Budget diving in the Solomon Islands *cough*

[Mantra]

Hi all!

My wife and I live in a city (Brisbane, Australia) that is one of the few in the world that has a direct flight to the Solomon Islands. It's just a short three hour flight from here. It takes longer to drive and visit some friends! Some cheap air tickets came up recently, and so we decided to book a trip there for the month of January next year.

Problem is, it looks like the diving there is quite pricey. I understand. Many of the places are quite remote. I was wondering, though, if anyone had any tips on how to keep the costs down? We want to maybe spend a week diving at each end of the trip, with more cultural/trekking stuff in the middle. This part should be OK price wise - we are quite comfortable travelling in remote areas, staying in villages, etc. I have reported from a couple of war zones in my time, so roughing it is just fine. The diving is the problem. I'd love to spend a week in Gizo, and maybe Munda. Liveaboards are way too expensive, as is Uepi. My emails to tualgi dive are bouncing at the moment.

Anyone know of ways to keep costs down? Any cheaper (but safe) operators? We will take our own gear.

Any general tips for the Solomon Islands otherwise? if you have travelled there, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

This will be our first diving holiday, so you can imagine how excited we are

 

[iDreamOfBubbles]

Hello,
I have been scanning the web recently, looking for budget accommodations in the Solomons for a possible trip next year, and I will relate to you what I've found so far. It seems that there are quite a few "budget" type places in Gizo and Munda. Agnes Lodge in Munda has a variety of accommodations, and seems to be the "go-to" place to stay in Munda. There are also a number of guest houses in the area, if you don't mind shared facilities. Have a look at this website: Solomon Islands Hotels Accommodation - Solomon Islands Tours - Book Online at discounted rates with solomonislands-hotels.travel for more info.

From what I've heard, both Munda and Gizo have some good wrecks, but, because of the tsunami a few years back, there has been some damage to Gizo's reefs. I have no first-hand experience of this, however, so hopefully someone who has dived there recently can comment.

You might also want to consider Tulagi, which is just a 1 hour boat ride from Honiara. It's famous for its variety of WWII wrecks, if you're into that sort of thing, although there's also reportedly some good reef diving. I'm sure you can find some budget places to stay there, as well.

The Solomon Islands travel wiki, http://exploringsolomons.wikispaces.com/, should also be very helpful.

So that's pretty much all the information I've compiled so far, let us all know what you decide, and if you find anything else. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Mantra]

Hi! Thanks heaps for that. I've encountered that hotel site too. it is actually run by the folks at dive gizo. Graeme from Munda dive seems to be another scubaboarder, and for that reason alone I'm tempted to go dive with them

Let's keep comparing notes as we go.

Are you a couchsurfer? If you are willing to host travelers in your own home (which is a wonderful cultural experience) then you will find others willing to be generous back elsewhere. We backpack a lot in Asia, and find that the opportunity to make friends with locals like this really adds a special something to our trips and gives us experiences and friendships most tourists miss out on. Anyway, I note there are a few aid workers who dive, and even some dive shop employees, in the Solomons who host.

On that note, if anyone is transiting to/from the Solomon Islands via Brisbane and would like a place to crash, drop me a line.

EDIT: I've read that the tsunami damage is still visible, but that there are more than enough undamaged sites to see in those parts.

Is tipping expected practice? We do tip, but being Aussies on a budget get nervous about it being expected and prefer guidelines so we can plan and not disappoint.

 

[iDreamOfBubbles]

If and when we go, I definitely plan on diving with Munda Dive. The Cave of the Custom Shark just sounds too cool to miss.

Although it is still in the very early planning stages, and we're not even sure if we can afford it at this point (coming from Northeastern US), we know we'd definitely want to dive in 2 different areas. Munda is on the books for sure, we're just not sure where else. Gizo seems nice, and reasonably priced, but I'm having a little hesitation after reading Kevster's trip report from last August. He said that Munda is fantastic, but the corals in Gizo are not in good shape (but things can change in a year, and that's probably not the case for all of the sites, as you mentioned).

Not sure if you, or anyone else has heard anything about them, but there is a dive op in Southern Marovo Lagoon that looks to have reasonable rates, but I'd want to get some first-hand experience before diving with them.

Dive Tulagi have apparently changed location from Tulagi to Honiara, and dive both sides of Iron Bottom Sound, now. The wrecks around that area sound great, I'm just not sure about the reef dives around Hon. We're not tech divers, so I wonder about how many of those wrecks could keep us interested for more than a few days without any reef dives thrown in.

Hope this helps, and if you find anymore info, please share.

 

[Kevster]

Idream of bubbles
Dont bank on being able to dive the cave of the Custom shark. I was in Munda for 4-5 days and did not dive this site. I was told this dive is a fairly advanced dive and prob should only be performed by technical/cave divers. You will be diving in an overhead environment for 10-15 mins down to 30m!! but yes it does sound cool. The cave dive is approx 1hr from the dive shop.

Mantra
The Solomons are great, but not a cheap dive location. Typically every dive will cost approx $75 (based on no rental gear). Some dive sites have a small surcharge due to travel distance so some dives may be $100. Bottom line no matter where you go , a typically days diving will cost $150-175 depending on whether you do 2-3 dives.

There are cheap accom options at Munda & Gizo. Uepi is very expensive for accom.

I would definately recommend Munda. Anges lodge at Munda has some cheap rooms (i think shared facilities start around $30+/night). My double room was approx $75-100. Food/drink was also good value. I stayed in high end accom at Gizo, but there are cheapish options available.

There are also a couple of other "eco type" resort around the Solomons but i cannot remember their names.

Diving at Munda is excellent. Diving at Gizo was so-so. Unfortunately the Gizo reefs i dived on had been reduced to rubble.

 

[Philipp Ebert]

interested in diving from honiara ? check out Solomons Diving

 

[Blighbaby]

just got back from solomons. not cheap but had a great time. dive munda great. graham & jen really looked after us well. fairly basic boat, just a long boat, but did 4 great dives. 1 reef the other 3 planes. vis great. you really need to go for the wrecks rather than the reefs which have been fairly beaten around - if you want reef & coral & fish, go to fiji! - also did dive gizo. dived grand central & toa maru. gc great vis to start but other side of reef very beaten up. toa maru fantastic and could easily do 2 or more dives on that wreck. lunch in between very nice.
but no, not cheap. stayed at zipolo at munda (beware the viscious ginger cat) and fatboys at gizo.