MV Solomons PNG Master

Papua New Guinea, a country shrouded in mystery and intrigue. A land of magnificent and unique fauna and flora, of many cultures and languages. A place that is so far off the beaten track that it is free from rampant overdevelopment and tourism. And more importantly, a destination in the centre of the Coral Triangle of diversity, where you can still find vibrant reefs with marine life as nature intended. The 30 metre steel hulled Solomons PNG Master operates diving safaris in this incredible paradise, as well as transit trips to the neighbouring the Solomon Islands. If there is a tropical sea creature that you are eager to see, there is a very good chance that you will find it here!

Previously operating tours on the Great Barrier Reef for 30 divers, the new owners immediately recognised the importance of space to prospective guests and reduced the capacity to just 20 guests and a crew of 12, guaranteeing a more peaceful and comfortable cruise experience. The guests are accommodated in 12 cabins. The upper deck cabins feature private bathrooms, and the lower deck economy cabins have shared bathroom facilities.

There is a spacious indoor saloon with a dining area, DVD players and large TVs, and a dedicated camera area for photographers. Share photos from your underwater adventures and tribal village visits, read a book from the onboard library, or discover the identity of the amazing creatures you just saw in the Bismarck Sea. If you prefer to be outside in the sunshine, there is a large sun deck complete with loungers, and an expansive covered seating area on the main deck where you can just chill out and watch PNG life slowly drift by.

The dive deck has 5 bathrooms, freshwater showers, rinse tanks, and personal diver stations with plenty of storage space. Most dives are done directly from the dive platform, but there is a tender in the water and nearby for additional safety. There are 2 ladders on the dive platform to provide easy access to and from the sea. If you ever wanted to discover paradise underwater, it’s time to head to PNG!

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Dive experience: Advanced certification and 40 logged dives are recommended for most cruises. Diving in some regions of both Papua New Guinea and the Solomons can be challenging with strong currents. Therefore we strongly recommend that you are comfortable with drift dives, negative entries and deploying an SMB.

Cruise price per person includes: Local hotel/airport transfers to/from the boat, cabin accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, hot drinks, soft drinks, dives (as detailed in the trips above), 2 experienced dive guides, tanks, SMB, weights and weightbelts.

Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Scuba equipment rental (incl dive computer US$ 308 per week), port and park fees (7 nights - US$ 224, 10 nights - US$ 320, PNG transit trips - US$ 310), diving insurance. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash or credit card).

Optional extras: Alcoholic drinks, nitrox fills for enriched air certified divers (US$ 200 per week), diving computer (US$ 78 per week), torch (US$ 100 per week), 13.2 litre tank (US$ 39 per week). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival.

How to get there: The Solomons PNG Master uses the dock at Tufi Resort for its Papua New Guinea trips. Tufi is located on the peninsula of Cape Nelson, Oro Province, and is served by Tufi Airport (TFI). There are short 50 minutes flights from the capital city Port Moresby (POM) with Airlines PNG. You can fly direct to PNG from Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Manila, Solomon Islands and Fiji. The national carrier is Air Niugini but several international airlines serve the airport.
The transit trips between PNG and the Solomon Islands run to and from Rabaul (PNG) and Munda (Solomons). In Rabaul, the boat operates from Kokopo Beach Bungalow Resort, Kokopo, East New Britain. Rabaul Airport (RAB) has flights from several airports throughout PNG. In Munda, the boat operates from Agnes Lodge Dock in Western Province. There are direct flights to Munda Airport (MUA) from Honiara (HIR with Solomon Airlines. Visas on arrival/entry permits are often limited to airports and are not available at the sea ports. Therefore you must obtain any visas and permits that you require for both countries prior to the cruise in order to avoid issues during the cruise.
Transfers to/from local hotels and airports are provided. Boarding time on the first day is at 6 pm (boat departs within the next coupe of hours). Disembarkation is at 9 am on the final day (boat returns to port before 10 pm on the penultimate day). There will be 2 planned dives scheduled on the second last day of the trip. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.

Diving Environment: Offering arguably the best diving in Australasia, Papua New Guinea (PNG) fully deserves to be added to your bucket list. The PNG dive sites are so pristine and remote that new marine species are still being discovered. There are vibrant coral atolls and walls, colourful barrier reefs, amazing WWII wrecks, and abundant wide-angle subjects for which the Indo-Pacific is famous. Pretty much anything can be spotted here: hammerheads, whale sharks, mantas, dolphins, and pilot whales. For macro lovers, there is also world-class muck diving. A dream destination for the adventurous diver!
Water temperature is 26-30°C (79-86°F) in most areas. May, June, September, October and November have the calmest seas and best visibility (25-35m).
Visit our Solomon dive sites page for more information on diving in that nation.

Non-diver rate: 10% discount off the published price (this discount can not be combined with any other special offer).

Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): There are 4 dedicated standard cabins available on the lower deck for single travellers, although you can reserve an upper deck cabin instead if you prefer. The single supplement is optional - single travelers may choose to share a cabin or pay the supplement of 80% of the normal published price for their own cabin.

Dive clubs and group discounts: Pay for 9 guests and 1 extra person can join in the lowest priced cabin free of charge (total 10+ guests).

Whole boat charter rate (per night): Pay for 18 guests and 2 additional persons can join free of charge in the lowest priced cabin.

[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].

There are 12 cabins onboard. 6 cabins are located on the upper deck, all with private bathrooms. There is 1 Premium cabin with a double bed, and 5 Classic cabins with a lower double bunk bed and upper single bed. The lower deck features 6 Standard cabins that share 5 bathroom facilities on the main deck. 2 are twin share cabins with 2 sets of bunk beds, and 4 are single cabins with twin bunk beds.

All the cabins have: No. of bathrooms / showers - 11 / 13 - hot water