Day three diving in Papua New Guinea started like many others – a great breakfast at Walindi Plantation Resort in Kimbe Bay. Yesterday we shot video for the upcoming Walindi episode, so today I was excited to work on some more still photos.

 

We headed out to Kimbe Island and around the backside (it’s a small island) to a site called Kimbe Bommie. The reef starts at 85 feet (an advanced dive) and delivered an experience that I can only call Papua New Guinea diving at its finest. Vibrantly colored soft corals fought for space amidst dense whip corals, while the dancing anthias made the rainbow riot of crinoids look dull. With limited bottom time on the deep dive I was honed in on being productive photographically and barely noticed large schools of fish, a dogtooth tuna making a close pass and much more. The mooring line made for a nice, easy ascent to the surface.

 

Dive two brought us to Otto’s Point, a reef rising to the shallows in Kimbe Bay. We planned another deep dive to look for resident hammerheads (yes, they’re all over the outer sites in Kimbe Bay, but usually stay deep) and other sharks. A quick descent along a sheer wall with tumbling sponge growth brought us to deep water, schools of fish and two sharks: a blacktip and grey reef shark. Not the big boys but still very fun to see. The rest of the dive took us along the wall, surrounded by butterfly fish, fusiliers and another dogtooth tuna. After checking out a little cave we returned to the shallow hard coral garden to enjoy the very warm water before surfacing.

 

Interested in diving with Walindi in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea? Contact Bluewater Travel for the best pricing, service and advice!

 

Kimbe Bommie & Ottos Photos

 

Episode 13 Video Screengrabs & Gear