I am sure some here have been on the Bilikiki. This is a great humanitarian story!

Agree, fantastic news and a great humanitarian story. I haven't been on the Bilikiki, but I backpacked through the Solomon Islands in 1992 and did some diving there as well. It was very basic, and I traveled between the islands on local supply boats. Most remote islands had no jetty, so the supply boat just stopped near the beach in front of the villages and the passengers and most of supply entered/left the boat by local wooden canoes. Barrels with fuel -mostly used for oil lamps- were thrown overboard, and the locals rolled the barrels to the shore while swimming. Very limited medical support at that time only at the so called "provincial capitals". Nothing on the remote islands, and most of the locals had no opportunities to travel. Imagine the supply situation and medical care in the remote areas still remain very limited. I think the idea being implemented here is brilliant and worthy of support.

Markus

You’ve described it perfectly. I’ve lived there (twice), first in 1987, and still frequently travel around the country for work. Many people are beyond remote and might not see modern health care in their lifetime. This is a magnificent example that other liveaboards in those remote destinations we all love could learn from.

I’d love to visit the Solomon Islands again, but it’s a very remote destination for Germans. Getting there from Germany involves a lot of effort, time, and money. However, my wife and I are planning a trip to the region for next year. We’re getting on in years, and before it becomes too late for diving, we’re currently thinking about a combined diving trip across the Pacific/South Seas area, perhaps French Polynesia, Fiji, Tonga, and Australia ...... all in one go. We’d include the Solomon Islands too, if possible. We’ll see; planning has only just begun. We first need to figure out where to base ourselves in the region to ensure the best access to the various locations.

Best regards, Markus

I can recommend Fiji for sure (watch for my trip report soon). Tonga, the Solomons, PNG are easy from Fiji. There is no longer a flight to French Polynesia, you’d have to go back to Australia or New Zealand.

17 hours ago, Muellema said:

I’d love to visit the Solomon Islands again, but it’s a very remote destination for Germans. Getting there from Germany involves a lot of effort, time, and money. However, my wife and I are planning a trip to the region for next year. We’re getting on in years, and before it becomes too late for diving, we’re currently thinking about a combined diving trip across the Pacific/South Seas area, perhaps French Polynesia, Fiji, Tonga, and Australia ...... all in one go. We’d include the Solomon Islands too, if possible. We’ll see; planning has only just begun. We first need to figure out where to base ourselves in the region to ensure the best access to the various locations.

Best regards, Markus

Some great diving in PNG - Walindi resort on New Britian island has excellent diving on seamounts.

20 minutes ago, Chris Ross said:

Some great diving in PNG - Walindi resort on New Britian island has excellent diving on seamounts.

Hi,

maybe Papua again, too. We dived Milne Bay with Mike Ball’s Liveaboard Paradise Sport back in the early 2000s. I completely agree—superb diving in papua.

If you want to dive all good spots in the south pacific area and you have no home base there, it is quite difficult to plan the route without paying a hell of money for flights (f.e. excess luggage charge for our diving equipment & FF photo rig.... are pretty hefty these days). If we do this extended trip we want to take most of our equipment incl. some spare (2. body, spare flashes, 2,. dome....) with us. We are thinking about to find a base in one country were we can store some stuff. So we take only things with us we really need for each destination.

10 hours ago, Troporobo said:

I can recommend Fiji for sure (watch for my trip report soon). Tonga, the Solomons, PNG are easy from Fiji. There is no longer a flight to French Polynesia, you’d have to go back to Australia or New Zealand.

Sounds good. Thought Australia is the best base for the trip. But if we get direct flight from Fiji to most destinations we will check this option.

14 hours ago, Muellema said:

We are thinking about to find a base in one country were we can store some stuff. So we take only things with us we really need for each destination.

You can get to most dive destinations in the South Pacific with a direct flight (or one stop in the Solomons for PNG) from Fiji. There are many options for affordable longer-term rentals around Nadi, often listed on AirBNB. There isn’t a local listing site here, but if you booked a week or two for a start you’d have the ability to look around and find a place that suits your taste and budget.

On 8/6/2026 at 5:34 AM, Muellema said:

Hi,

maybe Papua again, too. We dived Milne Bay with Mike Ball’s Liveaboard Paradise Sport back in the early 2000s. I completely agree—superb diving in papua.

If you want to dive all good spots in the south pacific area and you have no home base there, it is quite difficult to plan the route without paying a hell of money for flights (f.e. excess luggage charge for our diving equipment & FF photo rig.... are pretty hefty these days). If we do this extended trip we want to take most of our equipment incl. some spare (2. body, spare flashes, 2,. dome....) with us. We are thinking about to find a base in one country were we can store some stuff. So we take only things with us we really need for each destination.

Sounds good. Thought Australia is the best base for the trip. But if we get direct flight from Fiji to most destinations we will check this option.

I would also suggest reviewing airlines baggage policies - Air Niugini I believe offers 15kg excess baggage for divers if you fly into PNG with them. You can fly Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong - POM with them. Not the most reliable service unfortunately but they will get you there I have been advised by people who have dived there a lot.. They also fly POM-NAD direct every other day, so you could fly into POM via SIN/HKG/NAR and then head on to Fiji. It's pretty easy access for me to POM from Sydney, but not the way you want to do it if arriving from Europe. Alternatives to Air Niugini heading south are basically just Qantas who flies into Brisbane and Sydney. You could always do some temperate water diving in Sydney as well.

On 8/5/2026 at 5:21 AM, Troporobo said:

You’ve described it perfectly. I’ve lived there (twice), first in 1987, and still frequently travel around the country for work. Many people are beyond remote and might not see modern health care in their lifetime. This is a magnificent example that other liveaboards in those remote destinations we all love could learn from.

When I eventually "retire" I plan to set up a small not-for-profit in the south east of Mindanao that will oeprate a small diving resort that has access to good shore diving, the profits from which will be used to help build emergency response capability and disaster resiliance in the area - there is virtually nothing of either there at the moment. A whole series of coastal communities where the nearest fire truck has a three hour response time to get there says "opportunity for improvement", and given the frequent floods, landslides and earthquakes I'm thinking that something like a skidsteer loader etc would be a useful addition for the communities, as would a stock of sandbags etc.