Trip Report Tufi PNG Feb-Mar 2019

[Wingy]

Sorry for my semi incoherent post Richard - I was on day two of a three day migraine waiting for my next and thankfully last dose of medication to kick in. Thanks for deciphering

PNG and Raja are a PITA to get to even when you live in the area so to speak. If you look at a map from Perth Aust to Sorong or Port Moresby it looks fairly clear cut as far as flights...not so with either. PNG for me (I've sailed there more than I've flown there) is Perth - Alice Springs - Cairns (usually an overnighter) then Cairns - Moresby then Moresby to Alotoa, Kimbe, Madang etc...

To Raja assuming LOB is leaving from Sorong although I've done trips leaving from Ternate and Ambon it's still Perth > Bali > Makassar (Usually overnight there) > Sorong or Ambon or Ternate etc etc.

Even from what looks like "that neck of the woods" both still involve a fair few hours travel by air...by sea it's taken me 6 months and 13 months respectively so that option is somewhat ridiculous.

Yes, it's one big landmass split roughly in half but sociopolitically it may as well be Mars and Venus apart. I spent a few hours going to Parliament in PNG which I've never even done in my own country but it was the most amazing experience seeing all the tribes representatives sporting everything from three piece suits to pigs tusks pierced noses and painted faces depending on the area - in Jakarta parliament hosts global summits. I suspect there are no areas to rest your spears, clubs and feather cloaks at the entrance and the building is not shaped like a beehive. I'd recommend anyone going to parliament in PNG....it's bloody hilarious!

DBNewton is on the money - everyone has their own 'benchmark' and RA accom can range from simple home stays to opulent wifi and aircon as can PNG - I think - I've only ever been there on private boats.
The big difference as DB noted is 'trash' and currents carrying junk from far more and far more populous cities. I love RA, Komodo, Banda Sea...but there's a certain darkness and remoteness in PNG that appeals to me more.
I'm sure there is that boat/resort/destination that will tick all your boxes.

Edited - A major difference - Indonesia's economy is tourism dependant whereas PNGs is oil dependant - what % for each I'm not sure but PNG could easily do without tourism $$ Indo would notice it immediately

 

[gypsyjim]

Well run comfortable resort with good food, great diving, interesting local culture, and friendly staff.

The resort and accommodations:
The resort has all the amenities necessary to make guests comfortable. Rooms are spacious with continuous electricity (they have their own generator which 24/7). Rooms are air conditioned with their own bathroom. Always plenty of hot water and a mini fridge that they supply with drinking water.
The meals are well prepared and there is plenty of food. They have a fixed menu that changes daily for lunch and dinner. It never repeated for the 17 days we stayed. Breakfast is continental buffet or you can order extra items for additional fee. Meals are served communally and specific scheduled times but if you are out on an excursion like diving and return late they hold the meal for you, you don't miss it.
All of the rooms are a very short walk to the central gathering area where there is a pool and a bar and the lounge with TV and books (we never saw the TV on but why would you in watch TV while on vacation in paradise?)
There are no paved roads and the local residents tend to either work for the resort, for the government, run tiny business, or subsistence hunter/gather. The locals are friendly and their craft work is extraordinary and very low cost (bargaining is expected, start by offering half of the asking price). We never exchanged any currency with a local as all the locals are willing to bill items to your room. Just negotiate your agreed price and tell the hotel and the hotel pays the local and bills you on checkout. We never felt unsafe or unwelcome and even if you buy at full retail everything is a bargain.
In addition to the diving (more below) we also tried: fishing, trips to local villages, waterfalls, & beaches. All were fun and relaxing. Good way to kill that no fly day at the end or take a break in the middle. Shop for crafts like wood masks and clubs, model canoes in the local style, woven mats and hangings, shoulder bags, hats, and shell crafts. They are all hand made locally and prices are quite reasonable.
View attachment 509515 View attachment 509516

Logistics:
Tufi is quite remote, access is only via small airplane from Port Moresby via PNG Airline. We had zero issues with the flights but we did observe that the PNG flight to/from Tufi is delayed or cancelled more often than not. Travelers might want to consider an overnight in Port Moresby as buffer. Flights only Monday morning or Wednesday and Friday afternoon. Port Moresby is the capital and served by many international carriers. The resort is on a volcanic fjord sitting high on the bank overlooking the ocean on one side and the fjord on the other. Thus there is a significant hill to/from the waterfront where the dive shop (more below on diving) and water sports are. They run a couple of range rovers on demand to take you up/down the hill or if you want exercise you can walk it yourself. Power is 240V 50Hz with Australian style plugs.

