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Published: March 29th 2009
The thing that makes diving in the Solomons so unique are the shipwrecks. Of course, there is also some marine life worth seeing, but it is not the thing which would make an engineer amazed, hehe
There are turtles, sharks and rays of any kind worth seeing, but from my experience, diving the Great barrier reef in Cairns was better. In the Solomons, the fish seem to be afraid of divers due to spear-fishing.
I wanted to see the wrecks and I got them!!!
Guadalcanal So many ships were sunk in the WWII between the islands of Guadalcanal, Savo and Ngellas that this sea is now called “Iron Bottom Sound”. There are at least 50 wrecks, but most of them are too deep for recreational diving and besides, they are not precisely located.
We decided with Steve to dive the Bonegi I transport ship (down to 40m, the wreck is down to 55m), do some free diving at the Bonegi II and then dive the American B-17 “Flying fortress” bomber 18 meters deep. In comparison to diving in the Western province, the Bonegi ships are not too attractive, but the B-17 is cool. We were able to enter the
Bonegi I
Steve in front of the hole in the ship's bodybody, see the pilot’s cockpit, the turrets with machine guns, engines with propellers, really good fun!
Munda There is a lot of diving for marine life on offer in Munda, but we were a bit disappointed, since the animals seemed to be afraid of divers. Supposedly, seeing the marine life off Uepi Island in Marovo lagoon is unforgettable. Well, next time!
There are two aircrafts down at shallow lagoon waters just off Munda village and I managed it to see them on my own. Cheap alternative to diving company, hehe
Not many villagers know where the aircrafts are located and you can't find them on your own since the lagoon water is so murky. In the end, I was really lucky to find Johnson who took me with his dugout canoe to the sites. The first plane was the Mitsubishi G3M2 "Nelly" bomber down at some 4 meters depth. It was good fun to dive the plane which you only know from the books. But the visibility in the lagoon is really poor, see the pics. The second plane should be the American Hellcat fighter but it is hardly recognisable, even if only in 1,5 m depth.
diving Toa Maru, Western province
the Japanese transport ship full of goods. back on the right hand side, the Japanese small tank for two soldiers turned upside down Ghizo Ghizo rules!!!!!
Diving the wrecks there is something special. The japanese transport ship Toa Maru was sunk when it was transporting supplies for the Japanese troops and there are so many objects to find around the ship between 7 and 37 meters depth. Gas masks, a telephone, tanks, a motorcycle, medicines, ammunition, sake bottles are all scattered between the ship body and the commanding bridge which fell apart. The dive masters are not too keen on taking the tourists inside the body since the rusty old metal pieces are often falling apart in there. Well, I was persistent enough and we went inside! Toa Maru is definitely worth two dives.
Just 10 meters from the Gizo market there is a Japanese Zero fighter sunk in some 5 or 7 m depth. Due to its location it is full of rubbish eg. beer cans, there are motorboats around all the time so it's for the most curious ones.
But the American Hellcat fighter was the best. Quite far away from Ghizo, but definitely worth seeing. Except for the propeller, there is everything intact on this airplane. Down at 9 m depth, it is possible to see it freediving. Which
is even better, because you can go and sit down to the pilot's seat since you have no bottles on your back, hehe
Probably the things I will never be able to do again. Ciao, Solomons!!!!!
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