Solomon Islands to PNG

Hello,
I just returned from one month trip to Solomon Islands and PNG. It was difficult for me to find the information about the crossing from Solomons to PNG so I would like to share with you my experience.

In Solomon Islands, there is one immigration officer in Noro, but when I contacted him he sent me to his collegue in Gizo. The name of the immigration officer in Gizo is Billy tel 60821, he put the exit stamp in my passport and requested a fee for it which I refused. His office is in the center close to the bank.
I took the flight from Gizo to Ballalae. I strongly advise you to take the flight when you go to the Shortlands. The sea between Gizo and Shortland can be very rough and there are a lot of accidents. Just one week before my arrival one local banana boat going from Shortlands to Gizo drowned killing 4 passengers. The others spend 2 days in the water before they were found.
In Ballalae you can easily find the transport with other passengers from the flight to the Nila mission on Poporang Island. In Nila mission there is a basic guesthouse running by the sisters (100 SBD). There is no restaurant on the island, but you can ask sisters to cook for you. There are very few people going this way and the locals are very helpful and interested in every tourist they meet. Shortlands were a highlight of my trip to Solomons.

Before going to Bougainville I suggest you to go around the island. You will find a lot of Japanese war scrap. There is one aircraft in the village that locals use as a storage room.
There is a local boat going to the market in Buin on Bougainville on Saturday morning. I was short of time so I went to Bougainville on Friday morining in a private boat (400 SBD). The trip takes 90 minutes, on the way I had excellent view of Bougainville with its volcanos. I landed on Kangu beach in Bougainville and hitchhiked 13km to Buin. In Buin I registered with police, they checked my PNG visa. There is no possibility to get PNG visa on arrival. I changed my solomon dollars for kina with solomon woman living in Buin (100 SBD=30 kina). When I was there, the BSP bank was preparing opening of a local agency. You will find PMV to Arawa in the morning, it takes 4 to 5 hours. In Arawa there are ATMs so you can get kinas if you didn't do it in Buin. From Arawa there is a PMV to Buka at 3:30 arrives at 7:30. In Buka you need to go to the immigration office for the entry stamp. The immigration office is in the town, next to the Air Nuigini. I was there during the weekend but in this case you can call the immigration officer - Mr Bennett tel 71357730. He can come and meet you but in this case you need to give him something extra for this service.

Hope it helps

Lukasz

Nice to hear that this crossing is now getting more "properly legal", with exit and entry stamps available without fuss.

NICE

DONT FORGET TO SAY THAT BOUGAINVILLE IS CRAZY EXPENSIVE

IN ARAWA 170 KINAS MINIMUM FOR SLEEPING

50 KINAS FOR ARAWA BUKA 1 WAY

Thank you for report.
It would be interesting to know where you got your PNG visa. When I applied for a PNG visa some years ago in Honiara they were very specific the land route to Bougainville is NOT open for foreigners. Only with a airticket Honiara to Pt.Moresby and letter of introduction from the German honourary consul in Honiara I got the PNG visa in Honiara.

I got my PNG visa in Belgium, it took just 2 days to process it.
It is important to know that when you take the flight to Solomons the airlines will check that you have the return ticket before letting you board the plane. I bought Honiara - Port Moresby ticket with Air Niugini that I cancelled and got reimbursed once I was in Solomons.

Lukasz

When I applied for a PNG visa+ some years ago +in Honiara they were very specific the land route to Bougainville is NOT open for foreigners
The operative phrase here is "Some years ago". Things have changed considerably in Solomon Islands over the last ten years, and security is a much less serious concern now than it was some years ago. Same for the rest of the country, and especially the Bougainville border.

I'm thinking of doing this same run - Solomon's to Bougainville via Gizo/Shortlands.

The flights from Honiara to Gizo are insane from flysolomons - around AUD500 round trip. Are there any other airlines doing this route which might be cheaper? I'm thinking of something like the missionary airlines that run in PNG.

Thanks!!

Try boats.

The only missionary airline that ever ran in Solomon Islands was run by the Adventists, and has not been operating for more than 10 years. However, Express, a fast boat, leaves Honiara about 7am every Sunday, and arrives in Gizo that evening. There are also other slower boats.

Oh awesome - any idea how much the Express from Honiara to Gizo costs?