Question Solomons, PNG, Vanuatu...?

[NYCcowgirl]

Hi there, divers! My head is officially spinning and I am hoping some of you can provide some guidance. Very overwhelmed with too many choices & too much info at the moment!
I will be taking a trip on the Bilikiki Solomons liveaboard in Sept 2025. With the expense & time involved in reaching that part of the world, I would like to take advantage of my time there to see some more of the region. All the Pacific islands have been on my wish list for ages, but PNG is especially high on my list. I've been reading bits & pieces for the last two weeks or so and I feel like I'm more confused than when I started lol.
I would like to add on a land based stay with diving and some cultural exploration, either before or after the Bilikiki (depending on logistics). Coming from east coast US, it seems based on 2024 pricing that the most direct and economical routing will be NY-SFO-Nadi-Honiara.
Struggling because most friends who have had occasion to visit this part of the world & who might advise me have mostly traveled not so recently, and much of the info on the web is similarly dated. Also I am far from independently wealthy, & I am trying to keep costs under a zillion dollars - not so easy in that part of the world.

My biggest question is where to add on - elsewhere in the Solomons, somewhere in PNG, or possibly Vanuatu??
-I understand that PNG can be a nightmare re travel logistics
-Tufi resort is on my short list but don't love that there is no beach
-Recent online forum posts suggest diving elsewhere in Solomons may be limited / impossible, but I am over a year out, so????
-I'm a little concerned I may be disappointed by the diving in Vanuatu

A little background - I've spent a fair bit of time diving in SE Asia (so I'm kind of spoiled!), enjoy macro photography (just moved up to my first camera w a strobe), good w air consumption, have 1000+ dives, don't love strong current / fast drift dives, not overly interested in wrecks aside from the life on/around them.
Hoping to see some larger life ie sharks, mantas, big schools as I don't have as much experience w lots of big big stuff, but I have done Lembeh twice & I love the small weird muck, too. Really excited by the off the beaten path / unexplored aspect of things. One of the worst dives I have done was in the Red Sea w 16 boats at the same mooring & traffic jams of groups underwater. Yuck. Hoping to see something "special" if that makes sense.

Sorry for the novel & thanks in advance for your advice & suggestions!

 

[bmag78]

Hi there, divers! My head is officially spinning and I am hoping some of you can provide some guidance. Very overwhelmed with too many choices & too much info at the moment!
I will be taking a trip on the Bilikiki Solomons liveaboard in Sept 2025. With the expense & time involved in reaching that part of the world, I would like to take advantage of my time there to see some more of the region. All the Pacific islands have been on my wish list for ages, but PNG is especially high on my list. I've been reading bits & pieces for the last two weeks or so and I feel like I'm more confused than when I started lol.
I would like to add on a land based stay with diving and some cultural exploration, either before or after the Bilikiki (depending on logistics). Coming from east coast US, it seems based on 2024 pricing that the most direct and economical routing will be NY-SFO-Nadi-Honiara.
Struggling because most friends who have had occasion to visit this part of the world & who might advise me have mostly traveled not so recently, and much of the info on the web is similarly dated. Also I am far from independently wealthy, & I am trying to keep costs under a zillion dollars - not so easy in that part of the world.

My biggest question is where to add on - elsewhere in the Solomons, somewhere in PNG, or possibly Vanuatu??
-I understand that PNG can be a nightmare re travel logistics
-Tufi resort is on my short list but don't love that there is no beach
-Recent online forum posts suggest diving elsewhere in Solomons may be limited / impossible, but I am over a year out, so????
-I'm a little concerned I may be disappointed by the diving in Vanuatu

A little background - I've spent a fair bit of time diving in SE Asia (so I'm kind of spoiled!), enjoy macro photography (just moved up to my first camera w a strobe), good w air consumption, have 1000+ dives, don't love strong current / fast drift dives, not overly interested in wrecks aside from the life on/around them.
Hoping to see some larger life ie sharks, mantas, big schools as I don't have as much experience w lots of big big stuff, but I have done Lembeh twice & I love the small weird muck, too. Really excited by the off the beaten path / unexplored aspect of things. One of the worst dives I have done was in the Red Sea w 16 boats at the same mooring & traffic jams of groups underwater. Yuck. Hoping to see something "special" if that makes sense.

Sorry for the novel & thanks in advance for your advice & suggestions!

