I haven't been diving for a couple of months, and today I was determined to practice my underwater photography. I was pretty pleased with the results. I still have heaps to learn, but these are a big step forward.
06 December, 2008
04 December, 2008
Coral Garden as far as the eye can see - Kombuana Island
To the west of a small island in the Solomon Islands hides a magnificent coral garden which is rarely visited by scuba divers. Before you can enjoy this treasure of the deep, you need to gain permission from the customary owners.
Kombuana Island is to the north-western end of the Florida Group of islands. It is about an hour by dive boat from Maravagi Resort, which is the closest tourist accommodation to this hidden gem. Kombuana Island is inhabited by a small village. Outsiders are required to pay a Kastom Fee to be allowed to dive on their reef. To pay the Kastom Fee, one anchors in shallow water as close to shore as the tide and your vessel will allow.
The Chief of the village will come to the shore to meet you. You can tell him apart from the other villagers as he will be the best dressed. When you request permission to dive on his reef, he will tell you how much Kastom fee you need to pay per diver. It is a good idea to keep your cash hidden until you actually pay, as the fee requested may increase if you appear to be able to pay more.
Don’t try to cheat and dive for free. The village has several canoes, and the Chief and the village men will come out to ask for the money. There is no industry on tiny Kombuana Island, and the rare diving party is one of the few sources the village has for earning cash to buy things they cannot make, and must buy in shops. Cash is needed for relative luxuries as kerosene to light lamps at night.
The dive is worth the effort of this little side track.
The dive starts with a wall, at whatever depth you plan. The wall is covered with fan corals, soft corals and small, brightly coloured reef fish. Ensure you look out into the blue, as curious black tipped reef sharks will cruise past to see what strange creatures have invaded their domain. The crevices in the wall are home to numerous sea creatures and provide many opportunities for underwater photographers with their macro lenses set.
Divers usually use the time for their safety stop to spend a few minutes exploring the reef shallows. With this dive it is recommended to keep half your tank to explore the coral garden in the shallows between the wall and the shore of the island.
As you ascend above the wall you are met with a view of picturesque coral garden as far as the eye can see. You can drift slowly above the coral, exploring the coral and sea life for over half an hour and still have more coral garden to explore.
The coral appears to have been arranged as in a formal garden, with large expanses of corals from the same family clumped together, separated by a shallow valley from the next clump of corals from a different family. Hidden in the valleys and between corals are numerous giant clams, their shells open to reveal the almost neon coloured molluscs inside. As you raise your head from the corals to look around, large hump head parrot fish saunter slowly past, parading their brilliant blue and green livery.
At the end of the dive, you will have a large collection of photos to add to your dive log, and to share with your dive buddies who were not lucky enough to enjoy this unique dive.
Kombuana Island is to the north-western end of the Florida Group of islands. It is about an hour by dive boat from Maravagi Resort, which is the closest tourist accommodation to this hidden gem. Kombuana Island is inhabited by a small village. Outsiders are required to pay a Kastom Fee to be allowed to dive on their reef. To pay the Kastom Fee, one anchors in shallow water as close to shore as the tide and your vessel will allow.
The Chief of the village will come to the shore to meet you. You can tell him apart from the other villagers as he will be the best dressed. When you request permission to dive on his reef, he will tell you how much Kastom fee you need to pay per diver. It is a good idea to keep your cash hidden until you actually pay, as the fee requested may increase if you appear to be able to pay more.
Don’t try to cheat and dive for free. The village has several canoes, and the Chief and the village men will come out to ask for the money. There is no industry on tiny Kombuana Island, and the rare diving party is one of the few sources the village has for earning cash to buy things they cannot make, and must buy in shops. Cash is needed for relative luxuries as kerosene to light lamps at night.
The dive is worth the effort of this little side track.
The dive starts with a wall, at whatever depth you plan. The wall is covered with fan corals, soft corals and small, brightly coloured reef fish. Ensure you look out into the blue, as curious black tipped reef sharks will cruise past to see what strange creatures have invaded their domain. The crevices in the wall are home to numerous sea creatures and provide many opportunities for underwater photographers with their macro lenses set.
