Going to PNG in 3 Weeks!

[Comfortably Numb]

Hi Just loggin in. Been a long time member and have been browsing all the posts. Thought I would finally post something.

Going on a major trip in 3 weeks and hope I can get some words of wisdom. Going to Papua New Guinea! That's right, in exactly 3 weeks we (wife, bro-inlaw, & I) will be steppin on board the Star Dancer departing from Kavieng going to Hoskins, 10 day trip. Was wondering if any other PNG regulars would be on the same trip.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Comfortably Numb (CN)

 

[divebuddy68]

First, enjoy. I was on the Star Dancer last year. Amazing! If you have room, bring extra clothes for the locals - size SMALL. Candy & games are nice but what they can really use is clothes. Bring as much as you could, it will not go to waste.

 

[caymaniac]

Hi Just loggin in. Been a long time member and have been browsing all the posts. Thought I would finally post something.

Going on a major trip in 3 weeks and hope I can get some words of wisdom. Going to Papua New Guinea! That's right, in exactly 3 weeks we (wife, bro-inlaw, & I) will be steppin on board the Star Dancer departing from Kavieng going to Hoskins, 10 day trip. Was wondering if any other PNG regulars would be on the same trip.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Comfortably Numb (CN)

I was there in July. We were on Star Dancer and were mostly in the Fathers reef area.
I hope you have a blast. 5dives aday was alot but worth it. Dive Nitrox for the saftey factor. We had one evening that it was rough, other than that it was calm for most of all the trip.

 

[zf2nt]

Hi Just loggin in. Been a long time member and have been browsing all the posts. Thought I would finally post something.

Going on a major trip in 3 weeks and hope I can get some words of wisdom. Going to Papua New Guinea! That's right, in exactly 3 weeks we (wife, bro-inlaw, & I) will be steppin on board the Star Dancer departing from Kavieng going to Hoskins, 10 day trip... (CN)

Congratulations! I have been agonizing over a choice of a liveaboard trip in PNG for next summer, so would be very interested in hearing why you chose Star Dancer. I am looking at taking a 10-12 day trip next June/July and keep going back and forth between Star Dancer, Paradise Sport, and Golden Dawn. Star Dancer seems to have the biggest following on this board, though I see a smaller number of peope who are equally devoted to Golden Dawn. There hasn't been much mention of Paradise Sport (Mike Ball), but I'm not sure that means a lot. The three of them are priced very similarly, though it's truly hard to tell with all the various add-ons some of them have (e.g. GST, VAT, fuel surcharge, port fee, chamber support fee). My three choices are Star Dancer, from Walindi to Rabaul (June 18-28); Paradise Sport, from Kimbe to Kavieng (June 23 - July 3); and Golden Dawn from Kavieng to Manus (June 23 - July 5).

Can you shed any light on why you chose Star Dancer, or perhaps help me make a choice among these 3 options?

Bruce

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Great first post. Make sure and post a trip report.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Thanks all for the encouragement. DB68 - we will be taking schools supplies to give to the locals - didn't think of clothing but will see if there is room (poundage) left to fill the suitcase. ZF - We choose the Star Dancer for two reasons. One the Star Dancer is larger and more "comfortable" than the Golden Dawn and as this is our first liveaboard we really wanted comfort. That being said, our next trip just might find us on the Golden Dawn as I have seen nothing but positive information here. I will say that the Peter Hughes (Star Dancer) organization has been absolutely great to deal with. The Star Dancer was also recommended to us by our tour organizer, Jen Darby @ Papua New Guinea Travel www.papuanewguineatravel.com (by the way, great to work with). Two, the Star Dancer was choosen over the Paradise Sport due to the prefered itinery of the Star Dancer after much research of both itinerys. We felt we would enjoy more "bommie" diving then more "muck" diving. Milne Bay itinery is known for the "muck" diving.

You know, I think all of the boats would give a world class dive vacation.

I hope this helps.

CN

 

[caymaniac]

We brought pencils (a box of golf pencils), colored pencils, pencil sharpener, a slew of my old tee shirts (we traded for fruit), a couple of hats and sum individual gum. It was fun handing out the supplies, I really wanted to trade for a paddle but when I saw what the people had I couldn't do it. We were able to pick up a few mask gifts at Walindi

 

[silent running]

We choose the Star Dancer for two reasons. One the Star Dancer is larger and more "comfortable" than the Golden Dawn and as this is our first liveaboard we really wanted comfort. That being said, our next trip just might find us on the Golden Dawn as I have seen nothing but positive information here. I will say that the Peter Hughes (Star Dancer) organization has been absolutely great to deal with. The Star Dancer was also recommended to us by our tour organizer, Jen Darby @ Papua New Guinea Travel www.papuanewguineatravel.com (by the way, great to work with). Two, the Star Dancer was choosen over the Paradise Sport due to the prefered itinery of the Star Dancer after much research of both itinerys. We felt we would enjoy more "bommie" diving then more "muck" diving. Milne Bay itinery is known for the "muck" diving.

You know, I think all of the boats would give a world class dive vacation.

I hope this helps.

CN

Hello CN, glad you chose PNG for a trip, I'm sure you will enjoy it. But I'd like to point out that Milne Bay Province is really large, one of the largest and has plenty of bommies in addition to the muck sites. Any of the experienced owner/operator Captains like Rob Van der Loos (Chertan), Bob Halstead (Telita) and Craig de Wit (Golden Dawn) have been diving there for more than a decade and could take their guests to as many bommmies as you want. I have dived all over PNG and I think Milne Bay probably has the greatest variety of diving. I have never seen so many big fish on one dive as I did on one of the MB bommies. But then again, I've never been dissapointed in any of the diving in PNG.
As for the "comfort" factor, it depends on how broadly you define comfort. If your measure of boat comfort is it's size then yes, the Star Dancer being the biggest boat will be "comfortable". If you define boat comfort as quality of food, quality of boat build, diver friendly layout and sea-worthyness, then SD would probably be at the bottom of the list and the Golden Dawn would get my vote for most comfortable. But I'm sure your trip will be your best yet because you picked the place which has the most marine diversity and the least population, PNG.-Andy

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Hi Andy, thanks for your "comforting" remarks. This is actually the first negative info I have heard about the Star Dancer. Food, quality of boat, diver friendly layout and sea worthyness all at the bottom of the list? The only thing going for it is its size - in your opinion? Hmm.. tell me what you really think.

My "comfort" comparison of the SD to GD was in no way meant to imply anything negative about the GD. Maybe I should have worded that sentence differently ie.. The Star Dancer is larger than the Golden Dawn and as this is our first liveaboard we really wanted more space. Clearly you took offense at the original text and for that I apologize.

CN

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Caymaniac - Pictures are great! Love the masks, have to bring a couple of those back. We intend to bring pencils, markers, crayons, coloring books, pads of paper etc... Can you tell me if english books like bedtime story books would be appropriate or used. We will bring clothing if we have the extra space.

Thanks!

By the way, we are diving Nitrox. Got Enriched Air certified while in Coz last April. I hope all those in Coz are doing well.... One of my favorite places on earth.

CN