Solomon Islands
Munda
A WWII airstrip turned dive hub, where barracuda patrol coral-crusted fighter plane wrecks.
Barracuda school above the fuselage of a Douglas Dauntless dive bomber, its wings furry with soft coral thirty years of growth thick. Munda's reef doesn't just hold fish — it holds a war. The airstrip that the Japanese built and the Americans seized still runs through town, but the real action is underwater.
Munda is the main hub of the Western Province in the Solomon Islands, built around a WWII airstrip that saw some of the fiercest fighting in the New Georgia campaign of 1943. The surrounding waters hold fighter planes, landing craft, and supply ships encrusted with decades of coral growth — making it one of the Pacific's premier wreck-diving destinations. Above water, Munda is the gateway to Roviana Lagoon, Skull Island, and the wider Western Province. Agnes Gateway Hotel anchors the small town, and dive operators run daily trips to sites where history and marine life coexist on the same reef. The combination of accessible wreck diving, cultural sites, and lagoon exploration makes Munda a natural base for days of varied activity.
Couple
Munda balances adventure with comfort — wreck dives in the morning, lagoon paddles in the afternoon, and fresh lobster at the lodge by evening. The WWII history adds depth without dominating.
Family
Older children can snorkel shallow wrecks while adults dive deeper ones. Skull Island, Kennedy Island, and Roviana Lagoon are all day trips from Munda — variety without constant relocation.
Friends
The diving alone justifies the trip — coral-crusted fighter planes and transport ships within easy boat range. Add cultural sites, lagoon kayaking, and fishing charters and a group can fill a week without repeating a day.
- The Roviana Lagoon around Munda contains over twenty WWII dive sites — Zero fighters, Dauntless dive bombers, and landing craft among them — within a thirty-minute boat ride.
- Munda Point Airfield was captured from the Japanese in August 1943 after weeks of grinding combat; the original WWII runway is now the town's operating airstrip, with the old Japanese bunkers visible from the tarmac.
- The Munda war museum holds the largest collection of WWII artefacts in the Western Solomons, including Japanese uniforms, weapons, and maps found in the surrounding jungle.
- Dive operators here offer PADI certification courses from around USD 350; the reefs are considered among the top ten dive sites in the Pacific by specialist operators, with fish biomass that reflects decades of limited fishing pressure.
Fresh lobster at Agnes Gateway Hotel, grilled and served with garden greens.
Coconut-cream fish curry at a dive lodge, the catch landed hours earlier from the reef.
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