Question Diving from Honiara

[mdlaura]

We may have two spend a day or two in Honiara before boarding the Solomons Master in December. From what I've seen, there are a few local WWII tours, but not a lot to do on land. Are there any options for local diving based out of Honiara?
Thanks

 

[lpokeefe]

No advice for you on things to do in Honiara, but I am also doing the Master trip Dec 7-17. I managed to get flights on embarkation and debarkation days on Fiji Airways via Nadi. Feel free to DM if you want more info.

 

[cetacean]

We may have two spend a day or two in Honiara before boarding the Solomons Master in December. From what I've seen, there are a few local WWII tours, but not a lot to do on land. Are there any options for local diving based out of Honiara?
Thanks

@mdlaura

There's a big difference between a single day or two in Honiara...it's a bit of a 1 day town

Tulagi Dive used to be the best (only?) operator in Honiara, they've closed shop (literally) , no longer taking people diving, and moved entirely to commercial diving. They've never recovered from the pandemic (and the government has been no help for small businesses...)

I have not heard of any other dive operators operating in or around Honiara. However, most of the hotels can/will arrange snorkeling trips.

For land based activities - the Botanical Gardens are worth an hour or two, as are most of the WWII tours. The Solomons is a beautiful country - definitely worth exploring, just know that their tourism infrastructure was never huge, and the pandemic seriously damaged their economy.

If the flight schedule is requiring you to fly in 2 days early then go explore the island. It is beautiful and the history can still be seen in many places. If you can change your flights to either arrive the day of or the day before the boat departure, that would be my recommendation. We usually stay in Brisbane (or Nadi) until the day of our liveaboard departure, then make the flight. The risk of missing the boat is pretty minimal, in part because they don't go that far on their first night (you will be able to catch up to the boat if you arrive 1 day late). They look to be flying 6 days a week from Nadi to Honiara, and 4 days a week from Brisbane so you should have options.

You could also go the other way and show up a few days early. If this option is open to you I can highly recommend both Uepi Island Resort and Dive Gizo. Both dive areas the Solomons Master won't get to, and both are great dive operations (and good resorts).

I've been to both, as well as on the Bilikiki - the Solomons have some of best diving you'll find anywhere.

 

[mdlaura]

No advice for you on things to do in Honiara, but I am also doing the Master trip Dec 7-17. I managed to get flights on embarkation and debarkation days on Fiji Airways via Nadi. Feel free to DM if you want more info.

Thanks. We changed our trip to the Dec 7-17 (instead of the 18-28, due to higher airfare at that time). Still looking at flight options. See you then!

 

[mdlaura]

@mdlaura

There's a big difference between a single day or two in Honiara...it's a bit of a 1 day town

Tulagi Dive used to be the best (only?) operator in Honiara, they've closed shop (literally) , no longer taking people diving, and moved entirely to commercial diving. They've never recovered from the pandemic (and the government has been no help for small businesses...)

I have not heard of any other dive operators operating in or around Honiara. However, most of the hotels can/will arrange snorkeling trips.

For land based activities - the Botanical Gardens are worth an hour or two, as are most of the WWII tours. The Solomons is a beautiful country - definitely worth exploring, just know that their tourism infrastructure was never huge, and the pandemic seriously damaged their economy.

If the flight schedule is requiring you to fly in 2 days early then go explore the island. It is beautiful and the history can still be seen in many places. If you can change your flights to either arrive the day of or the day before the boat departure, that would be my recommendation. We usually stay in Brisbane (or Nadi) until the day of our liveaboard departure, then make the flight. The risk of missing the boat is pretty minimal, in part because they don't go that far on their first night (you will be able to catch up to the boat if you arrive 1 day late). They look to be flying 6 days a week from Nadi to Honiara, and 4 days a week from Brisbane so you should have options.

You could also go the other way and show up a few days early. If this option is open to you I can highly recommend both Uepi Island Resort and Dive Gizo. Both dive areas the Solomons Master won't get to, and both are great dive operations (and good resorts).

I've been to both, as well as on the Bilikiki - the Solomons have some of best diving you'll find anywhere.

Thanks for the info. We actually did Dive Gizo in 1997! Great diving and have been wanting to return to the Solomons ever since.