It is often claimed that Port Moresby is the best
capital city in the world for diving. In fact, after 3 years
of living and diving in Port Moresby, we totally agree.
You don't have to go far in PNG to get great diving, great
reefs and wrecks with rare species of fish are easily accessible
from Port Moresby. We recommend starting here.
Diving the reefs around Port Moresby is great for novice
to experienced divers. The reefs close to Port Moresby are
accessible all year round. Water temperatures range from
24 C (76 F) in August and September up to 29 C (86 F) in
March and April.
Port Moresby is the starting point for excursions to the
Eastern Fields Reefs and Portlock Reef in the Coral Sea.
These reefs are 170 km south west of Port Moresby, only
accessible by live aboard. Located between Papua New Guinea
and Australia, the Eastern Fields are a truly unspoiled
part of the Coral Sea. Eastern Fields sometimes experiences
quite strong currents, it is an area for experienced divers.
Eastern Fields excursions are possible November - December
and April - May.
How To Get There
There are direct flights to Port Moresby from three airports
in Australia: Cairns (daily), Brisbane (3 per week) and
Sydney (2 per week). You can also fly directly to Port Moresby
from Singapore (2 per week), Manila (1 per week) and Honiara
(1 per week).
If you go diving from here there is no need for onward flights
- which is necessary for all other destinations in PNG.
Most of the coastal diving is arranged from Loloata Island,
20 min South from the airport. The boat rides to the reef
take anywhere between 10 minutes and 1 hour.
Eastern Fields and Portlock Reef are 170 km south west
of Port Moresby. It takes about 10-12 hours by boat from
Port Moresby to get there.
Diving
Port Moresby: Diving in the Port Moresby area is
possible with day vessels. You can stay nearby on Loloata
Island, which has its own dive shop. This is our first recommendation.
Eastern Fields: can only be accessed by extended
live-aboard dive cruises. There is one live aboard boat,
the Golden Dawn, which offers excursions to the Eastern
Fields starting in Port Moresby.
This is our "home turf". Dirk and Claudia dived
here regularly for 3 years when they lived in PNG and still
love it. There are about 30 charted dive locations in close
distance to Port Moresby and nearby Bootless Bay, which
offer wreck and reef diving in calm waters with sometimes
slight currents. The reefs and wrecks are in sport diving
ranges, between 10 and 40 metres approximately. Also on
offer are some very enjoyable shallow dives, such as the
Lion Island "muck dive site" where you can encounter
a lot of critters in the sand and gravel.
- Pacific Gas: There is a very nice wreck to dive
at- the "Pacific Gas". She lies between 15 and
43 metres, with the mast at 14 metres. On the whole shipwreck,
but particularly on its mast, the coral growth is impressive.
Divers can penetrate parts of the wreck quite easily,
for example the bridge at 25 metres. There is a large
number of lionfish at the wreck, sometimes 12 or more
are hovering at one spot…beautiful.
- Pai II:The "PAI II", an ex fish trawler
at 30 metres, is worth a few dives. The wreck is upright
on the ocean floor, one of the masts reaches up to 10
metres. The coral growth and fish life on the wreck is
enormous. A huge puffer fish and a large grouper are "permanent
residents" here. The nearby reef is pretty, and ideal
for a safety stop. Both The "Pacific Gas" as
well as the "Pai II" have been sunk by Bob Halstead
and are now overgrown with corals and teeming with fish
life.
- End Bommie: At the "End Bommie" you
can sometimes find the "Rhinopius" and the Pygmy
seahorse. The reef walls are overgrown with gorgonians,
and with currents there, is abundant with fish life.
- Suzies Bommie: "Suzies Bommie" is a
pristine bommie situated on white sand with a plethora
of corals and fish life. This is a good site for the Pygmy
Seahorses and a real treat for macro photographers!
- Lion Island: There is great "muck diving"
on the sandy slope at Lion Island. Rarely seen creatures
are plentiful here, such as: crocodilefish and ghost pipefish.
Eastern Fields
Located between Papua New Guinea and Australia, the Eastern
Fields are a truly unspoiled part of the Coral Sea. Eastern
Fields is a submerged atoll rising from over 1200 metres
(4000 feet)! The reef system belongs to Papua New Guinea,
so no Australian boat is allowed to enter these waters.
This atoll stretches over an area of 20 km by 5 km with
many channels offering safe access to the lagoon. Uncountable
species of soft and hard corals, whips and sponges, awesome
visibility (around 60 metres) and amazing and very dense
fish life can be experienced here.
At "Craig's Ultimate" you may encounter schools
of scalloped hammerhead sharks and even the seldom seen
great hammerhead shark. At "Jay's Reef" you may
see up to 20 (!) silvertip sharks during a feeding. Another
fantastic dive site is "Carl's Ultimate Reef".
On a single dive, nature shows you everything you can imagine
about tropical diving.
On the "pelagic side of things", some sharks
that are rarely seen are encountered here at the Eastern
Fields: The great hammerhead, tasselled wobbegongs, epaulette
sharks and leopard sharks. Huge schools of dog tooth tuna,
yellow fin tuna, mackerel and barracuda are common here.
The Eastern Fields have a lot to offer: swim-throughs, caverns
and overhangs overgrown with huge soft corals. Shark feeds
with silvertip sharks, hammerheads and grey reef sharks,
thrilling drift dives, you can have it all.
Golden Dawn is the only boat that visits this area, approximately
eight times per year. Perhaps a private yacht might get
lost here sometimes, that's about it!
We (Dirk and Claudia) are two of a few lucky ones, who assisted
in exploring these reefs in the early 1990s with Craig DeWit
(owner of the Golden Dawn), before he offered the trips
to the international market. It was some of the very best
diving we ever encountered.
Other Activities
Port Moresby is not a place that naturally attracts tourists.
The town has a lot of social problems which make some areas
unsafe to visit.
There are however, some very scenic locations. There is
the National Museum and some excellent art & craft shops
which make for a good half day exploration of town as part
of an organised tour.
Outside of town, high up on the mountains is Varirata National
Park, an excellent place to watch PNG's birdlife and dense
rainforest. Up here also is the end of the famous KOKODA
TRAIL which is popular with hikers from Australia.
Live Aboard Dive Operators
Resorts
Hotels
Independent
