17 sites, described by ground and depth. What is found on each
one is not published — naming the exact spot a rare animal sits on is how it gets
crowded and moved on. The species recorded at this destination are listed below, and the
reasoning is set out in the editorial policy.
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Observation Point
Milne Bay · Boat · Black sand · 3–30 m
A dark volcanic sand slope running out from a curving village beach on the north coast of Milne Bay, shallow at the top and continuing down to about 30 metres, with coral rubble and small isolated patch reefs set into the sand.
Boats moor off the village. The ground is customarily owned, so a reef-use fee is paid to the landowners. Frequently dived after dark.
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Deacon's Reef
Milne Bay · Boat · Coral · 5–18 m
A coral reef on a headland beside Lauadi village, with the main structure between about 5 and 12 metres and a working maximum near 18 metres. Past that point the slope falls away rapidly into deep water.
Small boats tie to trees on the headland while larger vessels anchor offshore. A landowner reef fee applies, as it does throughout the north coast.
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Dinah's Beach (Lauadi)
Milne Bay · Boat · Black sand · 10–15 m
Black volcanic sand and silt in front of Lauadi village, falling away from the beach at roughly 30 degrees. The sand carries coral rubble and waterlogged tree trunks washed down from the land.
Most of the site is worked between 10 and 15 metres and the slope continues deeper without a confirmed dived limit. The village owns the ground and a fee is paid for access.
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Wahoo Point
Milne Bay · Boat · Wall · 5–40 m
A coral shelf at about 5 metres steps out to a slope at 18 metres, which then turns vertical and drops past 60 metres. The wall face is cut by small ledges.
The point sits directly against deep water, so it can carry current. Dived by boat from the Tawali area on the north coast.
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Black Jack (B-17F bomber)
Cape Vogel, Milne Bay · Boat · Wreck · 40–50 m
A Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress bomber, serial 41-24521, ditched in July 1943 after running out of fuel. It lies essentially upright and largely complete on a sand slope just off the fringing reef, with the nose crumpled by the landing and the tail the deepest part.
A permanent guide line runs from the reef at about 15 metres down the slope to the aircraft. Access is a two-hour open-water crossing of Collingwood Bay from Cape Nelson to Boga Boga village, weather permitting. Visibility often exceeds 40 metres.
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Cyclone Reef
Tufi, Oro Province · Boat · Coral · 5–40 m
An offshore coral seamount on the outer rim of the Tufi reef system, rising from a seabed of more than 200 metres to a reef flat about 5 metres below the surface, with a sheer wall on one side and a separate bommie alongside.
Between 5 and 10 nautical miles offshore and exposed to swell, so it needs settled weather. Visibility offshore is generally over 30 metres.
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Tufi Wharf (House Reef)
Tufi, Oro Province · Jetty · Black sand · 3–12 m
Dark silty sand under and around the resort jetty inside the Tufi fjord, a drowned river valley enclosed by steep volcanic ridges. The bottom holds jetty piles and scattered wartime metal debris, with the slope continuing below the dived area.
Entered directly from the jetty steps in front of the dive shop and sheltered from wind by the fjord walls. Water in the fjords is darker than offshore and run-off after rain reduces visibility further.
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S'Jacob
Tufi, Oro Province · Boat · Wreck · 30–49 m
A Dutch KPM cargo steamer of 2,839 tons and about 99 metres length, built in 1907 and hit by an aerial bomb in number three hatch on 8 March 1943. The hull lies upright on the bottom at about 49 metres with the funnel, wheelhouse, bridge machinery and propeller in place.
Nine nautical miles off Porlock Harbour and deeper than normal recreational limits, so it is run as a short deep dive in settled weather for experienced divers only.
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Bradford Shoals
Kimbe Bay, West New Britain · Boat · Coral · 20–40 m
An isolated seamount with twin summits at about 20 metres, capped in flat plating hard coral. The sides fall away steeply into water around 2,000 metres deep on all sides.
Offshore and unprotected, so it needs settled weather and is subject to current. Reached by boat from the Walindi area; most Kimbe Bay sites are within about an hour.
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Inglis Shoals
Kimbe Bay, West New Britain · Boat · Coral · 11–40 m
A seamount rising from very deep water to a peak at 11 to 14 metres. A narrow lip runs right around the mount at roughly 25 metres before the flanks drop away vertically.
Exposed offshore site subject to current and dependent on calm surface conditions.
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Susan's Reef
Kimbe Bay, West New Britain · Boat · Coral · 14–22 m
A submerged coral ridge joined to a larger reef by a saddle and a shallow channel. The worked section of the ridge lies between about 14 and 22 metres.
Within an hour by boat from Walindi. Visibility runs roughly 10 to 30 metres and drops after heavy rain because rivers off the Nakanai range put run-off into the bay.
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Submarine Base
Rabaul, East New Britain · Shore · Wall · 5–40 m
A vertical reef wall immediately off the shoreline at Tavui, dropping from a narrow reef top at about 5 metres to below 50 metres. Japanese submarines could lie alongside the wall in wartime because deep water reaches the shore, and tunnels were cut into the rock face above it.
Entered from the shore and normally dived as a drift along the wall. Reported visibility is 25 metres or more, which is better than the harbour sites inside the caldera.
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Hakkai Maru
Rabaul, East New Britain · Boat · Wreck · 25–30 m
A Japanese support ship of about 130 metres length, sunk on 17 January 1944 by an American skip-bombing attack in the harbour at Rabaul. It sits upright in 25 to 30 metres with the stern gun still mounted.
Inside the caldera the seabed is volcanic ash and black sand, so visibility on the harbour wrecks is markedly lower than on the outer coast. No tonnage or build year could be confirmed for this hull.
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Albatross Passage
Kavieng, New Ireland · Boat · Wall · 12–30 m
A wide tidal channel between the northern tip of New Ireland and the offshore islands. The reef is terraced into a broad semicircular amphitheatre, with an upper terrace at 10 to 12 metres, a sand plateau at about 30 metres, and further terraces stepping down below that.
Dived on the incoming tide, when ocean water fills the passage. On the outgoing tide visibility falls sharply, and the flow reverses several times a day.
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Echuca Patch and the Der Yang
Kavieng, New Ireland · Boat · Wreck · 12–34 m
A coral ridge outside the main entrance to Kavieng harbour, rising to about 12 metres. A long-line fishing vessel, seized for illegal fishing and scuttled in 1988, lies on its starboard side on the edge of the ridge in 30 to 34 metres.
An open ocean position just off the harbour entrance, swept by strong current, so it is normally timed to the tide.
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Pacific Gas
Port Moresby · Boat · Wreck · 14–43 m
A liquefied petroleum gas carrier, decommissioned in 1980 and scuttled in 1986 on Horseshoe Reef. It stands intact and upright on the reef slope, bow shallow at about 14 metres and stern down at about 43 metres.
On the sunken barrier reef up to an hour by boat from Bootless Bay and regularly swept by current along the south coast.
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Pai II
Port Moresby · Boat · Wreck · 25–35 m
A steel trawler of about 30 metres, placed on the bottom as an artificial reef. It sits upright with the deck at about 25 metres and the deepest point at about 35 metres.
Dived from Bootless Bay and often combined with the Pacific Gas on the same day.
Site names are as the operators and guides here use them. Descriptions
are drafted and need correcting by someone who dives them. Tell us what is wrong and it
will be corrected.
