Star Dancer in Milne Bay.....February 26th to March 8th.....c'mon people!

[ewaiea]

Ok....I did it. I broke down and decided to go back to PNG. I went there in 2010 on north New Britain Island...the experience was life changing. I went to Palau last year to compare and contrast. And while Palau was awesome, I always assumed my next stop would be some place like Belize, Cocos Island, Galapagos.....but I know in my heart of hearts that id be wondering about PNG the whole time. I still watch my trip video every few days....I have to go back.

I'll be utilizing the Star Dancer again but this time diving Milne Bay. Debbie Messina in the Dancer travel office hooked me up with a decent airfare so I'm going through Australia with overnights in Sydney and Port Moresby.

If you love critters and variety there no destination that can rival PNG coupled with its far removed nature - its unbeatable. I thought id go once in my life given the airfare cost....here I am 2 years later wanting more.

Any scubaboarder's interested in entertaining the idea of coming along?

Take care and safe diving!

Eric

 

[Shasta_man]

What kind of airfare did you get? The boat cost is mostly the same, it's just the airfare that makes the diff.

 

[ewaiea]

My airfare from Honolulu to Alotau was 2683. Now for those of you not familiar with airfare to PNG - that (in my estimate) was not too bad. I had to do two seperate itineraries - just like last time. I'm flying:
Itinerary 1:
Honolulu->Sydney (then stay one night in a hotel)
Itinerary 2:
Sydney->Port Moresby (then stay a night at the Airways Hotel in Port Moresby)
Port Moresby->Alotau (I'll be staying 2 nights in Alotau - either at Driftwood Resort or Tawali - I haven't decided which one yet)

I don't think I needed to do the overnight in Port Moresby - but I enjoyed staying at the Airways last time so I wanted to revisit that hotel. I could hang out at Sydney Airport the whole night - but I'm there from 7pm until 9am the next morning so I figured its better to rest at a hotel nearby.

I do have to overnight in Sydney on the way home but no where else. Since my itinerary #1 ends in Sydney and #2 starts there - I figured it best to plan a long overnighter....I'm also covering myself with travel insurance.

For me, getting there is part of the experience. There's probably cheaper ways to do it and feel free to let me know - but when I checked orbitz, airfare from Honolulu to Port Moresby was 3900 round trip.....THAT I refused to do. But Debbie Messina at Dancer Fleet/Liveaboard Vacations was able to set me up with a much better deal.

I hope this helps. Anyone please chime in with other questions.

 

[Nflor001]

That sounds like a fun trip. I wish I can go. Have a good time.

 

[Shasta_man]

Eee...still almost 3 grand even from Hawaii. This is why the price for the Star Dancer had to come down. The other problem I had when looking into it was syncing up flights back out of PNG, meaning more nights in a hotel before leaving. The problem might be better now that they stick to Milne Bay, I don't know... The killer with those flights is always the leg to actually get to PNG. You can get a great price to Australia, but then double it, at least, to get from there to PNG. It's certain to be a great time. You will be a good resource to compare the locations in PNG. Then we have to send you to Indo, and perhaps Fiji, to complete all the comparisons we need.

 

[ewaiea]

Well, you might get cheaper airfare from California....I don't estimate airfare to be any different when comparing CA with HI. HI gets kinda hosed on stuff like this.

You are right about the short hop to PNG being the majority of the cost. The domestic airfare alone in PNG is a little over 300.....airfare to Australia about 1200....possibly less from the US mainland - but that tiny few hour jaunt to PNG really gets ya. And yes, the hotels along the way jack up the price. BUT - though this is a flimsy argument - I actually enjoy the overnighters along the way.

The cost is the reason I had to plan the trip so far in advance last time (with a 10 month wait) and this time (with an 8 month wait).

I really do want to hit Indonesia and Fiji - and I will for sure. I might even be in Indonesia in September as I have business in the far east.....I might make Indo my last stop and sneak in a few days at Wakatobi or Lembeh Resort....that'd be AWESOME....BUT, I can't really lug my dive gear along on the whole trip so it probably can't happen....WHICH KILLS ME!

As usual I'm already thinking about where I'll go next after PNG. Weird right? I don't leave for 8 months and I'm already planning ahead! But I'm thinking I might get myself over to Cocos Island late next year, or perhaps Fiji. If it waits til summer of 2014 I'll start tackling the Caribbean......but that's all way too far off to judge.

