Click on the links below for details of our trip and a photo gallery

About the Solomons

The Solomons are a group of 992 islands to the east of Papua New Guinea and north of Australia. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire they are composed of vocanoes overlain with reefs. The largest island is Guadacanal where the capital, Honiara, is located along with the main international airport. Some international flights land at Mandou in Western Province and Solomons Airlines operates local flights between the islands. International flights come from Brisbane, Fiji and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. The flight time from Brisbane is about 3.5 hours.

One of our fellow divers stayed at a pretty comfortable hotel in Honiara but otherwise we know little about accomodation on the islands as we spent the entire 2 weeks on our boat, Bilikiki. The Bilikiki is an old but comfortable dive boat with super friendly and helpful crew. There were 17 divers on our trip. The cabins were clean and comfortable with a decent amount of storage space and we had plenty of space to relax in the main cabin, dining deck and sun deck. The diving deck was also a good size with room to dry wetsuits and store gear. The boat provided nitrox. We used the main cabin to set up our cameras using the smaller room on the top deck for charging. 110V and 240V electricity was available with Australian three pin plugs as well as some international adaptor blocks.

Our chefs on board produced three cooked meals a day as well as snacks and fruit between dives. They were very good at catering for eating preferences (vegetarian, non-dairy etc). At many of the places that we stopped, local villages would paddle over in their canoes to sell the boat fresh fruit and vegetables. The crew also caught several large fish (wahoo and tuna) over the course of the trip so we had lots of fresh food to supplement what had come from Honiara. The stewart, John, looked after the bar and served local beer, soft drinks, Australian wine and spirits.

Haggling at the carving market

 

In three of the villages we visited the local carvers set up markets to sell their craftwork. These ranged from elaborate carved tables, octopus ornaments, and traditional heads to bowls and spoons. The quality is impressive and a variety of wood is used as well as inlaid mother of pearl. Gentle haggling is expected as some of the "first prices" you are offered are very high. The seller whispers the price in your ear and you bargain for the best price. Everything is in Solomon Dollars (currently around 7 to 1 USD) so you need to stock up at the ATM in Honiara or "borrow" from the boat until you get back.

Local villagers

Our trip was in early December which is right at the end of the dry season. However it still rains a great deal in the Solomons so be prepared for sun and rain. The temperature was a comfortable 22-30C (70-86F) and warm enough in the evenings to stay in a T-shirt. It got light around 6am and the sun went down at 6.40. We were warned about mosquitos in the villages but had no problems and none on the boat. Some of the guests took Malaria pills but we didn't. Crossings between the islands can get bumpy but Bilikiki is pretty stable and we only had one crossing where we rocked a bit - maybe we were lucky!

Diving deck

Diving operates from two tinnies that ferry divers to and from dive sites. Although we dived as buddy pairs rather than as a group the tinny drivers were very good at tracking divers and waiting for you as you surfaced. The water temperature was around 30C so I chose to dive in a skin although most of the others dived in 3mm suits. As well as the usual gear we carried SMBs and reef hooks - for those higher current situations when you don't want to get swept away but do want to be found if you are! Smaller tanks are available for those ladies with small lungs but you should probably book in advance. Lots more info on the Bilikiki website.

Octopus