Diving Kimbe Bay – this large and sheltered bay is considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of Papua New Guinea’s incredible biodiversity! Located on the north coast of New Britain, the largest of the many islands of the Bismarck Archipelago. Kimbe Bay enjoys a quite unique combination of circumstances, which have come together to create one of the richest and most biologically diverse marine environments in the world.
Surveys of that biodiversity have produced an astonishing array of statistics. With some 860 species of fish, 400 species of stony corals and 10 species of whales and dolphins identified!
The reasons for that amazing divergence can be boiled down to two basic things… Kimbe Bay’s geographic location and its underwater topography…
Geographically, Kimbe Bay is sheltered by the Willaumez Peninsular and touched by the nutrient rich currents of the Bismarck Sea.
While the features and contours of the bay create the perfect environment for nature to do what it does best!
Kimbe Bay is also wonderfully scenic above water… With its imposing array of volcanoes and the huge Dakataua caldera at the end of the Willaumez Peninsular. The sections below describe everything you need to know if you are considering a trip to Kimbe Bay. Please use the links provided to explore and learn about this very special area of Papua New Guinea.
The Complete Guide to Diving Kimbe Bay
Kimbe Bay Diving
Kimbe Bay diving… To understand why this bay is so special you need to gain a basic appreciation for its incredible biodiversity. And, most importantly, the reasons for that diversity. Which I have tried to provide an explaination of on the Kimbe Bay Biodiversity page. But, that …
Kimbe Bay Seamounts
Kimbe Bay Seamounts… These three sites are the most exciting, exhilarating and, from time to time, challenging dives in all of Kimbe Bay. Bradford Shoals, Inglis Shoals and Joel’s are located in the deepest areas of the bay, close to the open waters of the Bismarck Sea. And all three are …
Kimbe Bay Reefs
Kimbe Bay Reefs… With about 40 to choose from, Kimbe Bay offers an incredible array of reef diving. Most are patch-type reefs that grow on the ridges and platforms that rise up from the depths on the western side of the bay. While on the narrow shelf that runs around the coastline of the bay …
Kimbe Bay’s Zero Wreck
The Kimbe Bay Zero Wreck… As the story is told around the bar at Walindi, the day the Zero fighter was found was soon after a small plane had crashed on take-off from Hoskins Airport in Kimbe Bay. So when local villager William Nui saw the Zero laying on the sandy sea floor. He thought …
Kimbe Bay Biodiversity
Kimbe Bay Biodiversity… There is a line of thought among the marine scientific community that this large bay on the north coast of New Britain is probably where the first corals originated. A theory that has evolved as a result of the surveys conducted to assess and quantify the bay’s …
Conservation
Kimbe Bay Conservation… It’s a long journey from Papua New Guinea to the Red Sea. But the way the late Max Benjamin told the story, it took a trip to diving’s Mecca for him to fully appreciate what was beneath the surface of his own back yard. That was 1978 and Sharm El Sheik, at …
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