Walindi vs Uepi

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garycrano

Registered
Messages
47
Reaction score
22
Location
Bunbury western australia
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi
I am currently looking at going to Walindi or Uepi or RA. Hoping someone has been to both of these places and could tell me which they liked the best and for and against for each.
Thanks.
 
Hi
I am currently looking at going to Walindi or Uepi or RA. Hoping someone has been to both of these places and could tell me which they liked the best and for and against for each.
Thanks.
Other than contracting Dengue Fever in Walindi, and Impetigo in Raja Ampat, diving on the abundant marine/invertebrate life beforehand was wonderful, and (almost) worth suffering the two maladies to see it all. . .

Just bring plenty of bug repellant and a spare mozzie net for bed; and Doxycycline as a general antibiotic & anti-malarial (although be aware of its photo-sensitivity side effects and use a lot of sunscreen with it).
 
I've done both - but almost ten years ago. Uepi is worth the trip. It's hard to quantify as I was on one long long private boat trip from PNG to Solomons but I do remember perking up again at Uepi after being almost dived out. Recent reports from my LDS guy have Uepi getting big wraps at the moment. Sorry can't help more,
 
Other than contracting Dengue Fever in Walindi, and Impetigo in Raja Ampat, diving on the abundant marine/invertebrate life beforehand was wonderful, and (almost) worth suffering the two maladies to see it all. . .

Just bring plenty of bug repellant and a spare mozzie net for bed; and Doxycycline as a general antibiotic & anti-malarial (although be aware of its photo-sensitivity side effects and use a lot of sunscreen with it).

Oh my, what a dismal view of PNG and eastern Indonesia. I have worked in PNG and eastern Indonesia for much of my career with numerous colleagues and graduate students and have yet to suffer such maladies.
 
I have been to Raja Ampat, Waldini & Munda/Gizo/Bilikiki (close to uepi).

RA- Has it all , very fishy, great reefs , mantas, good macro. Dive facilities/travel time to dive sites were good.
Waldini - Has amazing reefs , nice visibility. One plane wreck. did not see any large marine life.Dive facilities/travel time to dive sites were good.
Uepi- Never been but have dived around that area. Solomons has it all , amazing reefs, wrecks , sharks/rays/crocs , decent macro.

I would go Uepi then Raja then Waldini.
 
I dived Walindi in October 2014... from Australia the flights are very easy Melbourne-Cairns-Moresby-Kimbe and do-able in a single (but long) day.

Great viz, pristine healthy reefs with staggeringly large fan corals, big schools of barracuda, Zero fighter, dolphins etc. Some dive sites involve a longish boat trip across the bay but not a deal-breaker.

Well organised resort, comfortable with immaculately groomed grounds, great buffet food... malaria/dengue can be an issue partly because the resort is sited right on top of a wetlands. And while it's pleasant to fall off to sleep with a frog-call orchestra in the background it is important to take sensible precautions. I was OK, but the plant manager mentioned he had suffered a few bouts over the years.

What I really loved about PNG's New Britain was the sense that you are truly remote, at a volcano-silhouetted 'end of the earth' away from the teeming population density and ever-present marine pollution that plagues Indonesia.

Walindi FeBrina - Walindi Plantation Resort

Walindi 30m viz.jpg Walindi baracuda school.jpg Walindi baracuda.jpg Walindi rain.jpg Walindi Trigger Fish.jpg Walindi volcanoes.jpg Walindi Zero fighter.jpg Crashed B-25 bomber PNG.jpg
 
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Thanks for the replies. My wife is a regular blood donor and the red cross blood people said she would not be able to donate for a long time if we went there as there is a strain of malaria there they cannot test for.
All is not lost as we just booked Papua Explorers in RA at the end of january.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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