The lost islands of the Solomons

The TV series Lost is about people lost on a Pacific island. The Solomon Islands, on the other hand, are islands in the Pacific that are lost.

July 12, 2023
Dugout canoes are the most common form of transport.
Dugout canoes are the most common form of transport.
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Solomon Islands may have been the scene of bloody battles in WW2 but much of that is lost, lying at the bottom of the ocean.

It may have been the scene of a tsunami in 2007 but most of what was lost has been rebuilt. These islands are however, lost when it comes to development and technology.Most inhabitants do not have access to electricity. Islanders have radios but only those living in main towns have cable television – there are no local networks. There are no buses or trains – dug-out canoes are the most common mode of transport. Luckily Bilikiki Cruises have the perfect vessels with which to explore this undeveloped country in comfort and style and at the same time experience the underwater wonders of a lost paradise.

The Bilikiki travels from Honiara through the Russell and Florida (Nggela) Island groups to Marovo Lagoon. Ta reef in the Russell Islands is our first encounter with undisturbed beauty. Fields of enormous cabbage corals and sea fans grow in profusion on a gentle slope. The visibility is seemingly endless and the water is sublimely warm. Even the fish appear to be in holiday mode as they nonchalantly move away from us noisy bubble-makers. Some fish merely move lethargically from one side of a sea fan to the other. There is no current to push us along so we too move at sloth speed.

Mirror Pond opens in the middle of a rainforest.
Mirror Pond opens in the middle of a rainforest.

It is in the Russell Islands that we dive the first of many unusual dive sites, Leru Cut being the most famous. Leru Cut is a gap slicing into an island for about 100m, only 5m wide and 15m deep. Beams of sunlight flicker through dense rainforest mystically lighting the cut entrance. I swim nervously into the chasm of darkness. My torch lights a narrow passage ahead, the sheer walls of the cut looming on either side. Blinded by the sudden light, a fish bolts, almost swimming into me. My adrenaline pumps. I surface at the end of the passage and observe a large boulder precariously balanced in the crevice above. Anxiously I turn around. The deep blue of the distant ocean is perfectly framed by the island walls. Adrenaline is instantly replaced by loads of endorphins as I move towards this captivating vista.

Mirror Pond opens in the middle of a rainforest.
Mirror Pond opens in the middle of a rainforest.

Mirror Pond is an underwater cave, which opens up in the middle of a rainforest. The water in the pond is so still that the rainforest reflects on the surface. My breathing disturbs this image. I hold my breath and marvel at the centre-stage production lighting. Seemingly I am in the super spotlight. I sigh with pleasure but my bubbles disturb that special effect.

Bat Cave is the last unusual dive in the Russell’s. This cave is entered via a wide underwater passage about 40m long. We have been warned not to take our DV’s out of our mouths once in the cave due to abundant bat droppings. There are no bats today but there is definitely something dripping into the water. I don’t wait to investigate! I return to the outside reef.

It is on this reef wall that we begin to find fascinating critters. Living inside bubble hard corals are orangutan crabs with crazy hippy-style orange hair. Their colouring is no disguise against the translucent white bubbles but their hairiness certainly is. I can’t tell head from legs. I can almost hear my octogenarian mother lecturing me about hippies. Another hairy fellow is the pale mauve hairy squat lobster that lives deep within the grooves of a barrel sponge. His colour and hairiness marginally aid his disguise but really, it’s the deep cavities of the sponge that provide his protection. Also well protected by their homes are pygmy seahorses living in gorgonian sea fans.

Schooling for protection.
Schooling for protection.

These seahorses are almost impossible to find – no thicker than a toothpick and only 1cm long with colouring and body bumps identical to that of the sea fan. They epitomise true camouflage.

During WW2 the Japanese advanced towards Australia with the intent to intercept the Allied Forces heading to the Philippines. The Allied Forces observed the Japanese building an airfield on Guadalcanal, where the capital Honiara is today. Within a few days of its completion the Allies captured the airfield. Japan tried vainly to regain control but failed, leading to their retreat back towards Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. As they moved north so too did the Allied Forces leaving nothing behind at their bases.

At White Beach base a bulldozer shovelled all remaining supplies including ammunition, vehicles, cranes, crates and coke bottles into the sea. Finally the bulldozer itself was sent scuttling and then the wharfs were destroyed. This has created an interesting dive site where these war relics have become home for marine life. An octopus hides in a billy-can oblivious to the adjacent live bomb. An entire family of twin-spot gobies hovers over the sand near a pile of rotting ropes and wires. A juvenile batfish shelters under the broken pylons while an overfed lionfish lazes beneath a rusting wharf digesting his meal in peace. In the deep the huge bulldozer sits upright marking the end of the dive site and the end of an era.

Orangutan crab with crazy hippie-style hair.
Orangutan crab with crazy hippie-style hair.

Halfway between the Russell Islands and the Marovo Lagoon is Mborokua Island or ‘Mary Island’ as it’s commonly known. The fish are not so relaxed here. Small schools of big-eye kingfish swim in fighter jet formation giving me a wide berth. The diminutive school of barracuda is even more skittish as they traverse the bay between two points of Mary Island. I sense wariness from these fish. Perhaps many of their compatriots have been lost to an unscrupulous fishing industry. At the site ‘Mary Bommies’ the reef structure resembles human hands colonised by masses of pristine hard corals. The competition for survival amongst these hard corals is intense with the elkhorn coral seeming to dominate the finger bones while the staghorn is left to fill the gaps. Plate corals crust the knuckles while the table corals tend to find space at the fingertips. Enormous brain corals and encrusting corals vie for any free space. Often intriguing caves and tunnels cut through these fingers linking the adjoining finger. It’s a spectacular dive.

