Solomon Islands

EPIC awarded me a trip to the Solomons for winning that competition, and I wanted to get some insight on what to expect. When is the best time to go? Anyone want to go with me?

Anyone here been there?

I was there May 2001. Had a great time. The weather was good, a couple of rainy days out of 13, calm seas. How long is your trip? I would go for at least a couple of weeks on the boat. Somebody on the boat metioned that she won a 7 day trip and paid to upgrade it to our 13 day trip.

Eric,

From an aquarists point of view - many of the most colorful fish come from the Solomons. Cap clowns come from there as well. It is one of the most diverse reef environments and is a very undeveloped area and not as heavily fished as the Indonesian archipelago.

You are one lucky SOB!

Cheers

James

I've been told that a certificate will be mailed to me with details. We'll see. I've also heard that it's a pain in the butt to get to, and that they love to charge for excess baggage.

So for now, I know that I will be going. But that's about it.

I've been told that a certificate will be mailed to me with details.  We'll see.  I've also heard that it's a pain in the butt to get to, and that they love to charge for excess baggage.

 

So for now, I know that I will be going.  But that's about it.

The usual route is LAX -> Fiji -> Honiara. It's about 11 hrs to Fiji and another 4 or so to Honiara, I've done worst. You may have to stay in Fiji for a day or so depending on the connections. There are worst places to hung out for a day or two. They do charge for over weight luggage, but what's another $50 or so compare to the other expenses.

"Welcome to the real world Neo"

Excess baggage: This can exceed $30 per kilo, depending on airline! So on average thats around $900 each way for a professional diving photographer. Double that if your taking the pelikan full + your little box of cameras. They will now-a-days (due to security) weigh the hand luggage too.

Best thing to do is negociate with the airline before you buy a ticket.

Recent excess bill from Amsterdam - Birmingham UK on KLM (45 min flight) 1120 Euros -

:angryfire: Yes, I was!

Excess baggage: This can exceed $30 per kilo, depending on airline! So on average thats around $900 each way for a professional diving photographer. Double that if your taking the pelikan full + your little box of cameras. They will now-a-days (due to security) weigh the hand luggage too.

Ugh. That's incredible.

Let's see... my packed Storm case is probably around 30 kilos, and my dive bag/clothing bag is more than that.

Maybe I should shop around for a lighter BCD. It might pay for itself in several trips.

Congrats again on that EPIC win again Eric. That is a great prize. Maybe next year....

Still happy to be a finalist.

Hey Todd, I heard you won a box of doughnut holes!

Actually just the box no holes.

Maybe we can fix that losing streak in Indonesia?

Has anyone done any independent diving in the Solomons? i.e. not as a part of a package or liveaboard?

I am thinking of going there for 7 weeks or so.

Cost will obviously be a limiting factor. ANy ideas of what the diving costs out there? and how cheap is the accomodation?

Does this:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=...tnG=Search+News

... make travel to the Solomons inadvisable?

No, not at all. Just update your will and remember to add the line:

John Johnson gets all my camera equipment.

Wonder if they picked the destination after the news(bet they got a heckuva deal).

--John

"Welcome to the real world Neo"

 

[...]

 

Recent excess bill from Amsterdam - Birmingham UK on KLM (45 min flight) 1120 Euros -

 

:angryfire:  Yes, I was!

:ph34r: "Do you think, the air that you are breathing - is real?"

OK, let's skip that! Now to something completely different... I just

wanted to drop a recommendation, from our (Lars&mine) experience.

Sometimes (espescially in your cases I think) it's wise to pass by the

airports cargo department and ship your equipment directly to the

destinations airport. When Lars was in Singapore we had to this with

our pelciase and diving equipment, because I was using it in the Red

Sea several weeks before.

We only paid around 100 EUR for everything from BERLIN TXL to

SINGAPORE AIRPORT, including insurance etc. But you have to watch

out for the customs! Better get yourself a Carnais Certificate, which

is valid for one year. Here in Germany they charge you 60EUR for

this, but if you register your complete rig it might be worth it.