’t put you in a room with someone you’ve never met to save a bed. Solo guests take their own room by adding on a single supplement.
06
Results, not promises
In over twenty years in Tonga, we have never had a group go home without swimming with humpbacks. Baja and Dominica are less predictable, so for those we publish the daily record — blank days included.
Private & group
Take the whole boat
Because the boats are small, a handful of friends, a camera club or a family is already a full charter. You choose the dates within the season, and the boat is yours — no one else aboard, no one else’s schedule.
It is also how families travel with younger children. On all three trips, children under sixteen are welcome when the family books every space on the boat — scheduled departures are 18 and over.
Next step
Tell us which animal
Say which trip you’re thinking about and roughly when, and we’ll tell you honestly what the water is like then — including if we think a different month would serve you better.
