Maravagi

Personally, if I want 5 star I stay at home and go to a fancy restaurant. I travel to see and experience places and events which I can't do at home. If you insist on 5 star when you travel then DON'T go to Maravagi.

I LOVE Maravagi.

It is beautiful. It is quiet. The people are friendly and helpful. The company is fun. I can go diving while my son is cared for by his Nanny and he is having a great time - no guilt! And then there are ........

MANTA RAYS

Unfortunately I have never been on the Manta dive with an underwater camera. However, the Invader Charters website has photos and video of them. I can personally testify they are real. I can also testify the photos and videos on the Invader Charters website are nothing like the real thing. You have to experience it!

You can see the Mantas on Invader Charters website at -

http://www.invadercharters.com.au/galleries.html

Also I will be posting a story about diving the Devil's Highway as Invader Charters team calls it to try to describe just what a fantastic experience it is.

There are a number of dive sites within dive boat distance of Maravagi. Look in my diving category for just some of them.

Other reasons to go to Maravagi include - getting away from it all; seeing another part of the Solomons; snorkelling; fishing; and extreme surfing.

At least two different teams of reporters and camera crews have been to Maravagi in the last two years to surf in the wild. At certain times of the year the swell picks up on the northern shores of the islands creating incredible surf. Some of these surfing locations can only be reached by boat - some reefs are too far from any island to paddle out.

The Maravagi Resort is owned and operated by the local community of Solomon Islanders. They are gradually building up the resort over time. The picture in the First Trip to Maravagi post was taken in the first quarter of 2007. Since then they have built a few new leaf huts along the shoreline and a new toilet block close to the restaurant.

The restaurant is the main gathering, drinking and chatting area. It is also the only place where meals are served. The photo below shows the amount of work that went into the traditional decorations inside. I took this photo with my back to the bay and looking through the eating area towards the bar.

The furniture is modest, but comfortable. In the evenings the guests usually rearrange the tables into one long table so that everyone can chat, get to know each other and exchange stories about the days' adventures.

The food is simple, but delicious (especially if you like fish!) Sausages, eggs, toast, baked beans etc feature on the menu for breakfast. Lunch is a selection of wet dishes which usually includes a fish dish, a chicken and a beef. If in doubt, pick the fish. You won't get fish this fresh back home in your westernized city! The evening meal is always a buffet. This includes soup and bread for starters, a similar choice of wet dishes to the lunch menu plus sausages, with local fruit and vegetables cooked or prepared as salads. Dessert is something simple that you might remember from your childhood, like fruit and homemade custard.

John and Mary provide most of the service. John takes the orders and brings the food out from the kitchen. Mary usually serves at the bar. Other members of the local village work in the kitchen and prepare the rooms.

The rooms consist of two types - small huts with two sleeping rooms and a shared bathroom, or rooms in a long hut with one bathroom per room located at the back of the room. The rooms usually include a double bed and a single bed. There are ceiling fans or table fans (which sometimes don't work) and mosquito nets. I prefer the huts as there is more breeze. The screens on the windows tend to keep the mosquitoes out, but take and use a repellent. The beds are clean and reasonably comfortable. Each room has internal access to a bathroom with a shower and flush toilet. Be warned that there is no hot water. However I have never found this to be a problem as the ambient temperature is almost always warm and the water comes out at about the same temperature.

The resort does have an office phone but there are no phones or TV's for the guests. There is a reliable supply of electricity as the resort has a generator. The dive operator brings snorkelling and diving gear and guests sometimes bring board games etc for amusement. The main activities though are - relaxing, enjoying good company and maybe making new friends, diving, snorkelling, swimming, exploring the island by foot, relaxing and enjoying. The resort did not have a dive shop the last time I was there, but is planning to have one soon.


There are a number of beautiful spots to discover and explore, like the one above. Further around from this little beach is a large one with thigh deep water out for quite a distance. This beach, like the beaches in front of the resort, is sheltered and out of the currents, so this makes a particularly good spot for young children (with their parents of course!). It is also great for snorkellers who want to get beautiful photos of colourful reef fish.

I have been to Maravagi more than a dozen times. As I said at the beginning of this post, I love it. It is also readily accessible from Honiara where I live and work. I have always enjoyed the trip, even when I haven't been diving for whatever reason. However, the diving really makes it special.

Read about my First Visit to Maravagi


Where is Maravagi and how do you get there?

Maravagi is on Mangalonga Island in the western end of the Central Island Province or Florida Group of islands. It is north-north-west of Honiara in the Solomon Islands.

Invader Charters offers periodic weekend trips from Honiara. You can also contact Maravagi Resort direct and go over in their "banana boat" - a large fibreglass canoe with an outboard motor. The trip takes about three hours, depending on the weather conditions.