Divers usually use the time for their safety stop to spend a few minutes exploring the reef shallows. With this dive it is recommended to keep half your tank to explore the coral garden in the shallows between the wall and the shore of the island.
As you ascend above the wall you are met with a view of picturesque coral garden as far as the eye can see. You can drift slowly above the coral, exploring the coral and sea life for over half an hour and still have more coral garden to explore.
The coral appears to have been arranged as in a formal garden, with large expanses of corals from the same family clumped together, separated by a shallow valley from the next clump of corals from a different family. Hidden in the valleys and between corals are numerous giant clams, their shells open to reveal the almost neon coloured molluscs inside. As you raise your head from the corals to look around, large hump head parrot fish saunter slowly past, parading their brilliant blue and green livery.
At the end of the dive, you will have a large collection of photos to add to your dive log, and to share with your dive buddies who were not lucky enough to enjoy this unique dive.
30 November, 2008
Rennell Island
Rennell Island surrounds the world heritage listed Lake Tungano. This lake is actually a volcano crater, and the island is the rim of the crater. There are only four of these in the world.
The photos in the Rennell Island album were taken in February 2007 during a court circuit visit to the island. The people of Rennell and Belloma Islands are Polynesian with a distinct culture.
If any reader has scuba dived there, please let us know in the comments block below.
Where is it and how do I get there?
Rennell Island is approximatley 100km south of Honiara in the Solomon Islands. Solomon Airlines flies there once a week from Honiara. There are a number of small guest houses on the island, mainly surrounding Lake Tungano.
The photos in the Rennell Island album were taken in February 2007 during a court circuit visit to the island. The people of Rennell and Belloma Islands are Polynesian with a distinct culture.
If any reader has scuba dived there, please let us know in the comments block below.
Where is it and how do I get there?
Rennell Island is approximatley 100km south of Honiara in the Solomon Islands. Solomon Airlines flies there once a week from Honiara. There are a number of small guest houses on the island, mainly surrounding Lake Tungano.
15 November, 2008
Bonege Beach
Bonege Beach is a popular beach for day trips from Honiara for divers, snorkelers, families and anyone wanting to get away from town for a while.
There are actually three beaches known as Bonege Beach - Bonege 1, Bonege 2 and Bonege 3. Bonege 1 and 2 and are accessed through a gateway with a hut beside the entry way. All beaches are on custom land owned by the people of Bonege village - thus the name - and you are required to pay a small "custom fee" to use the beaches.
Bonege 3 is further up the road and is more isolated. The villagers don't attend that beach and it is not visible from the road. I wouldn't recommend going there except to dive the B17 plane wreck there.
To get to Bonege 1 you turn to the right after the custom fee hut and follow the track along until you come to the beach. Take it slowly along the single car track as there is often a vehicle coming the other way.
Bonege 1 has a large tree covered beach front and a coral/gravel beach. It is always cool there due to the sea breeze. The view is from Honiara to the east, across to the Florida Group of islands (Ngella), to Savo Island and then further west along the coast of Guadalcanal.
Looking out over this picturesque and serene seascape, it is difficult to believe that this area was once the scene of one of the most savage and bloody sea battles of World War II. This expanse of water is called Iron Bottom Sound due to the number of ships, planes and submarines which were sunk here during the war. Some older Solomon Islanders who were children during World War II describe the noise and the fighting as terrifying, even though it wasn't directed at them.
There are coral covered rocks scattered across the waterfront shallows from right to left as you face the beach. If you follow the rocks or the drop-off along to the west you come to an underwater wreck which has a large section in relatively shallow water which is great for snorkelers. My son first snorkeled that area when he was five. He seemed more excited about finding Nemo than seeing part of the wreck. The wreck then tapers off into deeper water, which is great for divers.
There is a hut at this beach with bench seats which are useful for gearing up for a dive.
Bonege 2 is reached by turning to the left close to the waterfront and then driving along the
beachfront until you reach a spot to park and set up. This beach has a wreck which is still partially above water, so it is easy to locate for diving and snorkeling.
There is a shady patch close to the beach around the spot where there is a portion of the wreck on the high tide mark. On the western side of this portion of wreck is a sandy beach which is suitable for smaller children and others of us with delicate pads of our feet.
