Solomon Islands
Munda
A working lagoon town with wartime wrecks and living reef in the same water.
Barracuda school over the fuselage of a dive bomber whose wings have gone furry with coral. Munda's lagoon holds a war and a living reef in the same water, and the town's airstrip is the one the fighting was for.
Munda sits where the airstrip, the forest and Roviana Lagoon meet, which leaves it better set up than most of the Western Province. A professional dive operation works out of the town with trained local staff, oxygen and Nitrox. The airport was upgraded to international standard in 2023, though which routes actually run is a question for Solomon Airlines. The most told story here is the Dauntless in Rendova harbour: hit by anti-aircraft fire on 23 July 1943, ditched at one in the afternoon with both crew surviving, and on 23 July 1995, at exactly one o'clock, Lt James Dougherty sat in his old cockpit again. Wartime wrecks and current-fed reefs ask different things of a diver, so days here are built to order rather than sold as one package.
Couple
Among the handful of spots in the country where you can fly in, dive that afternoon, and not spend the trip arranging boats.
Family
Non-divers have Roviana Lagoon trips to fill the days, so the family never has to split into divers and everybody else.
Friends
A group can book a proper run of dive days here rather than improvising, and that is what puts the deeper wreck sites within reach.
- A Dauntless dive bomber ditched on 23 July 1943 rests at twelve metres in Rendova harbour; exactly 52 years later its pilot sat in the cockpit again.
- Sites vary widely in depth and current, so briefings and equipment checks matter here more than in most places.
- The upgraded airport and domestic flights make Munda one of the more practical outer-island bases in the country.
- Roviana Lagoon supplies guided cultural and historical trips for non-divers and rest days.
Agnes Gateway’s Roviana Restaurant serves reef-fish curry using the Western Province catch.
Try its kokoda starter when available, with local fish cured in lime and softened by coconut.
Capitólio
Brazil
A dam flooded the canyons, so you sail inside them, and the boatmen cut the engines.
Kosterhavet National Park
Sweden
Sweden's only coral reef hides beneath the surface of its westernmost archipelago.
Bonito
Brazil
Rivers so transparent the fish cast shadows on the white sand riverbed below you.
Kerama Islands
Japan
Water so clear the reef casts shadows on white sand far below the boat.
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.
Skull Island
Solomon Islands
Coral platforms on a lagoon islet hold the skulls of Roviana chiefs, and permission comes first.