A HIDDEN GEM FOR SCUBA DIVERS

The Solomon Islands offering a huge variety of attractions: historical WWII wrecks, lush coral reefs and different endemic species. One should wonder, why is it still undiscovered by the masses. Explore these outstanding place on your liveaboard trip.

The Solomon Islands are a sovereign state consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu and covering a land area of 28,400 square kilometres. Because the islands are so remote, they are still undiscovered and uncrowded – and they are part of the coral triangle.

But the remoteness is an advantage for the underwater world. There are plenty of tropical dive environments to discover including caverns, wrecks, coral reefs, walls with huge sea fans and even muck diving is possible. 

For wreck lovers the Solomon Islands are a special place to go. Plenty of WWII wrecks are waiting to be discovered. Most of the wrecks are in shallow areas, which makes them also interesting for recreational divers. Due to the lack of pressure, the wrecks are in a very good condition.

Apart from wrecks, divers might see pygmy seahorses, ghost pipefish, nudibranchs, xenon crabs, mantis shrimp, ribbon eels and hairy squat lobster. Clown fish, bumphead parrotfish and cuttlefish are commonly spotted. Schools of jacks, barracudas and tuna often approach from the blue. Lucky divers will spot reef sharks, napoleon wrasse and clusters of mantas.

BEST TIME TO DIVE IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

The Solomon Islands can be visited year-round. However, between January and April the monsoon season occurs, which brings rain and wind. June to August is the cooler month but the temperature never falls below 25 degrees in average. The water temperature keeps between 27°C and 31°C the whole year.

BEST DIVE SITES IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

Leru Cut is a dramatic underwater canyon that cuts Leru Island. Open to the air at the top, though you can’t always see vertically upwards, once at the end of the slot, you can surface and look up against vine-clad vertical rock walls.

Twin Tunnels are two big lava tubes tunnels of 120m in diameter are covered with fans and whip corals and surrounded by fish of every hue and schools of fusiliers. On the walls, look for the 9 different species of anemonefish, pygmy seahorses, cuttlefish, octopus, moray eels, just to mention a few. Other marine species are baitfish, kingfish or tuna.

Devil’s Highway has a resident population of manta rays that fly in the currents of these dive site to feed some plankton. The dive site is a shallow reef. Other pelagics can be spotted to, like sharks. You might need to hook into the reef to enjoy the adventure.

LIVEABOARDS IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

There are not many liveaboards operating in the Solomon Islands. That makes your dive safari to a very special trip with a lot of adventure feeling. It is definitely the best and most comfortable way to explore all the underwater gems.