25th of July 2010. Humpback whales have arrived in Tonga, marking the beginning of the mating season.

US filmmaker Darren Rice was so impatient to shoot them that he took his four-year-old son and his three-year-old daughter with him. For their first dive, these kids were lucky enough to swim with 15m-long whales. A killer!

Tonga is a small kingdom in the midst of the South Pacific. It's an archipelago that extends southeast of Fiji and has an area similar to that of Japan. It consists of 171 islands, including Tongatapu, where Haapai, the capital city, can be found, and three other main islands, Haapai, Vava'u and Niuas. It's world renowned for whale watching, especially between July and November.

Darren Rice has launched his own resort in Tonga - check the Matafonua Lodge website. If you want to know what's going on while scuba diving, check out another Darren's video by clicking here.

© Darren Rice / Liquid Image Productions