Southwest surfer, windsurfer & sailor Dave Sheen and his family have travelled and sailed the world together sharing challenges and triumphs, new discoveries, and adventures.
They fell in love with Tonga in Polynesia and established Whale Discoveries in 2010. Dave, his wife Tris, and daughter Dior established an off-grid self-sustainable home on remote Nomuka Island in Tonga which later became the Lolofutu Beach Barn.
Dave Sheen Lolofutu Beach Barn Nomuka Island Tonga. Photo Tris Sheen.
Tris & Dave Sheen Whale Discoveries Nomuka Island Tonga. Photo Tris Sheen.
Dior Sheen with her horses Nomuka Island Tonga. Photo Tris Sheen.
Dave Sheen with his dogs on Nomuka Island Tonga. Photo Tris Sheen.
There have been road bumps along the way: –
1. Circa 2010 a cyclone forced them to rebuild their beloved home base, ‘Beach Barn,’ in a safer location on the property,
2. During Covid, Dior was separated from Dave & Tris for a year because of Tonga’s strict travel bans and without tourist travel in Tonga, the family had no income from 2019 – 2022; and
3. On 15 January 2022 Hunga Tonga volcano (visible from the Beach Barn) erupted in one of the biggest explosions ever recorded on planet Earth! It sent a tsunami wave through the islands that completely destroyed the west coast of Tongatapu and Nomuka, where the Sheen’s family home, business base and accommodation resort was situated.
Pre Tsunami
Travel bloggers did an interesting story on the Sheen’s home built, self-reliant home prior to the Tsunami disaster in 2022.
Gone with the Wynns – Incredible Self-Reliant Living on a Remote Island (full tour)
Post Tsunami
Dave & Tris’s daughter Dior is a natural videographer and recorded this story after the Tsunami disaster.
Dior Sheen – A Tsunami destroyed our island home in Tonga (Story 27)
Note: Dior’s You Tube channel stories No. 4, 28, 37 & 39 also relate to this matter. 🙂
Dave Sheen. “We have opted not to rebuild on Nomuka Island for at least a few years and spend more time at our Yallingup property. Our catamaran Wildlife spends the summer on the hardstand in NZ and I go over in late April and sail her up to Tonga, do the whale-swim season then sail back to NZ. So spending Nov to April in Yallingup. This is what we do for work in Tonga on our catamaran Wildlife”.
Kara and Nate – Swimming with Baby Humpback Whales (incredible encounters)
Reference Material
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