Solomon Islands - General info

Hello

After being in the Pacific ( Vanuatu ), I would like to come back to another destination. I have been thinking about the Solomon Islands this time. If any of you were in Vanuatu by chance, how would you compare the both ? I am specially interested in visiting remote tribal villages, doing treks and spending time in nice beaches.
Are the Solomons are safe to travel ? I've read that there were ethnic problems espcialy in the capital's vicinity.
I have found Vanuatu quite peaceful and hassle free. What would you say about the Solomons ?

Thank You
Eli

You will not find traditional full-kastom villages like those in Vanuatu in the Solomons except in one part of Malaita (and even there only women wear kastom dress), and those are VERY unfriendly.
In general, you will find the people far more materialistic and "worldly", though due to poverty, the villages themselves tend to remain quite "rustic" with leaf houses and wooden canoes.
Trekking possibilities and nice beaches certainly abound.

The ethnic problems are mostly history now, however I found theft and cheating more of an issue than anywhere in the region besides Samoa. It is nothing like Vanuatu in this respect!

The part of Melanesia most similar to Vanuatu would be the island provinces of PNG, notably New Ireland, but also New Britain and I am quite certain Manus or Milne Bay (where I have not been yet). There you'd find the same laid-back attitudes and even the same style of Mother Hubbard island dresses and Pidgin music.
Solomon Islanders by and large wear Western dress and prefer English music.

Hi there,
I would say the Solomons is very peaceful, although I have heard of some petty crime in the capital. There are plenty of villages still living by traditional livelihoods in the provinces. I would suggest getting out of the major towns and tourist resorts.
One great location is the Arnavon Islands. It is a marine reserve and has spectacular beaches and nice diving which sounds like your 'cup of tea'. There is also some great trekking in the nearby Choisuel and Isabel Provinces, or on Kolombangara in Western Province, if you are willing to go a bit intrepid.
I highly reccommend the Solomons overall.

Regards

Hello Laszlo,
When you said that the people are extremely unfriendly, did you mean the people living in Malatia or was it a general remark ?
My overall impression of the Ni-vans was that they were very nice and friendly. Is it the same concerning the people of the Solomons ?
What was your general impression of the Solomons compared to Vanuatu ?

Thank you guys for your answers.

The extreme unfriendliness was only about those "traditional" bush Kwaio of Malaita. The rest of Malaitans were among the friendliest Solomon Islanders in my experience.
As I had already said, Solomon Islanders are NOT the same as Ni-Vans, they are quite different.
I have already given my general impression above.

You can't really generalise either Solomon Islands or Vanuatu - Solomons has about 80 distinct cultures, and I believe Vanuatu has a few more than that.
I have been travelling to the less frequented parts of Malaita for over 20 ears now, and find I have been well-looked after by locals everywhere I have been (though I haven''t been to inland Lwaio villages).
Of the areas I have been, the Lau Lagoon would have the most traditional lifestyle, as the people still live on their artificial islands, and continue to build them as their ancestors did.
Other interestign areas: Tikopia and Ontong Java (traditional Polynesian areas, but hard to get to unless you are lucky enough to find a boat going when you want to); Santa Ana (off the south of Makira Island) and the Reef Islands, which are remote enough to rarely get overseas visitors.

The unfriendliness that can be encountered in Kwaio on Malaita is in East Kwaio, not West Kwaio. Lucky for me I have friends from E. Kwaio and I found the people in the two E. Kwaio villages I stayed in to be almost friendlier than elsewhere in Solomons, but perhaps that's because I have an "in" to the area. They were also seaside villages, not inland bush villages. The inland bush village I visited was welcoming as well, but probably only because I was taken there by locals known to the villagers. They stuck to kastom values but not kastom dress. Malaita is a friendly island, as are all the other islands with, maybe, the exception of the Shortland Islands.

Solomons is peaceful, even when I went there once during the "troubles" and again just after the signing of the Peace Accord, the violence of the time was not aimed at foreigners, it was between the Malas and the Guales. There has been an increase in petty crime in Honiara and, I suspect, in Auki on Malaita as well; not sure about the latter. I've not run into the cheating and theft mentioned by Laszlo although I know it exists. Perhaps one or two who wanted something for nothing, but the were easy enough to dissuade. Like Laszlo, I only saw women in kastom dress, but a friend of mine trekked past E. Kwaio bush villages were both men and women were kastom (he was not allowed into the villages). But 'kastom' dress is not the norm. I've seen more kastom women on Savo than on Malaita, but that might have changed by now as well.

