It is often claimed that Port Moresby is the best capital city in the world for diving. In fact, after 3 years of living and diving in Port Moresby, we totally agree.

You don't have to go far in PNG to get great diving, great reefs and wrecks with rare species of fish are easily accessible from Port Moresby. We recommend starting here.

Diving the reefs around Port Moresby is great for novice to experienced divers. The reefs close to Port Moresby are accessible all year round. Water temperatures range from 24 C (76 F) in August and September up to 29 C (86 F) in March and April.

Port Moresby is the starting point for excursions to the Eastern Fields Reefs and Portlock Reef in the Coral Sea. These reefs are 170 km south west of Port Moresby, only accessible by live aboard. Located between Papua New Guinea and Australia, the Eastern Fields are a truly unspoiled part of the Coral Sea. Eastern Fields sometimes experiences quite strong currents, it is an area for experienced divers. Eastern Fields excursions are possible November - December and April - May.

How To Get There

There are direct flights to Port Moresby from three airports in Australia: Cairns (daily), Brisbane (3 per week) and Sydney (2 per week). You can also fly directly to Port Moresby from Singapore (2 per week), Manila (1 per week) and Honiara (1 per week).

If you go diving from here there is no need for onward flights - which is necessary for all other destinations in PNG. Most of the coastal diving is arranged from Loloata Island, 20 min South from the airport. The boat rides to the reef take anywhere between 10 minutes and 1 hour.

Eastern Fields and Portlock Reef are 170 km south west of Port Moresby. It takes about 10-12 hours by boat from Port Moresby to get there.

Diving

Port Moresby: Diving in the Port Moresby area is possible with day vessels. You can stay nearby on Loloata Island, which has its own dive shop. This is our first recommendation.

Eastern Fields: can only be accessed by extended live-aboard dive cruises. There is one live aboard boat, the Golden Dawn, which offers excursions to the Eastern Fields starting in Port Moresby.

This is our "home turf". Dirk and Claudia dived here regularly for 3 years when they lived in PNG and still love it. There are about 30 charted dive locations in close distance to Port Moresby and nearby Bootless Bay, which offer wreck and reef diving in calm waters with sometimes slight currents. The reefs and wrecks are in sport diving ranges, between 10 and 40 metres approximately. Also on offer are some very enjoyable shallow dives, such as the Lion Island "muck dive site" where you can encounter a lot of critters in the sand and gravel.

• Pacific Gas: There is a very nice wreck to dive at- the "Pacific Gas". She lies between 15 and 43 metres, with the mast at 14 metres. On the whole shipwreck, but particularly on its mast, the coral growth is impressive. Divers can penetrate parts of the wreck quite easily, for example the bridge at 25 metres. There is a large number of lionfish at the wreck, sometimes 12 or more are hovering at one spot…beautiful.
• Pai II:The "PAI II", an ex fish trawler at 30 metres, is worth a few dives. The wreck is upright on the ocean floor, one of the masts reaches up to 10 metres. The coral growth and fish life on the wreck is enormous. A huge puffer fish and a large grouper are "permanent residents" here. The nearby reef is pretty, and ideal for a safety stop. Both The "Pacific Gas" as well as the "Pai II" have been sunk by Bob Halstead and are now overgrown with corals and teeming with fish life.
• End Bommie: At the "End Bommie" you can sometimes find the "Rhinopius" and the Pygmy seahorse. The reef walls are overgrown with gorgonians, and with currents there, is abundant with fish life.
• Suzies Bommie: "Suzies Bommie" is a pristine bommie situated on white sand with a plethora of corals and fish life. This is a good site for the Pygmy Seahorses and a real treat for macro photographers!
• Lion Island: There is great "muck diving" on the sandy slope at Lion Island. Rarely seen creatures are plentiful here, such as: crocodilefish and ghost pipefish.

Eastern Fields

Located between Papua New Guinea and Australia, the Eastern Fields are a truly unspoiled part of the Coral Sea. Eastern Fields is a submerged atoll rising from over 1200 metres (4000 feet)! The reef system belongs to Papua New Guinea, so no Australian boat is allowed to enter these waters. This atoll stretches over an area of 20 km by 5 km with many channels offering safe access to the lagoon. Uncountable species of soft and hard corals, whips and sponges, awesome visibility (around 60 metres) and amazing and very dense fish life can be experienced here.

At "Craig's Ultimate" you may encounter schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks and even the seldom seen great hammerhead shark. At "Jay's Reef" you may see up to 20 (!) silvertip sharks during a feeding. Another fantastic dive site is "Carl's Ultimate Reef". On a single dive, nature shows you everything you can imagine about tropical diving.

On the "pelagic side of things", some sharks that are rarely seen are encountered here at the Eastern Fields: The great hammerhead, tasselled wobbegongs, epaulette sharks and leopard sharks. Huge schools of dog tooth tuna, yellow fin tuna, mackerel and barracuda are common here. The Eastern Fields have a lot to offer: swim-throughs, caverns and overhangs overgrown with huge soft corals. Shark feeds with silvertip sharks, hammerheads and grey reef sharks, thrilling drift dives, you can have it all.

Golden Dawn is the only boat that visits this area, approximately eight times per year. Perhaps a private yacht might get lost here sometimes, that's about it!
We (Dirk and Claudia) are two of a few lucky ones, who assisted in exploring these reefs in the early 1990s with Craig DeWit (owner of the Golden Dawn), before he offered the trips to the international market. It was some of the very best diving we ever encountered.

Other Activities

Port Moresby is not a place that naturally attracts tourists. The town has a lot of social problems which make some areas unsafe to visit.

There are however, some very scenic locations. There is the National Museum and some excellent art & craft shops which make for a good half day exploration of town as part of an organised tour.

Outside of town, high up on the mountains is Varirata National Park, an excellent place to watch PNG's birdlife and dense rainforest. Up here also is the end of the famous KOKODA TRAIL which is popular with hikers from Australia.

Live Aboard Dive Operators

• Golden Dawn

Resorts

• Loloata Island Resort

Hotels

• Airways Hotel, Port Moresby Airport
• Holiday Inn, Port Moresby
• Gateway Hotel , Port Moresby Airport