Port Moresby , PNG Trip report

[stonefish35]

Oh yes, if divers are flying into Moresby from Australia, kina can be obtain there. I guess it will be good to have some kina in your pockets . Especially for tipping and the unexpected stuff like excess luggage etc.


I'm starting up save up for my return trip to PNG

 

[alijtaylor]

Oh yes, if divers are flying into Moresby from Australia, kina can be obtain there. I guess it will be good to have some kina in your pockets . Especially for tipping and the unexpected stuff like excess luggage etc.
I'm starting up save up for my return trip to PNG

Excellent. I'll get some kina in Cairns. Thanks for the advice.
Alison

 

[divepix]

Stonefish,

Going through Port Moresby in October, then to Alatou to board Paradise Sport (one of their last charters). We are flying through Singapore as you did, and have until 4 PM the day of arrival in Port Moresby, then another long layover in Port Moresby on return before catching Singapore Air flight. Can you answer this?

1. Can we get kina in Singapore?
2. Can we get PNG visa in Singapore?
3. Is Airways the best place to stay for the dayrooms we need?

Thanks

 

[stonefish35]

Hi Divepix ,


1. I can't get Kina in Singapore
2. Yes you can get PNG visa from Spore, here's the details of the consulate:

Address : 146 Robinson Road #04-01 Singapore 068909
Telephone :62212609
Fax :62212204
E-mail ng.spore@gmail.com
Office Hours Mon-Fri
9.30am - 1.00 pm


Honorary Consul-General
1. Mr Koh Shian Wei, Mikell
2. Ms Yong Emmy


It cost me S$55 ( they only accept cash in Sing dollars ) and took 3 working days for the visa. But I understand they have the express program,can collect within working 2 days $80 and the urgent program, collect on same day , $105.


3.Airways Hotel and Apartments has a nice coffee house, poolside restaurant and nice lounge bar. With the free shuttle service from the airport, it is a good choice to spend the day while waiting for flights.

Another option is Gateway Hotel. It had free shuttle service from the airport too, and i'm sure they have nice restaurants too.Gateway rooms are cheaper. If I have the money, I will want to enjoy Airways

The advantage that the Airways have over the Gateway is:

I ) The restaurants in airways are situated on a hill, with a nice view overlooking the airport, Owen Stanley Mountain Range and Bootless Bay .

II ) The rooms at Airways are good. Pool have a nice view too. Its possible to get Kina at the hotel, but the exchange rates at the airport will be better.

III ) If you are thinking of taking a half day tour of Port Moresby on your arrival or departure day , I'm sure there are a few operators for this but I do not know who are they and not sure how to contact them. The Dive Centre, located at Airways Hotel poolside, is able to bring you around. John is an excellent host. If you are a coffee lover like me and are thinking of buying alot of PNG coffee back , I will say it will be better for you to take the half day tour on your departure day. Visit the PNG Art ,Museum, Parliment house and Andersen FoodLand. There's a wide selection of coffee from the different region of PNG there.


Hopes this helps. If you need further info , let me know.

Cheers,
Danny

 

[caymaniac]

Stonefish,

Going through Port Moresby in October, then to Alatou to board Paradise Sport (one of their last charters). We are flying through Singapore as you did, and have until 4 PM the day of arrival in Port Moresby, then another long layover in Port Moresby on return before catching Singapore Air flight. Can you answer this?

1. Can we get kina in Singapore?
2. Can we get PNG visa in Singapore?
3. Is Airways the best place to stay for the dayrooms we need?

Thanks

Dayrooms ...yes.
If overnight or more, you might want to check out Loloata. They will pick you up at the airport and van you to a dock and take you to their Island where the Wallabies run free, sometimes you can see the sea snakes crawl out of the ocean and you feel quite safe. The food is good and if you have time for a dive, you can get it at Loloata.

 

[stonefish35]

Hey, thats a good alternative. Sounds good with the wallabies .

 

[cdiver2]

Dive Day 1 – 5

Typical dive day : After breakfast, we meet the dive staff at 8am at the dive shop, which is located at the poolside. A 15 mins drive will get us to Bootless Bay, where the jetty and our dive boat, Solatai is located. Boat is good, can comfortably support 10 divers with lots of space. During surface interval , hot instant noodles , biscuits , coffee and tea are served .

