Papua New Guinea.
The eastern half of New Guinea (western half is Indonesian provinces of Papua & West Papua), area 178,700 square miles, a sovereign state with over 8 million people, very culturally diverse and rural, with hundreds of indigenous ethnic groups, 851 known languages and a number of ‘uncontacted’ peoples. A large portion are illiterate. Most people live in strong traditional social groups based on farming. It has several active volcanos and is subject to earthquakes, hosts a range of ecoregions (including dense rainforest), and varied altitudes – high parts can get snow. Per Wikipedia, English is the language of government and the education system but isn’t widely spoken (Clownfishsydney (
Post #7) said it’ll be spoken by people one’s likely to meet in an airport, hotel or restaurant). Christianity predominates; there’s a constitutional right to free speech, thought and belief. Regarding the island’s split between Papau New Guinea vs. Papua & West Papau, Wingy (
Post #11) wrote “Yes, it's one big landmass split roughly in half but sociopolitically it may as well be Mars and Venus apart. I spent a few hours going to Parliament in PNG which I've never even done in my own country but it was the most amazing experience seeing all the tribes’ representatives sporting everything from three-piece suits to pigs’ tusks pierced noses and painted faces depending on the area - in Jakarta parliament hosts global summits. I suspect there are no areas to rest your spears, clubs and feather cloaks at the entrance and the building is not shaped like a beehive. I'd recommend anyone going to parliament in PNG....”
PNG is famous for great diving but I don’t see many extensive trip reports on Scuba Board. I’m pulling comments by members out of various threads to concentrate content in one place (here), with links so you can explore the original threads.
ClownfishSydney (
Post #28) indicated it’s good for both reef and (in various places) wreck lovers. FindingMenno (
Post #15) who’s worked in Komodo before (and dove Komodo and Bali, but not Raja Ampat as of 4-4-18), wrote Komodo and Raja Ampat probably offer one of the best balances of quality diving with ease and cost of access, but that Papua, New Guinea diving was the best he’d experienced, and some of the remote Louisiades were “…just amazing, blew me away” – plus PNG has a big collection of WW II wrecks, stunning reefs and marine life (Note:
Post #12 in another thread, he mentioned he was on an expedition-type vessel and dove some of the more remote parts). In
Papua New Guinea vs. Indonesia, Wingy (Post #2) opined PNG tops Raja Ampat, Komodo, Alor and Anilao, with a wild undeveloped factor so you rarely see other divers and it’s culturally fascinating. FindingMenno (Post #12) said topside culture was great and one of the last frontiers. SpeckledGrouper (Post #5) deemed Milne Bay better than Raja Ampat. Fibonacci (Post #7) preferred PNG to Komodo. WetPup (Post #14) preferred PNG and noted it less crowded than anywhere in Indonesia and far more laid back, but (Post #35) not a budget dive destination – the country in general is quite expensive, and (Post #38) isn’t part of the Indonesian throughflow current that brings big animals (though you may see sharks and mantas) – so it’s not like R.A. or Komodo. Silent Running (Post #43) said it’s got it all – high diversity and big animals (contray to WetPup, S.R. said while Komodo, Alor and Ambon Indonesia are a close second, ‘not as much of the big stuff’), WW II wrecks and…outrageous airfare considering domestic flights; on a trip he saw no dive boats, electric lights or overhead planes for 4 weeks. WetPup (Post #57) said PNG is mostly about reefs and wrecks; it has big stuff but that’s not why you dive there (Wingy (
Post #17) rated PNG higher than R.A. for biodiversity, macro and even big things).
PNG is large enough, and resorts spread out enough, you should research which part to focus on based on what you want to see. WetPup (
Post #2) noted Milne Bay (Tawali Resort) was best for macro, and Walindi or Tufi good for larger things.
A member complimented Diversion Dive Travel and linked
their Papua New Guinea page, which has
a link to info. on the country. Being a ‘frontier’ isn’t all positive; Wingy (
Post #11) posted a link to
Port Moresby for Beginners, which includes a Port Moresby Survival Guide. Port Moresby is the capital, and has extreme wealth disparity.
The Complete Guide to Diving Papua New Guinea at Indopacific Images Underwater Images
2019 Winter Q1 Alert Diver article
The Far Reaches: Papua New Guinea by Alison Sallmon.
An old Winter 2012 Alert Diver article -
Sketches of Papua New Guinea by Michele Westmoreland.
Trip Report Tufi PNG Feb-Mar 2019. By dbnewton.
Papua New Guinea – Diving the Witu Islands. Dec. 2019 nearly 2-week trip by donsilcock. He
linked his nice write-upwith beautiful photos and discussion of the region.
Diving the Conflict Islands – Papua New Guinea – A Report from August, 2019 by PDT (Pelagic Dive Travel – Terry), who linked to
his extended report at Medium.com.
PNG Trip Report: MV Febrina June 2018 – by Fibonacci. Detailed travel details from Australia. He discussed TB, malaria and crime issues. Very nice report!