Papua New Guinea - Tufi In Feb/Mar

[dbnewton]

I am looking for some insight from experience on Tufi in Feb-Mar.

Reading other threads and elsewhere on the web I understand that Oct-Nov are the ideal time for diving and Feb-Mar is the rainy season where run off lowers visibility. What I would like to understand a bit better is does that effect vis only near shore leaving the Outer Reef visibility still as fantastic as PNG is know to be. Or does the vis go to crap everywhere?

Of course any other insight into a Tufi trip in Feb-Mar is also welcome.

What I am considering is Virgin Australia Air through Brisbane to Port Moresby which aligns reasonably well with the PNG internal flight POM<->Tufi avoiding a stayover in POM. Then 10 or 17 nights at Tufi (either will work for the flight alignment but 17 give much more dive time).

I could save money using Philippine Air through Manilla but reviews of both the airline and the Manila airport are unfavorable and that would force stayover in POM due to flight misalignment (so eat up the savings and cost dive time).

 

[WetPup]

The Air Niugini flight out of Cairns or the Virgin flight out of Brisbane are your best bets to make afternoon domestic connections in Moresby. I've taken both without hassle. Domestic terminal in POM is crowded and it can sometimes take a while to get through security, but it looks worse than it actually is.

Not been there in Feb-March (I went over New Years - pics here), but the reefs are about 40-60 mins out. The resort itself is nestled up the hill in a fjord and I could see how the viz in there would be affected by run-off. That being said, we did very little diving near shore. There's an old PT boat wreck just off the dock at about 47m depth, and there's a bit of macro around the house reef wall if you get bored late afternoon or want to do a night dive. But by and large, we did all our diving out on the reef every day.

Also, I would do 10 nights. I think 17 is too long at Tufi.

 

[gypsyjim]

Thanks.
Any other observations or insights are welcome.