Milne Bay

DIVING Milne Bay lies on the south-eastern of mainland PNG, between the Solomon Sea and the Coral Sea to the south.  The land itself is lushly beautiful, dotted with enticing beaches and picturesque villages. Milne Bay offers great diving diversity: some wonderful critters and muck diving;  spectacular coral walls and both oceanic and patch reefs with super visibility; a short pass with exciting currents; all this topped off by some world-class wreck diving and a Manta Ray cleaning station! Our Milne Bay Options: Tawali Resort Chertan Liveaboard Golden Dawn Liveaboard Let's start with the Mantas.  A dive known as Giants at Home is a cleaning station in shallow, protected waters. Often more than a dozen Mantas with wing-spans of 3-4 meters laze around patiently awaiting their turn for a cleaning. Another favorite dive is affectionately known as The Washing Machine.  Located in China Strait, it's name pretty well tells you about the dive.  It's a short but exciting ride through this passage and divers love it. Wahoo Point, on the north side of the mainland , has a fabulous drop-off, giving divers access to blue water and some potent pelagic action - more Mantas, plus hammerheads, and reported sightings from time to time of Whale Sharks, Minke Whales and even Orcas. Get your wide-angel lens ready. Banana Bommie is another good place for wide-angle. You get small creatures in the reef itself, but plenty of Trevally, batfish and the occasional grey reef sharks tossed in. At the other end of the photography spectrum, macro photographers will find countless smashing sites for composing award-winning shots.  Dinah's Beach, Deacon's Reef, Observation Point and Kathy's Corner, just to name a few, will present you with brilliant corals, multi-hued reef fish and an infinite variety of captivating creatures: Ghost Pipefish, Spanish Dancers, mantis shrimps, frogfish, juvenile batfish, mimic octopus, Dwarf Lionfish, Leaf Scorpionfish amongst many species of Scorpionfish, and oh, so much more. Last, but not least, is the haunting dive known as Black Jack, where one of the world’s best preserved plane wrecks can be found. Since its demise in 1943, this large, four-engined WWII plane sits exactly upright and is completely intact, with all engines and loaded gun turrets still in place. The water here tends to be very clear, so despite sitting in over 30m of water the wreck can often be seen in its entirety. It is now encrusted with lovely corals and is home to plenty of interesting marine life. The Milne Bay area can be dived all year round, with November to February bringing the very best diving conditions and May to September bringing the heaviest rainfall. THE RESORT Tucked away, only accessible by boat, sits the beautiful Tawali Resort. Located on a volcanic bluff overlooking the clear protected waters of Milne Bay, Tawali offers travelers a pristine location to dive, relax and enjoy the unspoiled wonders of this magnificent part of the world. ACCOMMODATION Overlooking the bay of reef-fringed, deep blue water, and framed by stands of tall tropical trees the resorts offers covered walkways and huge, comfortable rooms.  You'll find two queen sized beds, air conditioning, ceiling fan, minibar, fridge, safe, a well-appointed modern bathroom.  Each room has its own perfectly private balcony. DIVING   Diving from Tawali is done in Milne Bay and may include some of the sites listed - while others may be accessible only by liveaboard.  Some of the sites Tawali lists as their favorites we have included below, giving you a good overview of the variety of dives you can expect.   Cobb’s Cliff Steep drop off on one side down to 150+' rising to just 20' below the surface and dropping back in the center to a sandy lagoon to 60'. This site is frequently visited by large pelagics such as Manta Rays and Hammerhead Sharks and  a variety of macro subjects such as leaf scorpion fish, Rhinopious, Blue Ribbon Eels, Elegant Fire Gobys, and much more. Lauadi Dive A: Incredible collection of cleaning stations. The site also has a variety of octopuses and other critters: Blue Ribbon Eels, Cuttle fish, Lion fish, a huge variety of Nudibranchs, Manta Shrimps, Mandarin fish, Frog fish, Sea horses, the list goes on and on. Dive B: Wide angle photographers can swim amongst a large variety of large sea fans which grow 30' below the surface, under the jungle canopy. This site is often visited by Hammerhead Sharks and Whale sharks. Here also, guests have the opportunity for walks into the village, skull caves or even a jungle walk to a beautiful waterfall. Observation Point A true rubble dive. Sand slopes going down 100' host snake eels, Star Gazers, Pipe fish, Flamboyant cuttle fish, Mimic Octopus, Spanish Dancers, Cuttle fish, Fire urchins with Coleman shrimp and the Bugs Bunny Scorpion fish. Sponge Heaven A sheer wall starting at 2' below the surface dropping to 200+' Honey combed with small caves. Huge variety of sponges and home to a variety of Nudibranchs, including the large Spanish Dancer. Beautiful night dive. Pelagic Point This dive site has relatively strong current and because of this there are large quantities of fish patrolling a steep wall dropping off to 130 feet. Sharks are often sighted on this site. The top of the reef which is approximately 215 feet, has a large number of bommies hosting a magnificent variety of sea life, ie: crabs, rays, rays not to mention all the fish. WHAT'S INCLUDED? Tawali Resort offers 6, 7, 10, 12 and 14 night packages.  Package rates include accommodation and meals. Tawali also offers Beach House accommodation. Rates include accommodations only and for bookings over 7 days, round trip transfers. Meals, diving, taxes, etc are extra. In addition there is an Ocean-View Villa.  Rate scheme is the same as for the Beach House. EXTRAS Diving and nitrox are not included in the accommodation packages and are offered as reasonable rates Government taxes, round trip transfers, reef and chamber fees for divers, and fuel surcharge HOW TO GET THERE   The International Airport is located at Port Moresby. Qantas Airways, Airlines PNG and Air Niugini have daily flights from Australia to Port Moresby. There are also weekly flights from Nadi, Fiji, Honiara, Solomon Islands, Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo. From Port Moresby there is daily air service to Gurney airport in Alotau, Milne Bay Province. Once in Alotau, guests will be picked up and escorted to Tawali resort by bus and boat. Reaching Tawali takes about a hour and fifteen minutes by bus and boat transport. Back to Papua New Guinea main page Contact us for additional details or to book spaces