View attachment 509505 View attachment 509508

Weather:
There are three "seasons" (it's the tropics so there are no true seasons): rainy (January to mid May), windy (late May thru August), calm and dry (Sept to December). We were there in Feb and March. It did rain but almost exclusively at night. We only had rain one day during the day, yet at night it almost always rained (between midnight and 6 AM). We never got rained out of anything. There were one or two days when we could not get out to the outer reefs due to wind (it is open ocean and 5-15 miles out). But on those days we did still dive in the fjord and it is spectacular. We were told that the period from Sept to end of December is best but our experience with the rainy season was also great.

The Diving:
In a word spectacular. There is a variety of diving including wall, slope, muck, reef top, as well as a few WWII wrecks. The outer reefs rise to the surface or a couple meters below. They are typically wall or slope dives. There is little or no current. The coral is all in very good condition (not broken up by waves or divers). The fish life is abundant albeit less so than Raja Ampat in Indonesia. We saw large predators like Barracuda, Tuna, Sharks, Mackerel on most dives as well as the normal array of reef fish both small and large. The reef is well suited to macro photography as well, tiny nudibranch, egg sacks, flatworms,... There is absolutely zero trash either floating or on the reefs, they are pristine. One unique sight here is the white hammerhead shark. It is found here and one other place in the world (we were told so no reference).
The water was warm 30C/86F and very clear (greater than 30m/100' vis most reefs). They typically tie to a mooring on the reef and divers swim but they did some dives as drift dives even though there was no real current to drift on, just slowly kick along the wall. They limit dives to around 60 minutes but depending on the depth it is quite easy to exceed NDL on one dive, so watch your meter. They do NOT have nitrox, only air. They use aluminum 80 (approx). Entry is either giant stride or backward roll depending on the boat used. They were running two boats while we were there but there are more boats that could be deployed if needed. Since this is the only dive operation anywhere within at least 50 miles there is never a crowd on the reef. They can send boats to different reefs to avoid crowding. Typically they send the boats on two tank dives in the morning returning for lunch at the resort. If requested they can do three tank dives with a lunch for SI between dives 2 and 3. There is no rinse tank on the boats but they do rinse your gear at the dock. There is no camera room at the dive center, so no compressed air and no charging stations. There is a camera rinse tank.
The diving in the fjord is unique. There is very little wave or current action and thus the coral and fans and sponges that are too fragile to survive in open ocean, thrive here. The fjord is deep (greater than 45m/150'). Visibility in the fjord is far lower (10m/33')(note the difference in the pictures labeled fiord) and the fish are typically smaller (no large tuna, mackerel, sharks,..). I am not a muck diver but there are stretches of muck diver heaven between the coral banks.
We dove two wrecks, a PT boat and a P38 lightning. The PT boat is broken up since they were plywood and it burned to the waterline. The P38 is intact and in very good condition but covered in coral and sponges as you would expect for 75 years underwater. There are also a B25, and a B17 that we did not dive.
Outer Reef Examples: View attachment 509507 View attachment 509512 View attachment 509514View attachment 509510
Fjord Examples: View attachment 509511 View attachment 509513
Since the top of the reefs are so shallow it is quite possible to bring snorkelers along on the diving trips. The snorkelers can hover above the reef and enjoy the snorkel while the divers below enjoy the deeper parts of the reef. They welcome snorkelers and provide guides as needed.

OP is my brother, and we were together for this trip. I think he pretty much covered the bases here.
This trip is not for the Ramada Inn or Coz, AI crowd, but is great for those more adventurous souls who can roll with unexpected delays, or sudden plan changes, and who like travel adventures a bit less prepackaged, or one size fits all canned plan diving.
Tufi PNG defines the word, remote, and is both exotic and spectacularly beautiful. There is no land access, at all to the rest of PNG.
All access is by the small airstrip, or by occasional small cargo boats or traders in dugout canoes.
Here you are surrounded by a truly primitive, subsistance culture, where small neighboring clans do not even speak the same language, so English and Pigeon English are fairly universal.

