Best Places to Dive in PNG?

Hey Everyone,

I will be in PNG for a week in mid-May. I would love it if some people could give me suggestions for the best place to camp for a week and dive. I've heard of the Vitu Islands as a great place and am starting my research there. But if there are some better places - please let me know!

Thanks so much!

Will you have your own boat and other diving equipment? From what I remember Vitu/Witu doesn't have any dive ops on the islands.

There are land based resorts around the main dive areas.

For land based, Port Moresby is underrated as a dive destination. It has awesome WWII wrecks and the sea mounts have good life. Nothing in terms of pelagics though. I like doing it from Port Moresby (staying either at the Crown or Airways (depending on my air travel schedule)). I used the Dive Center run by John Miller and his wife. They are fun people and the best part is they left me alone to shoot. They were very helpful with getting the logistics to get the shot. The boat is slow and noisy though.

POM is known for the crime but there was only one attempt of robbery on me in Mt Hagen. An alternative to staying in POM is Loloata, an island resort just off POM. I've stayed there a couple of times but preferred staying in the city.

There are resorts like Tawali which is in Milne Bay and has some very nice diving and probably my favorite macro area in PNG. Tufi is also very nice. Madang I thought wasn't as good as Tufi but it was different. Then there's Kavieng, which has more pelagics but the dive sites are far from the resorts. Same for Kimbe Bay's Walindi resort.

If it were my first time in PNG, I'd do Milne Bay for land based. Prolific life and variety and the dive sites aren't that far apart unless you want to hit the pelagic sites.

I dove Milne Bay in 2007 and stayed at Tawali Resort.

Very good diving in Milne Bay, and if you like muck-N-macro you will really like the dive site Luaudi.

Although I had a good experience at Tawali in 2007, I just read a recent report in UnderCurrent that management has changed multiple times recently and that it shows....

If I were to dive Milne Bay again, I would most certainly do it via liveaboard because some of the best dive sites are about 60 minutes away from Tawali.

Sadly, you would have to be on a liveaboard to dive the Witus. Garove Island has no amenities. Dickie Doyle runs the copra/cocoa plantation there and is very friendly. The diving is great, but no way to fill tanks.

Three decent land based operations:

Loloatau out of Moresby.

Tawali out of Alotau.

Walindi on Kaviang (?)

Walindi is on New Britain Island.....excellent diving

Kaviang is on New Ireland Island....also good diving.

Tufi is also an option that has not yet been mentioned. Really, you can't go wrong wherever you choose to dive in PNG.

I dove in Tawali , Walindi and off FeBrina on the Kimbe Bay - Fathers Reef - Rabaul stretch as well as around Port Moresby (Dive Center or Loloata). All of the sites were beyond spectacular. But if I had to choose just ONE place to dive for the rest of my life if would be Milne Bay, hands down. It is hard to even comprehend the concentration of weird and wonderful and unusual critter life sites like Lawadi packs per square inch, I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else. Also, the sites around Port Moresby where quite a surprise (Pumpkin Patch being my favorite for Rhinopias and Pygmy seahorses) , I could have not imagined that such splendid diving could be found so close to the city.

Hey Everyone,

I will be in PNG for a week in mid-May. I would love it if some people could give me suggestions for the best place to camp for a week and dive. I've heard of the Vitu Islands as a great place and am starting my research there. But if there are some better places - please let me know!

 

Thanks so much!

Gday Slashmagurk!

So, where did you end up and how was it??

We are in the middle of organizing a trip next May, so would love to hear how it went for you... Right now we are looking at going on the Dancer in Milne bay or on Febrina out of Kimbe.... but we are first timers in PNG, so would like some insight....

Cheers mate

Gday Slashmagurk!

 

So, where did you end up and how was it??

 

We are in the middle of organizing a trip next May, so would love to hear how it went for you... Right now we are looking at going on the Dancer in Milne bay or on Febrina out of Kimbe.... but we are first timers in PNG, so would like some insight....

 

Cheers mate

Hey Mclovin,

Actually, I didn't dive in PNG. I was thinking about it, but it would have been another visa I would have gotten. I did dive in Taiwan, Komodo, Lembeh, Bunaken and Palau though... so I think I made up for it! Ha.

You can read about my dives and see the galleries here if you are interested

Click here

G'day Slash,

YES. You certainly did make up for it! Sounds like you had a blast along the way. I was lucky enough to work on a liveaboard in Palau for a few months, it is a great place eh. Did you get down to Pelelui?

Taiwan really interests me, how was it topside? And how did you rate the diving?

I checked out your pics, nice work mate! I actually have a 7d also... and I am hoping to have a housing for it b4 we head off to PNG next year, so if you have any tips regarding your set up, I will be happy to hear... I actually have been filming underwater for a few years, but have been bitten by the DSLR bug this past year! So much fun... I actually made a couple of short films about Palau, I should post them sometime...

Regarding PNG, we opted for the Febrina and the itinery is their cream of the crop 12 day extended tour... it takes in Kimbe Bay, Fathers and Witu islands along with New Hanover and Kavieng... we are in for a treat!!