Solomon Islands
Ranongga Island
An earthquake lifted this reef clear of the sea, and it never went back.
The old reef stands in the sun, coral heads bleached white and tide pools stranded a full storey above the sea. Everything about this shoreline says it used to be underwater.
When the earthquake struck in April 2007 it pushed Ranongga's whole coastline upward, and the reef came with it. The lift was uneven, about 3.6 metres at the southern end and less further north. What is exposed now is both a geological record and an ecological loss, and it changed springs, shoreline and fishing access for the people who live with it. A guide who was here in 2007 is what turns a walk along dead coral into that story.
Solo
Walking a shoreline that used to be underwater needs a guide who was here in 2007, and that conversation happens more easily one to one.
Couple
A day walking exposed reef with someone explaining what each part used to be is quiet, strange, and not like anywhere else in the country.
Friends
The walking is easy and the talking is the point, which suits a group wanting a day that is not diving.
- The April 2007 earthquake lifted Ranongga's coastline, leaving living reef stranded above the tide.
- Uplift was uneven and reached about 3.6 metres in the south.
- The change altered coastal ecology and local access, not just the look of the shoreline.
- A community guide connects the raised reef to what it did to people here, instead of turning it into a spectacle.
The village guesthouse cooks what the day's catch and the garden give, and there is no second option.
Bananas and pineapple from Gizo's market for the crossing over.
Manuel Antonio
Costa Rica
Capuchins patrol the sand beneath dozing sloths where rainforest walks into the ocean.
Vaitupu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu's largest island, where traditional sport te ano sends two woven balls flying at once.
Tortuguero
Costa Rica
Jungle canals where green sea turtles haul onto black volcanic sand under a moonless sky.
Kadavu
Fiji
Manta rays circle the world's fourth-largest barrier reef, off villages the road barely reaches.
Mataniko Falls
Solomon Islands
A waterfall drops through pools into a cave, a day's walk out of the capital.
Laulasi Island
Solomon Islands
Seven tribes sealed peace with strands of shell money to reopen this hand-built island.
Skull Island
Solomon Islands
Coral platforms on a lagoon islet hold the skulls of Roviana chiefs, and permission comes first.
Roviana Lagoon
Solomon Islands
Villages still lived in and islands full of shrines sit in the same lagoon.