1st dive of the trip is at Lion island , Sir Godfrey Wreck and 2nd dive The Lady Jules ( wreck ) at Lion island too. Nothing great here, just a couple of 1 ½ feet cuttlefish , a few choromodoris magnifica , flatworms, moorish idols , goby and shrimp , lizard fish , lionfish , clark’s clown fish and firefish . Vis was between 7 – 10 m at this muck diving site . It’s a pity that we do not have the chance to check out this muck site for the more exotic macrolife as we got a couple of ow divers with us who stir up the silt. Disclaimer : I have nothing against ow divers,the silt thing is understandable. And we were all once an ow diver too.

Dive Day 2

We dived End’s Bommie . It’s a nice reefwall. Basically this site is right in the middle of the sea. Nearest shore is about an hr’s boat ride away. Typical of all dive sites, there is a permanent anchor point . Boat crew will snorkel down to tie the boat’s anchor line to the floating buoy. After descending down the anchorline , we regrouped at the bottom. Current picked up while we were waiting for 2 ow divers who had some problem descending. Octo was leaking slightly . Continued with the drift dive after everyone was there . Saw the normal reef fish , nudibranch Notodoris Minor and a couple of nice anemone shrimps . Was low on air when we began our return to the anchor line. Buddy stand by her octo for me when I signalled to her as I went below 50 bar . When we reached the anchor point , saw nudibranch Funeral Jorunna and its newly laid egg . By this time, I’m on 10 bar , 5 – 6m and thus have no time to properly compose my shots. Basically just shoot and scoot .
Next dive was at MV Pai II ( big Wreck ) , at the other end of the End’s Bommie. It was fantastic.Common Lionfish were everywhere and was shooting this Red Firefish near the side of the wreck when my buddy alerted me to something . 1 arm’s length away, at the edge of the wreck , there was this mantis shrimp watching me shoot the red firefish. I turned my attention to the mantis shrimp. It went back into hiding. Waited patiently for 5 mins for it to remerge from its hiding place and took the photos. Saw a very big groupa , probably 1m+ . Saw our dive guide waving to us 3m away. Finned over and saw 2 white leaf scorpion fish . I waited no more and quickly adjusted my strobe and fire away. After we moved away from the wreck, on the sloping sandy bottom, something slithering caught my attention, it was an Olive green sea snake . Alerted every diver of its presence. Dive guide and me were shooting the snake when I realised that it knew we are watching it. It playfully headed for the other dive guide and stalked us when we moved on towards our anchor point. It went abit too friendly for comfort when it went for the fins of the 2nd dive guide. I got my pointer in 1 hand and dive knife/ scissor in the other hand ready , in case it decide to take a bite at him.


On our way back to Bootless Bay, we were greeted by a pod of playful dolphins. they delibrately will try to outswim our boat and gave us a amazing performance of their speed. What a way to end a great day of diving.

The Lukim PNG Nau Expo 2006 was held at the Holiday Inn on the 16th - 17th June . We were at the Expo after the dive .

On arriving at the international terminal we changed dollars-kinas and then got our visas all within a few minutes. We then walked outside to go to the domestic terminal, there were hundreds of people there (all obviously very poor) unbeknown to us a new bishop had arrived on the same plane as us. We had no problems
On our return on the walk from domestic to international we stopped at a eatery and had a bite to eat and a drink, again no problems. But I had the very same problem as you in FRANCE with a porter, (it nearly came to blows)
The manager at Airways told me the fence & guards were more to stop employees stealing thing rather than stopping the unwanted getting in

 

[mich327]

I had the same experience as Cdiver2 - got my visa at the POM airport and was able to withdraw money from the exchange desk without a problem.

I didn't dive with John, but hung out with him one day when he was going to meet some surfers and had a great time - I will definitely dive with him when I go back someday!

 

[jason8612]

I'm planning to go either to CNS again or POM. Reading here and many other reviews, John seems to be very well known. I, though cannot find his site (seems it is down). Is he still around? I'm not sure how many days to go there for either, and I am on a tight budget. Hotel wise, I got many points (Crowne Plaza) in town. On the other hand, I can take a 3day/2night liveaboard with all equip 10 day dives, 2 night dives for about $600AUD in CNS. I'm only a open water diver, but after this trip I already planned to get up to EF/rescue

 

[almitywife]

many thanks for your trip report and pics!!

we hope to be in png in a year or so but thinking about Loloata

fyi, there is a new PNG fish ID book out if anyone is interested, http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/marine-life-ecosystems/220046-new-png-marine-life-book-lauched.html