PART 3: Resorts, Equipment and the FeBrina
I had already experienced delays on a previous trip to PNG in 2014, so wanted to factor in a day either side of my Fabrina voyage on Monday 18 June.
Unfortunately all flights into HKN on Sunday 17 June were fully booked out as was the Walindi Resort.
They recommended the Liamo Reef Resort nearby, so I stayed there for two nights 16-17 June, checking out on 18 June. A very comfortable, spacious and more affordable alternative to Walindi if you want a base to look around West New Britain... however don't expect Raja Ampat resort rates, remote PNG operations can and do charge whatever they can get away with!
https://www.liamoreefresort.com/
I also went fishing for PNG Black Bass on my unexpected spare day Sunday 17 June with Liamo's associated company Baia Sportfishing. I caught a medium sized Black Bass and two Mangrove Jacks (catch and release policy) which was a lot of fun. Baia offer week long fishing safaris into some really remote areas if you want to combine a PNG dive trip with some other adventures. Highly recommended!
https://www.baiafishingpng.com/
Due to being fully booked out, Walindi had put me on a waitlist for a dive on Monday 18 June prior to boarding MV Fabrina.
I got a message just in time that a vacancy had come up, so was picked up at Liamo at 7am to meet the daily 8am Walindi dive boat... much to the surprise of the Divemaster!
Seems the Walindi front office had not communcated my late booking to him but as I had all my own gear just needing the usual tanks and weights it was sorted out quickly.
There was a minor problem with the length of webbing belt not being long enough for my... ahem... girth. This also happened onboard Febrina so worth carrying a spare belt of the correct length just in case.
I was diving air, but the vast majority were diving Nitrox (at a premium).
We completed three dives, including a lunch stop at the very picturesque Restorf island... just as great as my first trip to Walindi in 2014.
Our final meal was held at the Rapopo Plantation Resort, before heading back to Febrina for the night. While four of us had booked seats on the 06:50am flight to POM, the other two Aussies had elected to stay a couple more nights at Rapopo and relax before returning home... a very elegant place... with very good food!
Rapopo Plantation Resort
EQUIPMENT
I was using my Argonaut Kraken DH reg, which caused a great deal of interest... especially amongst the photographers both at Walindi and onboard the Febrina!
And after around 25 DH dives I can confirm that both pelagics and tiny macro critters really DO allow you to approach much closer than usual with a camera. I also like the relative silence, where bubbles aren't roaring past your ears or in front of your face!
As this was my first 'remote area' trip with the Kraken I also brought along my uber-reliable Conshelf 21 with Sea Hornet Command Air second stage... good to have a backup just in case!
MV FEBRINA
I was able to smoothly transition from my day's diving at Walindi to board Febrina well in time for a 9 day trip from Kimbe to Rabaul.
Built with a steel hull and steel/aluminium superstructure, MV Febrina's classic design and below deck cabins makes for a comfortable journey. Fitted with all modern navigational and safety equipment, large water and fuel tanks, individual air-conditioning to all areas of the vessel and water level duckboard, MV FeBrina is a perfect platform to explore the waters of Papua New Guinea.22.3m or 73' in length.
Walindi FeBrina - Vessel
Walindi FeBrina - MV FeBrina Liveaboard Dive Boat
Hostess and DM Josie made sure all the paperwork was organised smoothly and we were allocated cabins. A nice surprise for us was that due to last minute cancellations there were only six passengers on board, three Aussies and three Texans (I'm told they are also US Citizens
) so we all got upgraded ensuite cabins!
Alan Raabe is Master of Febrina, a real salty character who has been operating in PNG for 32 years... and really has seen it all. He obviously loves PNG and his heart is in the right place... I saw how frustrated he became at the negative publicity for PNG surrounding the Air Niugini plane torching at Mendi... "They'd rather blow out the candle than share the light" in reference to tribal and political mayhem affecting PNG's fragile emerging tourism industry.
