Passenger ships from Port Moresby to Alotau

Hi

We are traveling to PNG in April this year and don't want to fly internally (just imagine the white knuckle scenario!) We fly into Port Moresby from Brisbane and want to go by ship around the coast to Alotau/Milne Bay. I can't find any information on line about it.

There was mention in the Lonely Planet that said The Morobe Queen travels from Alotau to Port Moresby, but I'm not sure if it goes the other way. I also can't confirm that this ship still runs and when it goes etc.

Hope you can help with any leads or suggestions, as we really DON'T want to fly internally.

Cheers, Margie

Margie/Owen

My experience has been that you may find traveling by coastal vessel around PNG could be much more of a "white knuckle" experience than
flying - but then again this depends on the individual. Almost all flights in PNG are either twin turbo prop or Jet, you would really have to be trying to gain access to some remote strip before you would encounter or have to use a single engine piston aircraft. The Gurney airstrip, which is the strip that gives you access to Alotau and Milne Bay area is an excellent strip and I would be hard pushed to describe a take off or landing on this strip as "white knuckle". The flying time is either 50 minutes or 1 hour depending on which airline/aircraft type you choose to take. Compare this with possibly an overnight trip slopping around at sea in a potentially unsanitary and possibly unsafe boat - guess it depends on what you like in terms of adventure, must admit to some curiosity as to why you would expect flying in PNG to be a "white knuckle" experience.

all the best.

Hi Margie,
Lucky you going to PNG. We just had a family holiday there with our 3 kids over a 2 month period. I'm not sure why you are worried about flying internally. Because roads are so random over there, we flew everywhere and had no dramas. I mean its less formal than say flying qantas but they're pretty good. We flew POM to Lae, Lae to Vanimo, Vanimo to POM, POM to Alotau and back and everything was good.

A friend we met over there did a ferry trip from Tufi to Alotau and it took 48 hours (sitting up mind you). She said it was one tough trip! Although you could probably do alot of the coast by boat it would be really adhoc, there would be lots of waiting around it would be REALLY hard. Everywhere by boat takes a long time. Everyone flies in PNG and it was a fun part of our trip as you clamber aboard with sugarcane checked on, bags of vegetables, whole watermelons in the overhead luggage, etc. We loved it.
While we were in Alotau, apparently the 'Alotau Queen' was doing runs between Moresby and Alotau, but again I think its a hard trip. We also took boat trips out to the islands (through the China Strait) such as Samurai and Gone Balabala (sp?) and they took a few hours just for those. Be prepared for sore bums.
In addition, I remember talking to someone over there about trips along the north coast and they take so long because they aren't tourist boats, they are predominantly for the locals and so stop at nearly EVERY village which means they take forever.
I hope this has helped but my feedback would be to definately fly and throw in some boat trips as well, but if you rely on boats, you'll really be restricted with time.
Have a great time,
Perky