Papua New Guinea ideas

[diver00014]

I'm gathering ideas and information about Papua New Guinea.

Where do you suggest for a land based operation?
Who do you suggest for a live-aboard operation?

I prefer a responce from someone who has actually been there
rather then someone who has only read about it please.

 

[mr bubbles]

Hi Semo,

I could go on and on about PNG but I'll keep this short and sweet.
For land base I would reccomend Lissenung Resort in Kavieng - diving excellent and great service
For live-aboard the MV Febrina operating in Kimbe - for a seriously amazing dive experience.

regards

 

[cdiver2]

I'm gathering ideas and information about Papua New Guinea.

Where do you suggest for a land based operation?
Who do you suggest for a live-aboard operation?

I prefer a responce from someone who has actually been there
rather then someone who has only read about it please.

I would recomend Walindi on New Briton. I have dived the resort side there with great diving and the best service I have had at any resort. You can also get a LA there but I have not done this one.

Drop me a line if you want any details

 

[Valwood1]

I second Lissenung Island for land-based. I was there in August 2009 and have a report here somewhere. Good operation, generally a place for experienced divers. You might be the only Yank there -- I was -- but the world speaks English so it's not a problem.

 

[alijtaylor]

I have used both the liveaboard Febrina and Walindi (which is where Febrina is based) and would endorse both as excellent.

Alison

 

[lv2travelndive]

Hi Semo,
if you are leaning towards land-based diving I highly recommend Lissenung Island in the Kavieng/New Ireland region. Fantastic drift diving in the channels, some muck diving sites and there is a very impressive house reef as well. Lissenung is a small private island with a sandy beach for swimming and snorkelling, the only dive resort in PNG I know which has one. We have been there twice so far, in 2006 and again in February 2009, because Lissenung is great value for money for money and a very calm, relaxing place where you can walk barefoot everywhere. There have been many upgrades we noticed on our second visit - a bigger dive boat and new bungalow amenties like ensuite bathrooms, though the prices had not changed much.
Enjoy your stay in PNG - best regards

 

[Code Monkey]

Just got back from a trip to Tufi and the FeBrina. Both were really nice. Tufi had great muck and night dives right off their pier. There was also an incredible amount of life on their outer reefs.

That said, if I had to do it again, I'd just do the FeBrina. Digger is a great dive guide who can find the smallest shrimp and crabs (he's actually the guy that discovered the first pygmy seahorse). You need to be a pretty comfortable diver, though, and be nitrox certified. The bommies were often somewhere around 65 feet at the shallowest and several had a pretty stiff current (even on one night dive!). Dive skills were rewarded, though, by some phenomenal stuff from silver tip sharks down to a half-inch long frog fish.

We visited Walindi at the end of the FeBrina trip and did a dive on their house reef. It was one of the best dives of the trip. Very shallow, OODLES of tiny stuff -- more bulldozer shrimp than you can count, tons of glass shrimp, bunches of stuff. Unfortunately, all of the people on our boat that had stayed at Walindi previously had bad things to say about the operation. In addition, we had heard (and was confirmed) that none of the rooms have air conditioning -- this would have killed us since it was SO hot and humid.

So, for my money, it's FeBrina followed by Tufi followed (a LONG way behind) by Walindi. YMMV.

 

[tarangau]

Code Monkey have you actually stayed in the rooms at Walindi? You don't need air-conditioning, they are cool enough with a fan. Your out all day diving, you return at the coolest part of the day - late afternoon. Some nights I even had to put a thicker blanket over me because I was cold.

 

[Code Monkey]

Code Monkey have you actually stayed in the rooms at Walindi?

Sorry, I thought I had made that clear: I did not stay at Walindi.

Different people have different thresholds for heat so it's hard to say how we would have fared. I do know that I was way overheated when I was outside the whole time I was in PNG. YMMV.

 

[cdiver2]

Code Monkey have you actually stayed in the rooms at Walindi? You don't need air-conditioning, they are cool enough with a fan. Your out all day diving, you return at the coolest part of the day - late afternoon. Some nights I even had to put a thicker blanket over me because I was cold.

We would go to bed at night and have to put a extra blanket on later into the night.

I don't know what anyone could find to complain about at Walindi. I can honestly say its the best I have been too, and I have been to a lot of places world wide.