Have a look at Wallindi Plantation resort in PNG. Ticks all your boxes.
Kimbe Bay is stunning diving and lots of History and local color. Easy to get to from Moresby also

 

[cetacean]

@NYCcowgirl

The Bilikiki will be awesome - I'm going back for our third time in a month or so. It's a big boat, very stable, however a bit slow... rooms are small, food is good, diving is outstanding. Really nice mix of big schools of fish (and mantas) and macro sites.

Having dived Solomons, Fiji, and PNG (as well as Vanuatu), I would recommend transiting in Australia, not Fiji (unless you are committed to diving Fiji). The transit from Brisbane to Honiara is just about the same flight time, but you have 2 choices a/day (they fly 3 days a week) flying through Brisbane. If you want to dive PNG much easier to transit in Australia as well.

If you are set on diving Fiji, then transit through there. We prefer Australia given the connections, and the opportunity to stayover a night in "civilization" on the way in or out.

Last - you mention you've dived SE Asia a bit - on a good day the Solomons will rival the best either in Komodo or Raja Ampat... not quite the diversity, but just as much fish life, and better vis. You also won't see another boat the entire time you're diving on the Bilikiki.

PNG is great - it was ever better~20 years ago. The sharks are gone, and many of the large schools of fish are now smaller in number... the macro is still worth it though.

 

[rmorgan]

We share your interest in Tufi. I rely for all things PNG on Don Silcock’s amazing website, indopacificimages.com, and he suggest that the later in September, the better for getting out in to the ocean, rather than the fjords. But the fact that Port Moresby is a nonstop fright from Honiara makes it awfully tempting. I agree with bmag78 that Walindi is excellent, but there is limited macro (more from the Kimbe liveaboards, however). Since Tufi’s on your short list, it’s one 2-hr flight from the Solomons, and you’re well-experienced, it sounds to me like a great trip.

 

[NYCcowgirl]

>Having dived Solomons, Fiji, and PNG (as well as Vanuatu),
Which would you say is the best diving now? Have you been diving anywhere in the Solomons other than Bilikiki? I am so excited for no other dive boats

As far as transit, I am not married to Fiji whatsoever, but the fares I have been seeing from California are significantly lower to Nadi than those to Brisbane, and it seems that NAN / BNE to Honiara are pretty comparable. Trying to stretch my budget, you know? I was also considering a couple of days in Fiji on the way back to break up the trip, and there are quite a few options where I can use hotel points.

 

[NYCcowgirl]

We share your interest in Tufi. I rely for all things PNG on Don Silcock’s amazing website, indopacificimages.com, and he suggest that the later in September, the better for getting out in to the ocean, rather than the fjords. But the fact that Port Moresby is a nonstop fright from Honiara makes it awfully tempting. I agree with bmag78 that Walindi is excellent, but there is limited macro (more from the Kimbe liveaboards, however). Since Tufi’s on your short list, it’s one 2-hr flight from the Solomons, and you’re well-experienced, it sounds to me like a great trip.

The info about timing in September is a great tip, thank you very much for that! Yeah that was a big factor in looking at options; Vanuatu & Port Moresby are both direct from Honiara, so that is why they were at the top of the list.

I looked at something on Indopacific but I will have a good read through later in the week when I have some more free time.

If you end up heading to Tufi next September, please give me a shout!

 

[cetacean]

>Having dived Solomons, Fiji, and PNG (as well as Vanuatu),
Which would you say is the best diving now? Have you been diving anywhere in the Solomons other than Bilikiki? I am so excited for no other dive boats

As far as transit, I am not married to Fiji whatsoever, but the fares I have been seeing from California are significantly lower to Nadi than those to Brisbane, and it seems that NAN / BNE to Honiara are pretty comparable. Trying to stretch my budget, you know? I was also considering a couple of days in Fiji on the way back to break up the trip, and there are quite a few options where I can use hotel points.

If you're seeing better fares through Fiji then that definitely works... it's about a wash transiting through Australia and Fiji - so definitely your choice.

We've spent a couple of weeks at Uepi Island Resort (in the Morovo Lagoon). This sits in likely the most unique part of the Solomons, and an area the Bilikiki rarely gets to. The diving is very good, with Uepi Point being right off the resort, with probably the best shark dive in all of the Solomons... (when we were there a few guests only did this dive, 2x/day - very sharky, with the occasional hammerhead, silvertips, grey reefies, etc.). It's fairly remote - run by an Australian family - very friendly, you end being treated likely family, not a guest, which has both positives and negatives (depending on what you're looking for).

