Solomon Islands
Iron Bottom Sound
So many warships sank here that the sound was renamed for the iron on its floor.
Between Guadalcanal, Savo and the Nggela Islands, the sea floor holds ships and aircraft lost during the brutal 1942–43 campaign. The name Iron Bottom Sound comes from that concentration of wreckage, not iron-rich sediment.
Between August 1942 and February 1943 seven major naval battles were fought in this strait, and more than fifty American, Japanese and Australian warships went down in it; the name was coined by the sailors themselves. A 2025 survey documented thirteen of the wrecks in detail. Among the deepest is the USS Juneau, lost with the five Sullivan brothers and found in March 2018 at 4,200 metres. A handful of shallower wrecks are dived with qualified operators, some sites are war graves, and unexploded ordnance is a genuine hazard here.
Solo
Shared boats out of Honiara are how single divers reach the accessible sites, and operators are used to matching one diver into a group.
Couple
Only a handful of these wrecks can be dived, so it is a short list done properly rather than a week of them.
Friends
Mixed certification is normal here, and a group lets the operator build days where the deep divers and everyone else still share a boat.
- More than fifty warships went down here in seven night battles, and thirteen of the wrecks were mapped in fine detail in 2025.
- The USS Juneau, lost with the five Sullivan brothers aboard, was found on 17 March 2018 at 4,200 metres, far beyond any diver.
- Many wrecks are too deep or too sensitive to visit, and some are war graves.
- Dive safety standards vary, and unexploded ordnance is a genuine hazard here.
Back in Honiara, follow a wreck dive with the waterfront lunch stop used in Tourism Solomons’ current itinerary.
On a liveaboard, expect island-bought pumpkin, aubergine, snake beans and greens alongside fish or other protein.
Acheron River
Greece
Wade into the ice-cold River of the Dead — Greeks believed it flowed to Hades.
Itacaré
Brazil
The forest is still standing here because the cacao needed its shade.
Puerto Escondido
Mexico
Pacific swell meets market mornings and small bays along Oaxaca's lively surf town.
Kaş
Turkey
Lycian tombs glow orange at sunset above a harbour where sea kayaks launch toward sunken ruins.
Nendo
Solomon Islands
Money made from red feathers came from here, and the memory of it has not gone.
Taro Island
Solomon Islands
A provincial capital on an island low enough that the plan is to move it.
Mount Popomanaseu
Solomon Islands
The country's highest ground, 2,335 metres up through Guadalcanal forest with no trail infrastructure.