Papua New Guinea ideas

[marinediva]

As another option you could check out Madang.
I lived and worked as a diver there in the Madang Resort.
The diving is great. Planet Rock is one of my very favourite sites.

On the debate on how hot is it. Well, when you work or live in PNG you adapt.
If you come from the US, I can imagine most people will feel the heat.
Ten days is not much time to get use to it.

My first months there were spent with Air Con running all night every night and I had arrived from Port Douglas, QLD. After a little time I turned it off, and was comfortable. There were nights I was cool and would sleep under a cotton blanket.

The area of New Brit, is not as hot as Madang or Moresby. They get good breezes and I can imagine someone not requiring Air Con, especially now as it is winter, and the weather believe it or not is actually mild compared to summer which is hot, wet and steamy.

 

[Going Down....]

I second Lissenung. Note though - it is NOT luxury. The accommodation is very basic and local style - but we absolutely LOVED IT. The rooms only have fans, but the way the huts are built, air cond. is totally unneccessary. The people that run the place speak English, the diving is great, and best of all - the island is small so there are never huge crowds diving with you. Great place to meet people, totally relax, and get some great diving in. One of my all time favourite places!

 

[Going Down....]

Ps - if you have the time - check out Uepi in the Solomon Islands. It is a short flight from PNG. This is my second all time favourite dive spot and resort. Same style as Lissenung:
Uepi Island Resort - Dive Resorts - Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands. Accommodation, diving, snorkelling holidays

 

[Christopher_B]

Hi,

I stayed at four resorts in PNG to review them for dive mags and to see if any were worth adding to my portfolio of destinations as I also have a small business organising tailor-made dive and safari trips. My two favourite places were Tufi and Lissenung. Tufi is the more luxurious of the two and has the best food in PNG. It has great muck diving from the wharf, and excellent outer reeef life - there are manta cleaning stations, a few hammerheads, plenty of reef sharks, lacy scorpionfish, pymy seahorses etc. There are also outrigger safaris to village guesthouses and birdwatching trips to see birds of paradise. It has AC if you need it. Lissenung is a bit cheaper and also has great reef diving, though we didn't see any mantas or hammerheads up there. Plenty of pygmy seahorses too. WIth only seven rooms, it's smaller than Tufi and is very down to earth. The best thing to do would be to spend a week at each. Nusa Island Retreat by Kavieng is quite a lively place and is more surf orientated, but the dive shop over the water, Kavieng Scuba Ventrures, are a good outfit and are also good fun.
If you want any more info drop me a line at cb@indigosafaris.com or look at | Indigo Safaris, and I can give you info about flight schedules and prices on Air Niugini and Airlines of PNG as well as resort rates and information on any special offers going.

 

[Seasidegirl77]

Hi, I am not sure if you are still planning a trip to PNG?
I spent five weeks there last year diving and exploring a little bit too. I can recommend the diving and the resort at Tufi very highly. I loved flying in there on a small plane and the whole atmosphere from arrival was very enjoyable, laid back and comfortable. The position of the only dive resort in the region (Tufi) is extraordinary - high above a tropical fjord! The diving was fantastic and we had great quiet days with no other divers bar the other guests - we dived the outer reefs where we saw the big stuff and beautiful walls and coral gardens - and it was warm! In the afternoons and evenings we absolutely loved the wharf muck diving where we spent ages absorbed in looking at and photographing tiny things. The food was great and the so were the rooms - very romantic
We also stayed in the Kavieng region and dived with Scuba Ventures Kavieng on some wonderful wreck dives especially - plenty of 2nd WW stuff (although there is some of this in Tufi too - two topedo control boats in the fjord for instance). Then we headed to Lissenung and again I highly recommend it too (as do many others above). The island was deeply relaxing and set up to concentrate on great diving we also enjoyed the fine seafood feasts here and the peaceful setting of the pretty accommodation. We found great walls, beautiful fan corals, sharks and of course the by now famous pygmy seahorses.
Throughout PNG I encountered loads of wonderful cultural diversity too which I am really interested in - so at Tufi we sampled some of the great trips on offer such as a half day outrigger trip to meet some local people and learn about traditional lifestyles - it was a wonderful glimpse into another world and one I won't forget.
My trip was organised by Indigo Safaris (Indigo Safaris - About) who were fantastic. For me this region stil holds so much beauty and it feels like a huge adventure just being there. I loved it. I hope you get to go and see the wonderful life under the ocean there as well as on land. If you can go then make sure you have plenty of time

 

[diver00014]

thanks for the replys, I am checking into it for Feb 2012

 

[cantabria-abisal]

You have several private messages.

I await your response.

Greetings!

 

[NCBabs]

I'd also recommend Febrina and Walindi, I have been to Lissenung as well. as to compare the diving Walindi has more to offer on variety but with the liveaboard you'll see a lot more big schools of fish, walls reefs and muck. you can't go wrong with either Febrina or Walindi.

If you need help making travel plans let me know, be glad to help