---------- Post added ----------

Honestly Shasta Man - if you or any of your dive buddies are curious....I'd recommend the following:
For US based divers - European and Asian divers I'm sorry, but you're on your own.
If flying from the West Coast: Price flights through whatever venue you think will provide you with the best deal. THEN, try your luck with the price you "think" you can get with priceline.com. THEN, if you don't get the good deal you were trying for - lower your expectations a bit and work with Liveaboard Vacations (Debbie Messina and her staff) and see if they can find you a better option.

In addition to the above for you east coast and mid-west divers.....
If flying from the mid-west of east coast: IF you can't get reasonable flights to Australia from the east coast direct on the same ticket - then try combining itineraries. Meaning - try getting a ticket to the west coast with a stop in San Francisco/Los Angeles/Seattle/etc. for a night or two. Look for something you've always wanted to do over there like wine tasting, maybe squeeze a little diving in the Channel Islands (that's what I'd look into), etc. THEN try and get airfare on a second itinerary to Australia or some city in the far east that has flights to Port Moresby. Plan an overnighter to give you a bit of a pad in case there are delays and BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE REGARDLESS OF YOUR ITINERARY! THEN as a third itinerary, get airfare from Australia (or some city in the far east that flies to Port Moresby) and try and get the rest of your itinerary on that ticket all the way to Alotau (the Star Dancer boards at Driftwood Resort - apparently a 15 minute drive from the Gurney Airport in Alotau airport).

From wherever else you're coming from regardless:
If all else fails and you're honestly serious about experiencing Papua New Guinea and diving Milne Bay and experiencing what is without a doubt the best frontier diving you'll ever imagine....call Liveaboard Vacations at 1-800-9DANCER and ask for the travel department.

PNG is not a destination that you're likely to find cheap airfare to - and if you do, you should be given a "scubaboard.com/forums/liveaboards award" for finding airfare to PNG from the US for under $2K. But my faith is that if you like small critters, interacting with villagers, variety of diving (both diving on walls, pinnacles and then black-sand/muck dives in the evening) and also love the opportunity to see sharks and mantas as a close second priority - then come see what's up in Milne Bay. You may find that the dive destination you thought would be a "one hit" destination might beckon you back for future visits sooner than you think.

NFLOR! I know who you are dive buddy who was with me on 20+ DIVES IN PALAU on the Tropic Dancer trip!!!! Get your butt on a plane pal! Come experience the magic of Milne Bay - I could use a roommate that I already know! I promise I won't lock you outta your room LOL!

Let me know if there are any other questions. I'm fairly certain that in the next 5-6 months we'll probably get enough people onboard that are booked for this trip that the boat will sail. HOWEVER, it would be neat to have some online aquaintences that I can share thoughts and plans with as I get ready for this trip in the early months of next year.

 

[iDreamOfBubbles]

Make sure to write a trip report when you come back! I'm headed to Bali in a week, but I've been drooling over a trip to Milne Bay on the Star Dancer for quite some time.

 

[ewaiea]

Sure thing. I've written trip reports on the 3 liveaboards I've done in the past and this one will depict the experience of getting there, the topside attractions, plenty of details on the diving, and the overall liveaboard experience. SPECIFICALLY how it compares to my previous trips - especially my trip on the Star Dancer in 2010 off North New Britain.

iDreamOfBubbles,
Any chance you and/or some of your dive buddies might be able to fit this one in???

 

[iDreamOfBubbles]

iDreamOfBubbles,
Any chance you and/or some of your dive buddies might be able to fit this one in???

I so wish, but my family is headed to the Turks and Caicos in Feb. If you wanna go back in a couple of years though, you can count us then!

 

[ewaiea]

I so wish, but my family is headed to the Turks and Caicos in Feb. If you wanna go back in a couple of years though, you can count us then!

You never know. I wonder whether I'll prefer Milne Bay or North New Britain. I've heard that Milne Bay is a muck divers paradise - but since that term tends to paint a not so pretty picture - it's usually called critter diving. And I think that the Star Dancer tweaks its itinerary to have a good mix of reef diving AND muck diving. It's that variety that I like best about PNG.

When I was there last - off of north New Britain we dove Kimbe Bay (reefs and muck dives), Witu Islands (reefs and muck dives) and Father's Reef (primarily just reef diving). We stayed in Kimbe for a day, then did 3 days in the Witus, then 3 days at the Father's Reef area, then back to Kimbe for another 1.5 days of diving. Father's Reef was a where we saw more big stuff but there was alot of small stuff on the reefs too - but I kind of missed the black sand dives during the 3 days we were there.

I've heard that Milne Bay has more of a 50/50 mix of the both.

Maybe we'll plan a charter in the next year or two to a different spot. Fiji, Indonesia, Cocos Island....those are on my hit list in the coming years.