Solomon Islands
Bonegi Beach
A freighter's bow still breaks the surface where she was beached in 1942.
Two Japanese transports lie where they were run aground on this beach, close enough that the sand shelves straight down onto steel. At Bonegi II the bow still breaks the surface. The palms come right to the top of the beach, and there is nothing else here.
Eleven Japanese transports were attacked on their way to Guadalcanal in November 1942. Four got through, and on 15 November they were caught at dawn near the beach north of Henderson Field and destroyed by aircraft, artillery and destroyer gunfire. The Hirokawa Maru at Bonegi I is 156 metres long, lying on her port side with her bow in about five metres of water and her stern down at sixty. The Kinugawa Maru at Bonegi II is the shallower of the two, her bow still exposed above the surface and her stern at twenty-seven metres. Unexploded ordnance remains a hazard along this coast, so nothing metal gets disturbed.
Couple
You can snorkel the shallow bow straight off the sand at the managed beach, the rare wreck that asks for a mask and nothing more.
Family
The bow end is shallow and calm enough for confident snorkellers, and the exposed steel above the water makes the wreck legible to a child from the beach.
Friends
Two wrecks at different depths on one stretch of sand, so the qualified divers take the Hirokawa Maru's stern while everyone else stays over the shallow end.
- The Hirokawa Maru's bow sits in about five metres of water, close enough to reach from the beach, while her stern lies at sixty.
- At Bonegi II the Kinugawa Maru's bow still breaks the surface, with her stern down at twenty-seven metres.
- Both ships were beached on 15 November 1942 and destroyed by aircraft, artillery and destroyer gunfire.
- Unexploded ordnance is still found along this coast, so visits go through an established beach or dive operator.
A picnic carried from Honiara, eaten on the sand above two visible wrecks.
A cooked plate of reef fish at one of the beach lodges strung along the North-West Guadalcanal road.
Xochimilco
Mexico
Working chinampas survive beyond the music and colour of Xochimilco's trajineras.
Jizan
Saudi Arabia
A tropical port city where African-influenced markets and mangrove creeks meet the Red Sea.
Shimoda
Japan
Perry's black ships forced Japan open here; now it is white sand, sleepy surf and snapper.
Koufonisia
Greece
Flat-bottomed islands barely above the waterline with sand so white it glows at dusk.
Nendo
Solomon Islands
Money made from red feathers came from here, and the memory of it has not gone.
Savo Island
Solomon Islands
Megapodes bury their eggs in black sand that an active volcano keeps warm from below.
Taro Island
Solomon Islands
A provincial capital on an island low enough that the plan is to move it.
Skull Island
Solomon Islands
Coral platforms on a lagoon islet hold the skulls of Roviana chiefs, and permission comes first.