Diving Guadalcanal & Iron Bottom Sound

About Guadalcanal – Honiara & Iron Bottom Sound

Guadalcanal and its capital Honiara sit above Iron Bottom Sound, one of the most historically charged bodies of water on Earth, where the 1942–43 Guadalcanal Campaign left dozens of Japanese and Allied ships and aircraft on the seabed. The name says it all: the sound is so thick with sunken steel that charts look like a graveyard. Today this Coastwatcher country offers a remarkable blend of accessible shore wrecks and deep, current-swept seamounts, all wrapped in warm, clear Coral Triangle water. Divers can fin from a Honiara beach straight onto a 133 m transport ship, then spend the next dive exploring a torn-open submarine or a coral-encrusted seaplane. Beyond the metal, the reefs of Mbokona Bay and the Pinnacles hold clouds of glassfish, resident batfish, lionfish and the occasional hammerhead. It is a destination that rewards both the wreck obsessive and the macro photographer, and its shore accessibility makes world-class history available to every certification level.

Highlights

• ✓Bonegi I (Hirokawa Maru): a 133 m Japanese transport beached in shallow water, among the finest shore-accessible wrecks anywhere.
• ✓Iron Bottom Sound: dozens of WWII wrecks and aircraft in one compact, history-rich stretch of water off Guadalcanal.
• ✓The Pinnacles: offshore seamounts with schooling barracuda, jacks, grey reef sharks and the occasional hammerhead.
• ✓Sandy Beach (Mbokona Bay): a muck and training site celebrated for seahorses, octopus and excellent night dives.

Getting There

Fly into Honiara International Airport (HIR) on Solomon Airlines or a regional carrier, then base yourself in Honiara. Most Iron Bottom Sound and Bonegi sites are reached by short boat ride or even by wading in from the beach, while the Pinnacles and Doma Reef are boat dives with operators in Honiara and Mendana.