For me it was totally eye opening to dive on reefs that are not over-dived. Tops of shallow reefs are still covered in fragile corals that have never seen cattle boat diving, so "fin damage" to these corals is nearly non existent. Diving here made me realize just how much better reefs must have appeared in other places such as RA, before they became popular!
The Tufi dive team is still discovering and exploring new reefs.
An example is the P38 dive we did, which my brother discussed above. This was one such exploration that we got the chance to participate in. Lying at barely 50 to 55 feet, and close to shore, the operator calculated that this war plane had not been dived on in@10 years, and they had no coordinates for it. We got to witness our native guides from Tufi negoting in Pigeon English in very tiny fishing village with the locals who showed us to the wreck, and even charging us a tiny fee to anchor on Their reef.
As I say, diving here can still be an adventure like nowhere else I have dived.

 

[fly2dive]

Richard,

Given your time constraints .... you'll need to wait until retirements and EVEN THEN plan to do more than a single week or two in order to enjoy yourself in PNG! Flying from the US you'll be stopping over in Incheon, Norita, HK, Australia, and then on to POM. The connections are usually through Air Niuguni, although Quantas also flies into POM but not every day of the week ... plan on an overnight in POM before heading out to Tufi, Alotau, Kimbe, Kavieng, Rabaul. My recommendation is to try the Walindi Plantation and the MV Febrina based on your questions. Walindi is on New Britain and is located in Kimbe Bay. The Febrina is a great liveaboard that will get you out to the Witu Islands and many of the Kimbe Bay locations. Years ago you could stop in POM and spend a day or two in Loloata (now closed) which had some great diving and return shuttle's to POM for your flights either within PNG or out of country. One year we flew into POM and did the Kokoda Track. it's ~50km thats up and down, up and down over the Owen Stanly Mountains (and across some raging streams!! Made famous during WWII its 3-4 days depending on your tour. I still want to get to Alotau (Milne Bay area) and do a live aboard in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands. I retire in a year at most so I'm already planning a 90day tour through the south pacific to start retirement off right!! BTW PNG is EXPENSIVE compared to most places.

All the best,

Bob
Bethesda, MD

 

[Wingy]

Air Nuigini, QantasLink and Singapore airlines are doing direct Changi to POM flights too.

 

[drrich2]

To test the feasibility of round trip airfare from my nearest mainstream airport, Nashville, TN, I recently ran a check for some fairly random dates with Orbitz. Here're my notes from what it gave me:

Papua New Guinea

Using Orbitz 3-15-19, planned a theoretical flight to/from, Aug. 16 (+2 days) to Aug. 31 (+1 day, costing over $700 extra to shave a day off, but I’m thinking time changes might be a part of that). All Economy/Coach.

Aug. 16th.

1.) Nashville to LAX. 4 hour 35 min. flight. 6:45 am to 12:35 PM

2 Hour layover.

2.) LAX to Brisbane, QLD (BNE). 13 Hour 35 min. flight, overnight, arrives Sat., Aug. 18th.

3 Hour 20 min. layover in Brisbane.

3.) Brisbane to Jackson Intl. (POM). 3 Hour 10 min. flight. Arrive at 12:35 p.m.

Aug. 31st.

1.) Jackson Intl. (POM) to Brisbane, QLD. 3 Hour 10 min. flight.

4 Hour layover.

2.) Brisbane to LAX. 12 Hour, 40 min.

6 Hour 35 min. layover.

3.) LAX to Nashville. 4 Hour 9 min. flight arriving at 4:59 a.m. on Sunday Sept. 1st.

A $500 fee would be charged per ticket for itinerary changes.

Flights between Nashville and LAX are American Airlines; all others are Quantas Airways. Looks like checked baggage is included on Quatas flights and weight allowances seem quite good, but how many pieces you get may vary with where you’re going. Would likely have to pay roundtrip baggage fees with American Airlines. Wonder what upgrade to 1st class or other would cost for the very long flights?

$3,156.54 (not counting baggage, tips, meals at airports, parking while I'm gone, etc...).

 

[dbnewton]

To test the feasibility of round trip airfare from my nearest mainstream airport, Nashville, TN, I recently ran a check for some fairly random dates with Orbitz. Here're my notes from what it gave me:

Papua New Guinea

Using Orbitz 3-15-19, planned a theoretical flight to/from, Aug. 16 (+2 days) to Aug. 31 (+1 day, costing over $700 extra to shave a day off, but I’m thinking time changes might be a part of that). All Economy/Coach.

Aug. 16th.

1.) Nashville to LAX. 4 hour 35 min. flight. 6:45 am to 12:35 PM

2 Hour layover.

2.) LAX to Brisbane, QLD (BNE). 13 Hour 35 min. flight, overnight, arrives Sat., Aug. 18th.