I found ni-Vanuatuans friendly as well, but not as friendly as Solomon Islanders, however I haven't stayed in Vanuatu long enough to make friends so my experience there is totally different to all my experiences in Solomons.

I wonder if my being a single female travelling alone brings out the best in Solomon Islanders (very protective), while Laszlo, being male, met the other side. Who knows.

Thank you for your reply, Watsoff.
I really think of the Solomons as my next destination but I am not really sure about it. I just wanted to hear recommendations. I am really in favour of traditional villages but it seems to me it is not a very common sight in the Solomons nowadays. Is it ?
What was your general impression of the Solomon islands ? Will you recommend it ?

I highly recommend Solomons, it's my favourite destination, however it's not for everyone. Laszlo has good points in respects to Vanuatu, which also has a slightly more favourable climate and doesn't have as bad a malaria problem as Solomons. And PNG, which is still a place for adventure (I've only been to Port Moresby so can't offer any insight). He's right, won't find many traditional villages in Solomons, not the kind that one associates with, say, PNG, other than in the deeps of E. Kwaio where it is highly unlikely you'll be able to visit. Vanuatu might be a better bet on that score. You can stay in villages, though, and all the islands, Malaita in particular, are pretty much kastom-bound, but more modern with it. Ozzie has good suggestions as well; unfortunately (for me) I've not been to the places she mentions but I've always wanted to and plan to do so, sometime.

So, that just muddle things up even more :-)) Something else in Solomon's favour ... you can travel by inter-island ferry (as well as by plane) from Honiara to almost all the major spots in SI, whereas in Vanuatu and PNG you need to fly from island to island. A ferry trip is a great way to meet locals.

Actually in Vanuatu it is definitely possible to travel between islands by boat, and in general this can be easier than to most outer islands in the Solomons (except to places like Malaita and Gizo), with shorter distances and more frequent sailings.

In PNG it is also possible in general, though it has recently been reported here that one (!) of the major shipping companies no longer accepts tourists.
Ships in PNG tend to be slightly more comfortable than most in Vanuatu or the Solomons.

As for full-kastom villages - even in PNG these would be VERY hard to find, if at all possible. To "muddle things up even more", neighbouring West Papua offers that kind of thing better (though less and less) - read the Papua link in my signo line for more on that.
But overall, Vanuatu is definitely the best place in the whole of Melanesia for this kind of experience by far, no other place comes close it.

When it comes to hiking possibilities, obviously PNG, with its much larger size and mountains reaching 4000 metres is the undisputed king among the Pacific island nations (though again, West Papua is similar), with New Caledonia being the runner-up, I'd say.

Since OG has mentioned cultural diversity - the main way to try and measure this objectively is by the number of languages spoken in each country, with each language basically representing a different ethnic group thus culture.
The listed numbers for Melanesia are:
PNG: 841 (highest number in the world)
West Papua: 276
Vanuatu: 110 (the highest number per population in the world)
Solomons: 74
New Caledonia: 41
Fiji: 10
source

I have recently heard that one of the Manly ferries from Sydney is going to Honiara to do regular trips to Kira Kira and Gizo.
Three of the most traditional places in Solomon Islands are the Polynesian outliers, Tikopia, Anuta and Ontong Java, where people still live in traditional houses, and the only permanent building permitted is the church. However, they are all very hard to get to.
If you are interested in Tikopian culture. though, there is a Tikopian village on Makira called Nukukaisi which is much more accessible. I have been through it a couple of times, but not stayed.

My bad, I was under the impression (from previous postings) that it wasn't feasible to travel from island to island by ferry in Vanuatu and PNG. Ferry travel wasn't easily available when I was in Vanuatu years ago. My mistake.

Hello again to all,
Lazslo, I am not particularly prefer the Malenisian countries over the others. I have seen from your travel tips that Kiribati still preserves its tradition life style in many places and is not touristic as Fiji is. So do you think that Kiribati will meet my expectations ?

If your idea of "traditional life" involves people wearing traditional dress, then definitely NOT. And I just couldn't call the lifestyle there "tribal" by any stretch... rustic and traditional, sure.
And it doesn't exactly offer much in the way of hiking either...
It is less "touristy" than any of the Melanesian countries for sure, but that's because it has little to offer to most tourists.