PNG DIVE REVIEW - NEW BRITAIN ISLAND

PNG is the most pristine diving I've ever done. We were on Telita, which is no longer in service, diving the northwest side of New Britain Island. It's very remote, with little traffic. The reefs are exquisite, and you'll see critters in their natural environment that you can't imagine. The visibility was good, not great. We saw the full spectrum of South Pacific fauna--ranging from tiny colorful nudibranchs to silver tip sharks. The splendid anemones and carpet anemones are awesome, with a plethora of small tropical fish on the reefs. You'll also see stonefish in some locations. In the muck diving areas we saw green ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp, and a variety of starfish, sea urchins, etc. Once you get around to the Rabaul harbor area, there are Japanese wrecks from WW II. There are no bad dive sites off New Britain island.

PNG TOPSIDE

Be very careful ashore, especially in Port Moresby, which you'll have to pass through to get to the diving. It's a dangerous place. Don't venture away from your hotel. Many of the larger cities and towns in PNG are plagued with "rascals", which is the local term for bands of violent young men. The shoreline of New Britain island is mostly extremely primitive and generally peaceful, with numerous small villages dotting the shoreline. Your boat will likely be visited by some of these folks in their outrigger canoes, wanting to trade fruit from shore for bags of rice and candy.

My son and I dove from Aqua Cat a couple of weeks after Hurricane Sandy went through the Bahamas. There was considerable silt on some of the reefs, but we still got to see a good bit of Caribbean marine life, which sadly doesn't compare well with South Pacific marine life. (There are five times as many species of critters in the South Pacific, so it's not really a fair contest.) Interesting critters included lettuce nudis and lots of small shrimp. The boat, dive masters and crew were very good. This is the most spacious live-aboard I've ever been on, with almost hotel-size rooms. The chef was excellent--a lot of variety of foods (American, Italian, Bahamian). The shark dive is great--they tie a frozen bait ball to the bow of a wreck, and let the sharks have at it.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable trip (one week)! The Fijians are the friendliest people you'll meet (Bula Bula!). The resort is spacious with sizable rooms and a lot of variety, including some rooms with plunge pools. It is spread out over a large area, with interconnecting paths. This resort is one where divers, non-divers and kids can all have an enjoyable time. The diving is fantastic. Marine life in Fiji is over the top. Lots of my favorite fish--the clown trigger. Also ribbon eels, soft corals and a large variety of tropical fish. Don't miss the shark dive--big bull sharks and occasionally one or two huge tiger sharks. I got one of my most memorable videos, of a big bull shark with his mouth wide open holding a large fish head, swimming right toward me and almost bumping into my camera lens before veering off. The food was very good, and the resort staff excellent. One evening a group of local kids came to the resort and performed a concert with drumming and singing that was awesome.

I've dived with Stuart Cove every year for the past several years (usually in May). It's a high-volume operation, with all that implies, but the price is very reasonable. Sometimes you get lucky on a boat with only a few divers, most times it's a crowd. The dive master quality is variable--some are just counting heads, others try to find interesting stuff. The dive sites are pretty well hammered on the SW side of New Providence Island, so you don't see much unusual marine life. They do a good job on the shark dives, which are my favorite.