3 Hour 20 min. layover in Brisbane.

3.) Brisbane to Jackson Intl. (POM). 3 Hour 10 min. flight. Arrive at 12:35 p.m.

Aug. 31st.

1.) Jackson Intl. (POM) to Brisbane, QLD. 3 Hour 10 min. flight.

4 Hour layover.

2.) Brisbane to LAX. 12 Hour, 40 min.

6 Hour 35 min. layover.

3.) LAX to Nashville. 4 Hour 9 min. flight arriving at 4:59 a.m. on Sunday Sept. 1st.

A $500 fee would be charged per ticket for itinerary changes.

Flights between Nashville and LAX are American Airlines; all others are Quantas Airways. Looks like checked baggage is included on Quatas flights and weight allowances seem quite good, but how many pieces you get may vary with where you’re going. Would likely have to pay roundtrip baggage fees with American Airlines. Wonder what upgrade to 1st class or other would cost for the very long flights?

$3,156.54 (not counting baggage, tips, meals at airports, parking while I'm gone, etc...).

That is about the itinerary used but to save cost I booked 4 separate bookings and accepted the risk.

On the outbound Quantas accepted my United baggage allowance (4x70lbs as million miles). So no problem.

On return Quantas would not accept Quantas own allowance. But I anticipated than and packed a 25 lb bag inside my 65 lb bag so all I needed do was open pull out and I had two under 50.

 

[fly2dive]

What baggage allowance .... All my stuff for several weeks (including all my scuba equipmemnt: wetsuit,booties, force fins, mask, lights, 2 regs) and my clothes. Actually fits in the overhead of most regional jets. Kit is comprised of a DSS Kydex backplate and an eBags bag that I placed a couple of grommets in that connect using the standard backplate bolts. I even have my DIR Halcyon surf raft that makes agreat back-pad. (I think the last time I used it was in Palau ... after one of those drift dives where you have o wait for the boat to pick you up .... I just deployed it and me and my dive partner just sat back and relaxed!!) Now that's Do'in it Right. I did let them check it from POM to HSK since it was plane side. Photo taken in Hong Kong on the way home. Most liveaboards will do small laundry items.

Bob
Bethesda, MD.

 

[dbnewton]

View attachment 510694

What baggage allowance .... All my stuff for several weeks (including all my scuba equipmemnt: wetsuit,booties, force fins, mask, lights, 2 regs) and my clothes. Actually fits in the overhead of most regional jets. Kit is comprised of a DSS Kydex backplate and an eBags bag that I placed a couple of grommets in that connect using the standard backplate bolts. I even have my DIR Halcyon surf raft that makes agreat back-pad. (I think the last time I used it was in Palau ... after one of those drift dives where you have o wait for the boat to pick you up .... I just deployed it and me and my dive partner just sat back and relaxed!!) Now that's Do'in it Right. I did let them check it from POM to HSK since it was plane side. Photo taken in Hong Kong on the way home. Most liveaboards will do small laundry items.

Bob
Bethesda, MD.

Quantas carry on limit was 7 kg and they weighed each one.

 

[drrich2]

Now that's good information to have, thanks! Bet my Samsonite carry-on packed weights more than around 15.4 lbs. Got a feeling I'd need to travel in cargo pants with packed pockets.

Richard.

What baggage allowance .... All my stuff for several weeks (including all my scuba equipmemnt: wetsuit,booties, force fins, mask, lights, 2 regs) and my clothes. Actually fits in the overhead of most regional jets.

I envy you that. No way is all my mess going in one pack.

 

[gypsyjim]

Now that's good information to have, thanks! Bet my Samsonite carry-on packed weights more than around 15.4 lbs. Got a feeling I'd need to travel in cargo pants with packed pockets.

Richard.



I envy you that. No way is all my mess going in one pack.

Cargo pants, travel shirt.....
It was a good thing Quantas and PNG Air did not weigh us AND our luggage.

I ran into that when I took my kids to Culebra, Puerto Rico when they first certified. The small airline serving Culebra weighed us along with our luggage.
THAT cost me some $$ in overage charges.

On the PNG trip that my brother posted in this thread we played the luggage shuffle several times, to accommodate differing airline rules. As he mentioned, even Quantas had differing rules depending on the destination, and we were forced to play games and very carefully weigh everything.

As you suggest, my pockets were bulging.