Trip report 4 weeks PNG (Aug-Sep 18), Part 3/4: Rabaul + Kokopo area

Part 3/4: Rabaul + Kokopo
I was especially excited to travel to Rabaul as I had an uncle who was living in this area as a priest for 40 years. There are still people living who I know, so I was staying with my relatives in Vunapope (basically a part of Kokopo) and not in a Hotel.

Kokopo:
This is the new center of Gazelle peninsula. Traveling from the airport to the center takes about 20 min. There are several beach front hotels, but they can be quite expensive.

Local transport is not expensive. There are dedicated PMV stops, but you can always try to stop a PMV in the road. The PMVs are numbered with fixed routes. From Kokopo to Rabaul in a PMV I paid about 3.5 – 5 Kina. The trip takes approx. 1 hour and you will pass by some nice lookouts such as blue lagoon lookout (you can ask the driver to have a quick stop for a picture – if you are lucky, they are that nice to you).

At the beach near to the main market you will also find the boats going to and coming from Uluputur on New Ireland (70 K for 3 hrs trip in banana boat). If you decide to do this trip, take the earliest boats possible to have calm see. If you travel during noon, you can have high waves and an extremely painful, rough and dangerous boat ride (in case, take care of breakable thinks such as camera etc. as the boats will jump and crash very hard back on the waves).

Traveling overland on Gazelle peninsula is also possible by PMV e.g. to go to Kabaira. However, transport options are limited and do not run as frequently as between Rabaul and Kokopo. Probably you will have to stay a night in Kabaira if you do not have your own car.

Overland travel e.g. from Rabaul to Kimbe is also possible today. There are PMVs leaving from Rabaul. Ask around for them. As it is not a sealed road but at some parts a dirt track, it can take a long day to travel there. There are also some rivers to cross by the cars and if there is high water, this will not be possible. Thus, it´s an adventure for which you will need to bring some time. I did not do this myself, but I am sure, it’s a cool trip!

Kokopo has a nice local market which is really worth a visit! Try the delicious local food such as different kinds of Totongor (meat, fish, chicken or sweet potato with rice and cooking bananas cooked in coconut sauce and wrapped in a palm leave) and the fresh fruits!
If you are brave, you can also find some grilled Sago maggots for a try ;-)

On approx. half way between Kokopo and the airport you will find the Rapopo Plantation resort were Rabaul-Kokopo dive is located. They have good equipment and reliable guides. Check out their website for prices.
Diving in Rabaul and Kokopo area is superb! The water temperature was 29°C on a depth of 32 m and the visibility exceeded 40 m when I was there! Absolutely fantastic! And there are stunning wrecks! I liked Atun wreck near Small Pigeon island (which also can be seen while snorkeling). Small and Big Pigeon island also offer great wall dives!
I also strongly recommend to do the dolphin swim with Rabaul-Kokopo dive in the morning at 7:00 am. With mask and snorkel, you will hang outside the boat on a rubber rope, which slowly drags you through the water and you can see plenty of dolphins (groups up to 50+ animals) jumping and swimming in front of you and the boat. They seem to enjoy it and I did enjoy it for sure! Great experience!

Rabaul:
The LP guidebook gives a good overview of things to do in Rabaul. There are several WWII relicts, bunkers and Japanese tunnels to visit as well as mountains to climb.

If you have some more time, you can visit a place called Submarine base at the northern tip of the peninsula where you will find a fully equipped Japanese bunker system from the old days.

Obviously, a great thing to do is to visit the hot springs and to climb Tavurvur volcano. Near the hot springs there are “guides” hanging around who will ask you for 50K per person. They do not look official, but are very persistent and will not let you climb the volcano without them, thus make everybody visiting the volcano pay 50K. The price splits into 30K climbing the volcano and 20K visiting the megapode colonies. I recommend paying a visit to the place where the birds nest and hide their eggs in deep holes in the volcanic ground. People from Matupit island go there to dig for the eggs. Every family has their own set of nests where they are allowed to dig and the permission is given from father to the sons and further.
During mid-day, it can be very hot on and around the volcano, so take sufficient water and sun protection with you. The walk from the hot springs and the climb will take you about 1 hour one way. It will take 30 more minutes one way to walk near the beach partly around the volcano for finding the megapode nests.

From Tavuruvur, but also from the other volcanos, you will have a great view on the surrounding area.
I also liked the view from the volcano observatory on the mountain behind Rabaul very much as it offers a view of the town together with Simpsons harbor, the bee-hive rocks and Tavuruvur all together. Furthermore, this gives you the interesting possibility to visit the observatory.

The local market in Rabaul is interesting to visit but not as nice or big as the one in Kokopo.

If interested in pictures of my trip, check out Part 1/4.
To continue on Part 4/4: New Ireland (Kavieng + Boluminski Hwy), see the respective forum entry.

Best,
Alex

Thank you so much for all these reports. It is good to know that the coral near Vunapope is still wonderful.

Very good report! I was trying to find information about things to do in this area. What do you think about the cities of Kokopo and Rabaul themselves? Interesting to walk around for those interested in photography and meeting local people?

both very interesting and pretty safe to walk around - kokopo is a busy commercial town
with a large market - rabaul is now much smaller as most of the town was buried by ash
so it provides a fascinating sight where the old buildings have been dug out - lots of WWII
remains all over as well and the volcano itself of course

Thanks Majordom. I am considering either 4-5 days in Goroka and 5-6 days in Rabaul area, or to spend my 11 days in Rabaul/Kokopo. Do you think 11 days is too much for the area? Mainly bearing in mind that we will happen to be there during the Mask Festival, so 2-3 days will be spend in Kokopo for the festival itself. Thanks again!

i would definitely say split between the 2 as they are very different

PNG rewards longer stays so you can ask around and find out by word of mouth about places and events
(initiations, singsings, weddings, funerals, concerts etc) - with a short stay you can be unlucky and find
yourself holed up due to bad weather or tribal violence and get to see and participate in very little

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