Luko
Contributor
I wanted to give my feedback diving PNG Milne bay for one week end of March17.
I was looking this year for a nice dive trip march/april, as I am a frequent SEA diver especially Indonesia, I first considered going back to Raja Ampat which always delivers, but in the back of my head I had PNG and also one SB member I met in Bali advising me “you should go & dive Milne bay”
Nevertheless I contacted some operators from Raja Ampat when a spam coming from Philippines Airlines hit my mailbox : it said “promo fares ManiIa-Port Moresby”… I forgot how spam could be tasty… somehow a hush in my ear went “you should go & dive Milne bay”.
Of course I couldn’t afford (probably more on the mental aspect) two weeks in PNG as much as I had nothing to entice my non diving wife to a (east) papuan trip for two weeks, hence I started building up an itinerary including a final part in Hongkong and quickly made a business plan on how much a trip to R4 would cost vs. a trip to PNG. Since the difference was not that significant and the external “you should go & dive Milne bay” was still buzzing my ears, we decided to go forward with a new destination in our logbook.
I directly contacted Tawali resort on my own, as they were happy to have us on the beginning of the dive season we quickly settled on a weektime that was perfect with Philippines Airlines return flight schedule from/to Manila. Even better: as the regional flight HKG-Manila-HKG was considered as a feeder to the intercontinental leg to Port Moresby, I had the surprise that when booking online the return flight HKG Manila was also discounted.
As you understood this was my first trip to PNG, and although I lived 10 years in the south Pacific, was quite accustomed to Melanesian way of life and spoke pidgin, I was still a little worried about the first steps in PortMoresby considered as the utmost cutthroat city in the south Pacific.
Everything got better when papuan friendliness showed up once I had a little pidgin refresher with the friendly lady at the immigration desk.
We booked the ultra-expensive Airways hotel and got a promotion for upgrading to the executive wing/all day lounge pilfering and boozing from the hotel desk. When you know there are very few restaurants around, the unlimited access to the lounge is probably a good bet.
One thing I give 5 stars to the Airways is the exquisite view from the breakfast terrace, looking down on the tarmac and away to the jungle hills covered with morning mist under the sunrise light and a cool breeze. I am not even joking I rate it as #1 breakfast room in the world.
Morning at Airways hotel
After which we flew AirNiugini, booked from home, to Alotau where Tawali resort shuttle drove us for 1,5 hours + 20 minutes boat ride to the resort. This is where we met the resort manager and staff as well as Nozaki the japanese instructor who we would enjoy her company for the week along with the local guide and macro expert Albert.
Tawali Pier and dive boat
I didn’t know what to expect as some had told me Milne bay was much about muck, while a reliable feedback ensured me it was a good mix of muck and lots of coral reefs.
I was really eager to see by myself.
Next posts for the diving
I was looking this year for a nice dive trip march/april, as I am a frequent SEA diver especially Indonesia, I first considered going back to Raja Ampat which always delivers, but in the back of my head I had PNG and also one SB member I met in Bali advising me “you should go & dive Milne bay”
Nevertheless I contacted some operators from Raja Ampat when a spam coming from Philippines Airlines hit my mailbox : it said “promo fares ManiIa-Port Moresby”… I forgot how spam could be tasty… somehow a hush in my ear went “you should go & dive Milne bay”.
Of course I couldn’t afford (probably more on the mental aspect) two weeks in PNG as much as I had nothing to entice my non diving wife to a (east) papuan trip for two weeks, hence I started building up an itinerary including a final part in Hongkong and quickly made a business plan on how much a trip to R4 would cost vs. a trip to PNG. Since the difference was not that significant and the external “you should go & dive Milne bay” was still buzzing my ears, we decided to go forward with a new destination in our logbook.
I directly contacted Tawali resort on my own, as they were happy to have us on the beginning of the dive season we quickly settled on a weektime that was perfect with Philippines Airlines return flight schedule from/to Manila. Even better: as the regional flight HKG-Manila-HKG was considered as a feeder to the intercontinental leg to Port Moresby, I had the surprise that when booking online the return flight HKG Manila was also discounted.
As you understood this was my first trip to PNG, and although I lived 10 years in the south Pacific, was quite accustomed to Melanesian way of life and spoke pidgin, I was still a little worried about the first steps in PortMoresby considered as the utmost cutthroat city in the south Pacific.
Everything got better when papuan friendliness showed up once I had a little pidgin refresher with the friendly lady at the immigration desk.
We booked the ultra-expensive Airways hotel and got a promotion for upgrading to the executive wing/all day lounge pilfering and boozing from the hotel desk. When you know there are very few restaurants around, the unlimited access to the lounge is probably a good bet.
One thing I give 5 stars to the Airways is the exquisite view from the breakfast terrace, looking down on the tarmac and away to the jungle hills covered with morning mist under the sunrise light and a cool breeze. I am not even joking I rate it as #1 breakfast room in the world.
Morning at Airways hotel
After which we flew AirNiugini, booked from home, to Alotau where Tawali resort shuttle drove us for 1,5 hours + 20 minutes boat ride to the resort. This is where we met the resort manager and staff as well as Nozaki the japanese instructor who we would enjoy her company for the week along with the local guide and macro expert Albert.
Tawali Pier and dive boat
I didn’t know what to expect as some had told me Milne bay was much about muck, while a reliable feedback ensured me it was a good mix of muck and lots of coral reefs.
I was really eager to see by myself.
Next posts for the diving