4 week itinerary Papua New Guinea / Solomon Islands

Hi!

I will be in PNG for 4 weeks (i.e. 27 full days) in April and am wondering what itinerary might be feasible.

I would like to scuba dive, see wildlife/nature and some village life.
I don't plan to climb Mt. Wilhelm or do the Kokoda trek (or other expanded trekking).

All I know right now is that I will arrive in Port Moresby and will fly to Madang the next day to go diving there for maybe three days.

This is what I would love to do as well, but it looks like a very tight schedule:

• Sepik boat trip (asked about that in another post, seems that I will have to look for specific local guys which might be difficult)

• New Britain (Rabaul (?), Kimbe Bay for diving)

• the Highlands (Are the Highlands still a must-see when there are now shows this time of year and I don't want to climb Mt. Wilhelm? Tari maybe?)

• Solomon Islands (Marovo Lagoon!)

Is diving so different in Madang / Kimbe / Marovo that all three of them would be worth going?

Sepik seems to be complicated and thus time consuming. I see myself searching for specific guys who will take me an a boat tour...

What destination would you skip first?

Ah, and how are chances to spot kangoroos / wallabies in those areas?

Thanks for any help!!

Edited by: Gaston

The first thing to bear in mind is that tight time schedules don't tend to work out well in this region.

I'd say Rabaul is the highlight of New Britain, with its active volcanoes and World War II relics.

The Highlands are worth it anyway, just for the very different scenery and villages.
You could always commission a dance performance if no singsings happen during your visit. Tari is indeed a good area to aim for.

If I had to skip something, it would be the Solomons due to the added expense of getting there.

You'd be lucky to see kangaroos or wallabies in those areas.
In fact I think the only region of New Guinea where they are easy to see is the SW corner of PNG and the neighboring SE corner of Indonesian Papua, where Agile Wallabies are quite numerous in open habitat.
But you might as well just see them much more easily in Australia.

Thanks Laszlo!

Can anyone say something about diving these areas?

Kimbe Bay sounds appealing - I read about hammerheads, orcas, whales - though visibility will be lower in March/April and I don't know how common it is to encounter those creatures...

Can anyone recommend affordable (I know...) tour operators doing the Sepik? I am afraid that I will lose much time if I start looking for specific guides only when I am at the spot...

I can speak only on diving in these areas; haven't done a sepik tour or played up in the Highlands.
Best diving was definitely in Kimbe -- hammerheads on each dive, amazing coral, turtles, loads of barracudas, and great snorkeling if you're tired or don't want to go out too far. The folks at Tawali know where to take you every time, and are professional with their gear and boats. Milne Bay also a close second for what to see, but we didn't enjoy the area as much, or the staff. Could have just had a bad run, though.
No orcas or whales anywhere in 4 years here, but perhaps I just missed the season...

Kimbe really sounds tempting... Have you been there in April as well?

Yup, right around Easter so same season. Visibility is amazing, so even if it's stormy (it is now), you'll still get good dives.

Diving Rabaul

http://www.hesawyer.com/rabaul.html

Diving New Hanover

http://www.hesawyer.com/out-there.html

Diving Tufi

http://www.hesawyer.com/10-minutes.html

Diving Moresby

http://www.hesawyer.com/to-dive-for.html

I have dived Madang - back in 02, & Kavieng - but didn't do write ups.

Rabaul is well worth it - have a go on the house reef & macro with Stephen who will also take you to the wrecks. New Hanover & Tufi will be expensive - I don't know how deep your pockets are. But seriously the 2 wrecks at Morseby are well worth it.

I also dived Solomons back in 06 - Marovo is amazing - you can have hour long dives there - plenty to see towards the end of the dive off the house reef at 6m - Iron Bottom Sound is very deep - so unless you are Trim qualified you won't be on the bottom very long - but the Ward is awesome

Again this was before I did write ups, so nothing for you to look at

But I agree with Las - I too would skip Sols & just spend 4 quality weeks in PNG - you cut down on the number of traveling days & if you are flying then obviously you have to be out the water log beforehand

There is plenty for you to do in 4 weeks in PNG - I've done 2 x 4 week trips there & will be going for a third in a few years time