As mentioned above, Tufi in PNG can be excellent diving, but you have to get out of the fjords. Inside the visibility is "low" and there is good macro, but outside the entrance tothe fjords (on the outer reef) the diving is excellent. We've booked Tufi three time and ended up canceling twice because the weather was variable enough we were going to get stuck "inside" and not be able to dive the outer reefs... (we learned this when we met the GM years ago at a dive show - he mentioned we would be disappointed with more than a day or two of diving "inside."

One last comment; Air New Guinea is notorious for both delaying and canceling flights. This happens most often on their domestic routes, so just plan for needing an extra day to get in and out of your destination. Not much you can do, except go with it.

 

[NYCcowgirl]

If you're seeing better fares through Fiji then that definitely works... it's about a wash transiting through Australia and Fiji - so definitely your choice.

We've spent a couple of weeks at Uepi Island Resort (in the Morovo Lagoon). This sits in likely the most unique part of the Solomons, and an area the Bilikiki rarely gets to. The diving is very good, with Uepi Point being right off the resort, with probably the best shark dive in all of the Solomons... (when we were there a few guests only did this dive, 2x/day - very sharky, with the occasional hammerhead, silvertips, grey reefies, etc.). It's fairly remote - run by an Australian family - very friendly, you end being treated likely family, not a guest, which has both positives and negatives (depending on what you're looking for).

As mentioned above, Tufi in PNG can be excellent diving, but you have to get out of the fjords. Inside the visibility is "low" and there is good macro, but outside the entrance tothe fjords (on the outer reef) the diving is excellent. We've booked Tufi three time and ended up canceling twice because the weather was variable enough we were going to get stuck "inside" and not be able to dive the outer reefs... (we learned this when we met the GM years ago at a dive show - he mentioned we would be disappointed with more than a day or two of diving "inside."

One last comment; Air New Guinea is notorious for both delaying and canceling flights. This happens most often on their domestic routes, so just plan for needing an extra day to get in and out of your destination. Not much you can do, except go with it.

Oh yeah I read allll kinds of travel horror stories about flights in PNG. Fun times lol. I am prepared for chaos, so I feel like if I know what to expect, I'll survive.

Good info about Tufi, thank you. I will try to get in touch with them and see how things are going as far as weather this September. I'm also going to reach out to some dive travel folks to see if any good DEMA specials pop up in November for Tufi, Walindi, et al.

I looked at Uepi - that was one of the first ones I wanted to check out, actually - but YIKES. They just remodeled & their rates are insane (IMHO). They're more than the all inclusive packages at the dive resorts per night, and that's without any diving included.
Also FWIW, according to Bilikiki's website, they do visit Marovo Lagoon on 9 night or longer trips, so I should get to see that area. It definitely sounds like a highlight.

So I take it no one has any big love for diving Vanuatu? Looks like shoot for PNG despite all the logistical BS?

 

[cetacean]

Oh yeah I read allll kinds of travel horror stories about flights in PNG. Fun times lol. I am prepared for chaos, so I feel like if I know what to expect, I'll survive.

Good info about Tufi, thank you. I will try to get in touch with them and see how things are going as far as weather this September. I'm also going to reach out to some dive travel folks to see if any good DEMA specials pop up in November for Tufi, Walindi, et al.

I looked at Uepi - that was one of the first ones I wanted to check out, actually - but YIKES. They just remodeled & their rates are insane (IMHO). They're more than the all inclusive packages at the dive resorts per night, and that's without any diving included.
Also FWIW, according to Bilikiki's website, they do visit Marovo Lagoon on 9 night or longer trips, so I should get to see that area. It definitely sounds like a highlight.

So I take it no one has any big love for diving Vanuatu? Looks like shoot for PNG despite all the logistical BS?

I had forgotten Uepi has completely remade all their huts (now villas). Still some of the very best diving in the South Pacific.

The Bilikiki does get to the Morovo Lagoon on occasion (they say they do on their longer trips - depends where in the lagoon). Uepi sits in a unique spot - not many other divers ever get there.

 

[NYCcowgirl]

I had forgotten Uepi has completely remade all their huts (now villas). Still some of the very best diving in the South Pacific.

The Bilikiki does get to the Morovo Lagoon on occasion (they say they do on their longer trips - depends where in the lagoon). Uepi sits in a unique spot - not many other divers ever get there.

Good to know - I will watch to see if they happen to run any good discounts. It sounds like a great spot.