Both of these beaches are fairly popular on weekends. The mornings are best for swimming and diving, before the sea breeze picks up and creates a bit of chop on the water.
Where is it and how do I get there?
The Bonege beaches are west of Honiara on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands. Allow just over half an hour to drive there. You can also get there with dive operators on guided dive tours.
There are actually three beaches known as Bonege Beach - Bonege 1, Bonege 2 and Bonege 3. Bonege 1 and 2 and are accessed through a gateway with a hut beside the entry way. All beaches are on custom land owned by the people of Bonege village - thus the name - and you are required to pay a small "custom fee" to use the beaches.
Bonege 3 is further up the road and is more isolated. The villagers don't attend that beach and it is not visible from the road. I wouldn't recommend going there except to dive the B17 plane wreck there.
To get to Bonege 1 you turn to the right after the custom fee hut and follow the track along until you come to the beach. Take it slowly along the single car track as there is often a vehicle coming the other way.
Bonege 1 has a large tree covered beach front and a coral/gravel beach. It is always cool there due to the sea breeze. The view is from Honiara to the east, across to the Florida Group of islands (Ngella), to Savo Island and then further west along the coast of Guadalcanal.
Looking out over this picturesque and serene seascape, it is difficult to believe that this area was once the scene of one of the most savage and bloody sea battles of World War II. This expanse of water is called Iron Bottom Sound due to the number of ships, planes and submarines which were sunk here during the war. Some older Solomon Islanders who were children during World War II describe the noise and the fighting as terrifying, even though it wasn't directed at them.
There are coral covered rocks scattered across the waterfront shallows from right to left as you face the beach. If you follow the rocks or the drop-off along to the west you come to an underwater wreck which has a large section in relatively shallow water which is great for snorkelers. My son first snorkeled that area when he was five. He seemed more excited about finding Nemo than seeing part of the wreck. The wreck then tapers off into deeper water, which is great for divers.
There is a hut at this beach with bench seats which are useful for gearing up for a dive.
Bonege 2 is reached by turning to the left close to the waterfront and then driving along the
beachfront until you reach a spot to park and set up. This beach has a wreck which is still partially above water, so it is easy to locate for diving and snorkeling.There is a shady patch close to the beach around the spot where there is a portion of the wreck on the high tide mark. On the western side of this portion of wreck is a sandy beach which is suitable for smaller children and others of us with delicate pads of our feet.
Both of these beaches are fairly popular on weekends. The mornings are best for swimming and diving, before the sea breeze picks up and creates a bit of chop on the water.
Where is it and how do I get there?
The Bonege beaches are west of Honiara on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands. Allow just over half an hour to drive there. You can also get there with dive operators on guided dive tours.
Diving the Twin Tunnels
The Twin Tunnels are actually two lava tubes which start at the edge of a wall and rise up
through the wall to the plateau at the top. One is wider and shorter than the other, but either can be comfortably dived with all gear on even sizable divers.
through the wall to the plateau at the top. One is wider and shorter than the other, but either can be comfortably dived with all gear on even sizable divers. Twin Tunnels is a fascinating dive. The site is located south offshore from Tulagi. The dive starts at about 20 metres and is about 30 metres at the bottom.
The divers choose the tunnel and descend through the wall, then explore the sea wall, fish and corals. It is usual to turn right as you exit the tunnel, as that is in the direction of the dive boat mooring bouy, and slowly ascend as you explore the wall and then the plateau. However, I have found the swim to the left is more interesting.
At the entrance to the smaller tunnel there are two live giant clams. One is white and is well camouflaged against the sand. The area is adrift with fish of a large number of species, including the neon spotted queen fish. There are numerous gorgonian fans, the favourite home of the pygmy seahorse, but I have never managed to spot one - anywhere. I must get brave enough to dive with contact lenses one day soon.
This is one of my favourite dives, for the unique experience of descending through the tunnels, as well as the beautiful marine life.
This dive can be reached by day trip from Honiara, as part of a stay at Tulagi, or on route to other dive sites further west in the Florida Group.
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