Onward to Morovo Lagoon

Other than the hum of the engine and a gentle rock we hardly notice the Bilikiki moving soothingly overnight to Morovo Lagoon. Grass huts dot the low-lying areas of the islands. Many of the islands here are dominated by steep limestone cliffs covered in verdant green rainforest and filled with squawking red parakeets. These cliff faces continue below the surface forming incredible wall dives.

At Toatalave Island only resilient sea fans are able to find a foothold on the sheer wall. Turmoil resistant whip-corals stretch into the deep. Brave whip-coral gobies defy death as they dart along the length of these whip-corals using modified fins as suckers to hold on with. Their whip-coral shrimp neighbours hardly move as they rely on the whip-corals’ movements to deliver food.

Some islands have a ridge that slopes gently into the deep such as the one at Anemone Point. The side facing the prevailing current is covered in sea fans and whip-corals while the sheltered side has delicate hard corals and anemones. The point of the spur is where the ocean pelagics frequent. Giant barracuda, rays and grey reef sharks can be seen patrolling the deep water. As we hover near our depth limit watching this action we delight in finding seldom-seen sunshine-orange soft corals thriving in the current.

Bilikiki Cruise steams to the dawn of a new day.
Bilikiki Cruise steams to the dawn of a new day.

Mbulo Caves are a series of mystical caves at the foot of the towering Mbulo Island. Pristine hard coral gardens conceal the entrances to the caves. We wander from cave to cave, sometimes through a tunnel and sometimes the cave is a dead end. We exit and as we swim over the manicured garden we find an entrance to yet another cave. I lose count of the number of caves we explore. The cathedral lighting in these caves is almost a religious experience.

As part of ‘Operation Toenails’ to capture Munda Airport a battle raged at Wickham Anchorage. The Japanese lost four freighters. On the shallowest wreck huge winches with cables, small davits and an enormous boiler are rusting but still intact. They attract a multitude of fish, hermit crabs and shrimps. On the foredeck stands a field artillery gun. The two holds are empty, apparently looted by salvagers, but two spare anchors remain onboard. The stern and bow are both covered in golden black corals with a blizzard of glassies living within. Observing the divers from the marker buoy is a school of squid. Their large eyes watch our every movement as if they are protecting their home.

A neon-coloured crinoid steals the show.
A neon-coloured crinoid steals the show.

Tulagi in the Florida Island group was the capital of Solomons until 1942. The Florida’s also have their share of wrecks and unusual critters and dive sites. Tulagi Twin Tunnels is an underwater seamount with two volcanic vents approximately 2.5m in diameter. They lead from the surface of the seamount at 18m and unite at 35m forming a large chamber which empties out on the perimeter of the seamount between 35–42m. It’s an eerie feeling dropping down this perfectly-shaped chimney in the middle of a reef.

Meanwhile the surface of the seamount is buzzing with action. The noise is phenomenal as schools of kingfish hunting in packs predate on thousands of fusiliers and snappers. Fish dive for cover in the corals and crevices; some fish even try to use our bubbles as a smokescreen as the attack relentlessly continues. An anemone is feeding and has formed itself into a ball. Its resident skunk anemonefish are frantically trying to find their way back into their sanctuary while the predators are on the prowl.

A Mavis seaplane lies forlornly on a sandy slope. The Japanese lost this enormous plane when the sea plane base at Tanambogo was attacked. The Mavis is missing one engine and propeller while the adjacent propeller hangs from its mount. Part of the outer skin is missing, allowing us to see into the cavernous fuselage. Coral growth coats the remaining propellers, while ambitious anemones and their resident clownfish nest on the wing. The ribs of the tail wing are exposed forming a checkerboard for fish to swim through.

A Mavis seaplane lies forlornly on a sandy slope.
A Mavis seaplane lies forlornly on a sandy slope.

Mbike Wreck was not lost – it was deliberately scuttled just off Mbike Island. A school of batfish escort divers to the wreck at 30m. This intact wreck is teeming with photogenic dusky Nembrotha nudibranchs sporting red gills and racing red stripes down their sleek black bodies. The wheelhouse is jam-packed with glassies which are being hounded by insatiable lionfish. A mantis shrimp scrambles around shells and corals on the deck while a yellow boxfish retreats inside a doorway.

Having dived many remnants of WW2 we experience the sounds of war at Kicha Island where Kavachi, a nearby submarine volcano, erupts continuously. The noise resonates like a war zone with endless bombing and explosions. Our ribcages reverberate with the tremors yet whitetip sharks sleep on sandy patches completely undisturbed by the irregular, yet constant, rumbles. I nervously check the reef for boulders that could topple in the vibrations causing an avalanche. It is difficult to concentrate. This is a very unsettling experience on a stunning reef filled with schooling pyramid butterfly-fish.

A pipefish attempts to blend in with a soft coral.
A pipefish attempts to blend in with a soft coral.

As the Bilikiki returns to Honiara, I reflect on my journey through the Solomon Islands. I may have been lost in caves, lost in blizzards of fish, lost in blues and seen losses of war, but I am not lost for words to describe the beauty and diversity of the Solomon Islands.
Contact Bilikiki Cruises at www.bilikiki.com

Information on diving the Solomon Islands

Info Location: North-east of Australia, 5–12° south of equator Day time temperature: 28–32°C
Water temperature: 28–30°C
Language: English and Pidgin English
Currency: Solomon Dollar

Getting to the Solomon Islands has never been simpler. Solomon Airlines offers regular flights departing from Brisbane and Sydney. You can fly from New Zealand with a stopover in Fiji, Brisbane or Vanuatu.

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Jeanne Liebetrau and Peter Pinnock

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