Tufi or Kavieng?

I have an opportunity to visit PNG in late November and I'm looking forward to some great diving. I need advice on where to go.

Relevant experience and expections
I have been to Raja Ampat (the northwestern corner of Indonesian Papua), so I'm assuming that the diving in PNG will be somewhat similar. (pristine coral, pygmy sea horses, harlequin ghost pipefish, wobbegongs etc... + more sharks) and just masses of fish everywhere.

Budget
My budget for flights allow me to choose either Kavieng or Tufi (or any other place in PNG for that matter), but my budget for diving and accommodation is a bit more limited. I will be by myself and can manage with budget accommodations fan room, shared facilities etc. This is the main reason that I am not looking at liveaboard options at this point.

Other considerations
I have never seen a hammerhead shark and would very much like to see one. The Tufi resort website makes references to hammerheads. I would like to get an objective opinion on the likelihood of spotting a hammerhead in either locales.
I also love the muck stuff and would love to see some more cool critters.
I've heard of the WWII wrecks around Tufi as well - I'm not big on wrecks, but I do appreciate a good one every now and then.

Weather/Season/Moon Phase
My visit will probably take place during the last week of November - starting a day or two after the full moon, so hopefully I should be able to catch some good currents.



I'm leaning towards Tufi, but I suspect that it will cost me too much more over Kavieng and I am not convinced that it would be that much better.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks!

I have spent a fair amount of time in Tufi and I can honestly say that I love it! The diving is superb and there is a massive diversity of sites. The staff are awesome too! You will not be disappointed Nov is a great time too.

I have seen hammers there on a semi regular basis at Cyclone Reef not schooling but in ones and too's.

Blackjack is pretty cool too.

I have been to Tufi once and kavieng many times. The diving in Kavieng IMHO is much better! The reefs at Tufi are quite a long way off shore and are basically coral bommies and large reefs in the semi open ocean. You also have the Fiords to do some much diving in and some nice pretty reefs. kavieng has all types of diving from walls, to muck to pretty reefs and some amazing dives in the channels at places like Alabtross channel, Eagle ray pass, all the sites in the Stefan strait and Planet chanell which is worth the trip for one dive in the right conditions.

After being at kavieng a group of us were disapointed with the diving at Tufi. There is one thing though, if you are qualified enough and can get them to do it, if they will let you dive the wreck of the Jacob it is worth going to Tufi. It is deep, the deck is at about 45m BUT it is one of the best dives in the world even if you do not like wrecks. It blows your mind! Kavieng does have some nice wrecks as well including lots of WWII aircraft, freighters and the Der yang a fishing boat.

If you are going to go to Kaveing stay at lissenung island resort, a great relaxed place and Dietmar who owns and runs it knows every reef in the area better than most of us know the rooms we live in!

Oh yeah, one more thing if you are going to stay at tufi make sure they are using their fast boats. When we were there there wa only four of us so they used a boat they called 'Divemaster' which was basically an old tug! It took two hours to get to the dive sites and then two hours back. My wife is not good on boats and it rocks and rolls like you would not believe. After two days she only dived in the fiords and on the Jacob wreck where we paid extra for them to take the fast boat. In kaveing the longest boat ride is about 30 minutes (to Planet channel) and it goes all through mangroves, islands and reefs and is generally flat as a mill pond.

Thanks Jon, Baitballer for your insight.

I sent emails to Tufi and Kavieng Scuba Ventures. So far only received replies from the former. It seems that Tufi's budget rooms are not available (under renovation) so I think that my budget will force my decision to Kavieng instead.

Lissenung Island Resort looks really nice and comes with great reviews. Since my budget is limited however, I'd rather stay in a cheap guest-house in town and get another day or two of diving then stay at lovely Lissenung but not being able to afford more than 3 days of diving.

Anyone used Kavieng Scuba Ventures recently? (The latest reviews I can find on Scuba Board are from 2006/7). How about the budget accommodations in Kavieng town? Anyone has any experience with those?

Thanks!

Email Dietmar and Angie at Lissenung and they will probably let you dive with them and they will pick you up from Kavieng every morning. They may even be able to recommend you somewhere to stay. Lissenung is the best operator in Kavieng so if you can use them, IMHO.

hmmm. that's an interesting thought. I didn't even consider this as a possibility.
Thanks for the idea. I'll send them an email.