Scuba Diving in Bougainville & Solomon Sea (Remote)

About Bougainville & Solomon Sea (Remote)

Bougainville, the remote northernmost region of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea, is a frontier diving destination of pristine walls, untouched reefs, and WWII wrecks that sees only a handful of visitors each year. Buka Island offers huge groupers, barracuda, grey reef sharks, and manta rays over largely unexplored walls, while Arawa Bay and Kieta Harbour hold Japanese and Allied wrecks, cargo ships, and coral-encrusted aircraft and landing barges from the Pacific war. The Tulun (Carteret) Atoll is an extremely remote, untouched coral atoll with sharks, manta rays, and massive schools of pelagic fish reachable only by expedition liveaboard. For divers seeking solitude, intact ecosystems, and a genuine sense of exploration, Bougainville is one of the last great unknowns in the diving world.

Highlights

• ✓Buka Island: pristine walls with huge groupers, barracuda, grey reef sharks, and manta rays.
• ✓Arawa Bay wrecks: Japanese and Allied wrecks, cargo ships at 15-30 m, with batfish and macro life.
• ✓Kieta Harbour: sunken WWII aircraft and landing barges, coral-encrusted, rich in macro.
• ✓Tulun (Carteret) Atoll: an extremely remote, untouched atoll with sharks, mantas, and pelagic schools.

Getting There

Bougainville is reached by domestic flight from Port Moresby to Buka, with some services via Rabaul, followed by boat transfers to the dive areas. The remote atolls such as Tulun are reachable only on expedition liveaboards that stage from Bougainville or the Solomon Islands. Flights are infrequent and subject to weather, so flexible scheduling and a buffer are essential when planning a trip here.