Food onboard was excellent and varied... a couple of complimentary bottles of good quality red or white wines were provided with each dinner. Leonie performed miracles from a Galley about 3m x 2m along with two very able kitchen hands (who also moonlighted as housemaids and in the laundry). Leonie really is an excellent cook, even baking bread and cookies onboard, and some of her recipes were requested by guests... particularly her Papaya and Ginger soup.
A daily laundry service was provided, items returned neatly folded on your bed... so only bringing around 3 days worth of clothing is fine.
All the power, refrigeration and freshwater making onboard required an auxiliary diesel set going 24/7 in the engine room... which could be heard quite clearly (even underwater) I'm not sure if it is a characteristic of steel hulled vessels or if the engine mounts could be better isolated but it could be an issue for some.
Diving in general was very good, first few days around Kimbe Bay, Fathers Reefs and Bainings reefs enroute to Rabaul. Water temp 27-29C which was a welcome change from Port Phillip Bay winter temps of 15C!
Visibility was not that great 10-15m in general with a great deal of plankton and other suspended matter. The one dive we had with about 25m+ viz really stood out!
Walindi FeBrina - MV FeBrina Liveaboard Dive Boat
Two Divemasters Josie and Digger (also Skipper Alan's First Mate) kept things organised with good clear dive briefings at each location, assisted by some of the boat crew acting as Dive Guides. Josie's whiteboard sketches were a source of much ribbing by the crew but we knew what she meant! One minor niggle was the tendency for some of the Dive Guides to just take off down the anchor line before everyone was ready to descend... a quick word to the DM had this sorted.
There was some initial confusion I feel amongst some of the other guests who may have been expecting a more formal or structured DM-to-diver experience, which is common on some other LOB's in say Indonesia. Febrina has hosted several very well known photographers in the past who know exactly what they are doing UW and want to be left alone to do it without hand-holding by the DM's.
I think it fair to say AOW and 50+ dives should be the minimum certification level required for Febrina.
Between four and five dives per day were possible, depending on the prevaling current and general conditions... 6.30am> breakfast > 9:30am > rest break> 11:30am > lunch and rest break> 3:30pm optional night dive 6:30pm > dinner. A fairly cracking pace... I skipped a few of the night dives towards the end of the cruise.
A nice touch was an individually allocated towel which was delivered toasty warm from the dryer just in time to meet each diver returning on board... for each dive!
While we did dive on the Zero in Kimbe Bay (my second dive there, this time with a HD GoPro... loved it even more) most dive sites enroute tended to be seamounts and associated walls.
A myriad of smaller reef fish, some huge schools of Chevron Barracuda, soft and hard corals, big Gorgonian Fans (complete with the shy and incredibly camoflaged Pygmy Seahorse) several small-to-medium sized white tip reef sharks (one actually bit my video light... a little close for comfort!) but no large reef fish or other pelagic stuff. On the last evening, Rabaul harbour wharf pylons provided an unexpectedly rich night dive, but unfortunately the visually stunning (above water) Beehive Rocks did not live up to expectations below water. This was probably the worst dive of the whole trip, and I think an alternative location should be developed by the Febrina team.
We did not see another vessel for the entire trip, NO plastic pollution noticeable anywhere.. well apart from Rabaul harbour, which inexplicably also had a single Queen of Spades card sitting up out of the mud!
Rabaul
We arranged a half day tour of Rabaul on our last no-fly day, having visited the markets in the morning... lots of local woven handicrafts incl Bilum Bags and fresh tropical fuits, so we gorged on Mangosteens and Rambutans and tried the local boiled peanuts!
After lunch onboard we then headed out to see the Kokopo War Museum, and the WWII Japanese underground facilities (incl a five story underground hospital and a massive bunker that could house five landing barges... all hand-dug by prisoners-of-war.
Some very interesting and sobering stuff at the Museum so its worth allowing more time to be able to go over the exhibits properly. Many of the exhibits are deteriorating rapidly in the non-AC tropical environment and could do with proper conservation and stabilisation before they are lost forever.
