Diving Munda & New Georgia

About Munda & New Georgia

Munda, on the western tip of New Georgia, is the laid-back adventure capital of the Western Province, a place where WWII wrecks, mushroom-coral fields and thrilling shark feeds sit within a short boat ride of a single dirt airstrip. The town is small, the welcome is huge, and the diving is astonishingly varied. The Kashi Maru (Munda Bar) transport lies upright and reachable from shore, while the Japanese Zero sits intact on a coral slope. Munda Reef's mushroom coral forest is a macro wonderland of pipefish, cuttlefish and octopus, and the Vonavona and Vona Vona lagoons offer calm muck dives where mandarinfish perform at dusk. Add a baited Shark Point with up to 30 sharks a dive and the drift of Tombatuni Passage, and you have a region that satisfies every appetite. Warm, clear water and a genuine frontier feel make Munda a cornerstone of any Solomon Islands trip.

Highlights

• ✓Munda Bar (Kashi Maru): an upright 90 m Japanese freighter full of trucks and shells, shore-accessible.
• ✓Mushroom Forest: extensive fields of mushroom coral alive with pipefish, nudibranchs and cuttlefish.
• ✓Shark Point: a baited dive hosting grey reef and silvertip sharks plus giant trevally.
• ✓Japanese Zero Wreck: an intact Mitsubishi fighter on a coral slope at just 12 m.

Getting There

Fly into Munda Airport (MUA) on Solomon Airlines from Honiara, then transfer to a local resort or guesthouse. Most sites are reached by the operator's dive boat in 10 to 40 minutes, and the Kashi Maru can even be dived from the shore at Munda Bar.