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The major dive sites of Papua New Guinea include Kavieng, Kimbe, Lae, Lorengau, Milne Bay, Port Moresby and the sublime Wuvulu Island. |
Kimbe Bay, located on the northern side of West New Britain is a volcanically rich area and here you can find the miniature pygmy seahorse while the orcas (killer whales) swim near by. In the bay you can play with a pod of dolphin or watch as sailfish are rounded up by the whales. The smell of sulphur lingers in the air and the volcanoes make a perfect backdrop for those purple hues of morning.
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Reefs lined with bright coloured sea whips, huge fans, giant sponges and masses of fusiliers are a photographer's dream. Further out in the middle of the bay is Kimbe Island where large schools of barracuda and jacks take residence and sharks lurk in the distance. |
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The top of this bommie is in 27m and is always dived as a first dive, usually in fairly calm conditions as the current here can get quite strong.
Susan's Reef is home to the world's friendliest pair of banner fish, George and Mildred. The reef ecosystem is a combination of schools of batfish, razor fish in sea whips and plates of hare corals. Below the stunning Restorf Island, where the rainforest grows over the edge, huge gorgonians, sponges and soft corals grow on a patch of reef which extends out from the island and drops into the depths below. At certain times of the yearr, territorial titon triggerfish guard their nests. Blue ribbon eels hide in a rocky outcrop and lots of sergeant majors wait for tit-bits under the boat.
For diving on wrecks, Rabaul, in East New Britain, is the place to go. One of my favourite wrecks is 'Pete', a Mitsubishi biplane used for observation which was sunk at its mooring. 'Pete' lies in 30m of beautiful blue water and is now encrusted with lovely soft corals and sponges. Two tanks have been sunk side by side in just five metres of water in Makada Harbour, Duke of York Islands, 20 nautical miles from Rabaul.
One of the best places to encounter unusual small animals is in Milne Bay, which lies between the Coral Sea and the Solomon Sea and is an intricate chain of pristine volcanic peaks, reefs and islands. Here 'Muck' diving is conducted, which is generally done in shallow water on what appears to be a barren sandy bottom where the visibility is often very limited. There are bigger marine creatures like pelagics, hammerheads, tiger sharks, whales, mantarays and even the occasional dugong found in this bay.
At Observation Point, located on the western side of Normanby Island, sightings of sand darters, cuttlefish, razor fish, ghost pipefish, dwarf lionfish, inimicus scorpion fish and frogfish are common.
Another popular dive is Dinah's Beach, which has similar creatures with blue ribbon eels, mantis shrimps, juvenile angelfish, five species of lionfish, varieties of octopi and many anemones. Sites like sullivan's Patches and Banana Bommie with thousands of fusiliers are picturesque. At Cobb's Reef/Cliff all the action happens while you hang onto the reef at 20 metres. You many wish to search for the leaf scorpion or lacy scorpion fish.
Milne bay can be accessed by charter boats like Telita, Paradise Sport and Chertan. A live-aboard boat, Febrina, is the perfect choice to access reefs further out than Kimbe Bay, Father's Reef and Bali Witu Islands.
