Solomon Island Shots

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alijtaylor

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Location
Wellington NZ
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In response to one of my admiring comments on his photgraphic work Gilligan commented that living in the Solomon Islands must give me access to some of the best diving left on the planet. I believe it does but I've never felt my photos could do it justice. In the hope that I might inspire others to consider diving this part of the world (water temp 29C and viz generally 25m+) I thought I'd post a few.

The Solomon's are a couple of hour's flying east of Brisbane Australia (connections most days of the week) or alternatively a couple of hours north of Fiji. The battles of Guadacanal were fought here in WW2 and less than an hour from the capital Horiara there are several wrecks including a full sized submarine, diveable from the shore. These photos were all taken on shore dives around Honiara.

This is the Kinugawa Maru shelled to the bottom while unloading troops.



This cuttlefish was at the same site
C2_3_sm.jpg


As the wrecks have been down over 65 years the encrusting coral is pretty good.


The wreck of the Hirokawa Maru is a favourite hangout for Little Blue Spotted rays
blue_spotted_ray3.jpg


And finally what looks to me like an unexploded torpedo on the Japanese Submarine 1-23
torpedo.jpg



Alison
 
I'm jealous.

Thanks for posting. Nice photos. The WWII wrecks in the area have to be a magnet for diving. I'm under the impression a liveaboard is the best way to do the Solomons? Yes or no?

Is there still a lot of unrest in Horiara with Australian troops stationed there to keep the peace?
 
There are a couple of good liveaboards that do 7, 12 and 14 day trips which have a range of diving. But it depends what you are into.

Folk seriously into wrecks are better off with Dive Tulagi or based in Honiara and diving with one of the local shops. There is a good description of the wrecks here and here.

For those that want a resort holiday Uepi is hard to beat, although there are other options, some of them unbelievably inexpensive but 'island style' rustic.

Civil unrest is no longer an issue. There is still a South Pacific (albeit Aussie dominated) Police support contingent here but apart from a bit of a fuss after a soccer match a few weeks ago it is very quiet. And soccer hooliganism is hardly unique to the Solomons.. And if you are concerned you can fly in - hop straight onto a liveaboard and leave the same way. Doing that misses the point in my view but it is possible.

If anyone would like more info post a question or PM me.

Alison
 
Hi Alison

Thanks for posting some of your photos. It was great to meet you for coffee in Honiara a couple of weeks ago.

I'm jealous of your access to such great diving each week.

Of course, I spent little time in Honiara, but I would not be concerned about traveling there. Hope to get back in the not to distant future!

Happy diving!
 
Thanks for the Solomons info & nice photos.
I nearly went last year but went to Fiji & Vanuatu instead.
Hopefully i will get there next year.
I really wanted to do Gizo,Uepi & Hon . However Uepi is very exp. I would really like to hear about the cheaper options. Gizo seems to be very reasonablly priced.
Is Hon expensive, i.e hotels?
 
Hotels in Honiara are expensive for what you get. The inexpensive options are at the like of Maravagi resort or the accommodation that Dive Tulagi use (see the link included above). Maravagi doesn't have a dive shop but trips there can be arranged with one of the Honiara shops.

These are not upmarket options - no air conditioning and no hot showers but the fans are effective and the water in the shower is warm in mid afternoon and in 30C temps you don't want a hot shower. With views like this from your cottage I was pretty happy.


I had a few days at Gizo last year but enjoyed the diving in the Morova Lagoon more. My trip report from a holiday that covered Gizo, Uepi and Bilikiki liveaboard is here

Alison
 
Hi Alison,
I can't say enough good things about the divingin the Solomons. I've had 3 trips so far (2 to Gizo and 1 to Honiara) and all were superb diving locations.
The trips to Gizo were inexpesive and the accomodation was excelent with A/C in our room and great service from the dive operators. When I was there about 5 years ago there was only two operators in Gizo but they both ran good operations. The Gizo Hotel is on the waterfront and the dive boats pick you up from the hotel wharf. Try a picnic and snorkeling day on Kennedy Island for a break from thr grind of diving in gin clear warm water!
Honiara was mainly shore based diving and we were mainly there for the wrecks which were fantastic. Try the three Boneige wrecks for a great dive site.
Do you know how Gizo is doing after the Tsunami and if it hurt the dive sites at all?
 
Hi Alison,
Honiara was mainly shore based diving and we were mainly there for the wrecks which were fantastic. Try the three Boneige wrecks for a great dive site.
Do you know how Gizo is doing after the Tsunami and if it hurt the dive sites at all?

I have just come back from another Boengi 1 shore dive excursion - the cuttlefish was there again today and in fine display.

I had not dived Gizo pre-Tsunami but I understand it damanged some sites while leaving others unscathed - like Grand Central and Naru wall and the wrecks - this is my favourite Gizo shot.

Freediver_in_Hellcat.jpg


The service from Dive Gizo was excellent - most days it was a BBQ on the beach of some uninhabited island as a surface interval.

Alison
 
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