The Witu Islands... As they say in the real estate business – location, location, location… And it is Papua New Guinea’s location astride the Equator and at the end of what was historically referred to as the Malay Archipelago, that puts it right in the middle of the greatest marine biodiversity on earth - the Coral Triangle. The country occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea (the second largest in the world after Greenland). Plus the many islands of the Bismarck and Louisiade Archipelagos. And… because it straddles the Equator. PNG is exposed to both the Northern and Southern Equatorial Currents. Plus the …
Milne Bay
Diving Milne Bay in PNG
Diving Milne Bay in PNG... This large bay on the eastern tip of the Papua New Guinea’s “mainland” is what first brought the country to the attention of travelling divers and underwater photographers around the world. The first articles and images started to appear in the mid-1980’s. Still the very early days of liveaboards in exotic locations that few people had actually heard of… And yet here was this British ex-schoolteacher on board a locally built, custom dive vessel exploring a place called Milne Bay in a country named PNG. His name was Bob Halstead. And together with his then wife Dinah, they established the first …
Diving the North Coast of Milne Bay
Diving the North Coast of Milne Bay... I am often asked why I like Papua New Guinea so much. And the honest answer is, as they say in the movies, it’s complicated! First of all, for me PNG is a wild and adventurous place. And as an Australian I often describe it as “our Africa…” In that it has such amazing topographic and cultural difference to Australia. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and near the epicenter of the Coral Triangle bless it with incredible biodiversity both above and below the water. It has a very special and almost unique tribal system, that is both the social glue that holds the county together. And yet …
The Complete Milne Bay Scuba Diving Guide
The Complete Milne Bay Scuba Diving Guide... A comprehensive guide to help you plan your trip to this incredible area of Papua New Guinea. Milne Bay is what put PNG on the radar of traveling divers and underwater photographers the world over. That was way back in the 1990's - but the diving is still as good as it always was! Milne Bay offers everything from black sand critter sites to manta ray cleaning stations. Simply stated, it is a tremendous place to go scuba diving! Milne Bay scuba diving was pioneered by Bob and Dinah Halstead with their liveaboard dive boat MV Telita. Liveaboards were just coming in to vogue about then …
The Manta Rays of Milne Bay
Milne Bay Manta Rays - At the southern end of the China Strait is a small island called Gonu Bara Bara. It is quite simply the best place in the whole province to see the manta rays. In fact it is probably the best place in all of Papua New Guinea to see these wonderful creatures!. From a distance there is little to distinguish the island from the myriad of others in this part of southern Milne Bay Province. Reef manta rays - Manta alfredi - had been known to patrol its northern beach of Gonu Bara Bara for many years. But all attempts to try and interact with them were random at best.... Maybe you would see one or more, maybe you …
Lauadi – Deacon’s Reef Article
Deacon's Reef was what started me on my personal journey (obsession...) to dive Papua New Guinea! And I can still remember the catalytic moment in late April 1988. I was living with my young family on the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf and working in the oil and gas industry. Every month my issue of National Geographic magazine would appear in our post office box. And I would devour it from cover to cover – filling my head with exotic locations for the future. But the April issue was really something special. As the front cover had a stunning image of an underwater WWII aircraft wreck. Which was part of an article by …