Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

New Ireland

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea

ok
Im intending on coming to PNG from December 22 till about jan 4.
Im not sure where I will be spending the first 5,6 days but im thinking maybe Tufi or Wewak/Madang area. I will be travelling with my gf and am mainly interested in coastal areas but would def be keen for a short 3/4 day trek along a river. Any recomendations would be welcomed. Im definately mainly interested in staying in villlage stays on the beach.
Basically my question relates to accommodation prices.
If i just rocked up would i be able to find nice accomodation at the village stays??? Ive just finished travelling tonga and samoa with no preperation and being able to stay in huts on the beach for 20 aust dollars a night including food. From what ive read it just doesnt seem to be an option in PNG.
Is this an option in PNG? Or is everything a tourist resort with bungalows that cost 60-100 aust dollars a night????
Been planning this for a while and have got the places mapped out were i want to stay but i dont want to go through all this trouble of organising accommodation if i can organise it with locals when I arrive?
And as far as New Ireland is concerned, would 12 days be too much or should i keep it 5 or 6 days there and 5 or 6 in wewak/medang/tufi (one of)
Thnaks for any info on the above
Much appreciated
Ed

Village guest houses on New Ireland have mostly standard rates of 50 Kina/night.
That's cheap for PNG - this is NOT Samoa or Tonga, sorry.
They'd make no money at the Samoan rates simply because they get far, far fewer tourists in PNG, and in general, everything is more expensive there.

Tourist resorts in PNG don't cost 60-100 AUD - they tend to cost more.

Kavieng has a very cheap church-run guest house for less than 20 Kina (see in LP) but that price is actually the lowest I found in all PNG.

If you want prices like in Samoa and Tonga, consider Fiji or perhaps the Solomons.

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