The Wild West: Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands truly is the last paradise in the Pacific, and I don’t say that lightly. After 3,500 dives, you start to get a little battle weary, and finding new and exciting locations is often as much about the experience as it is about the dives. There are incredible coral reefs, walls and drop-offs all over the South Pacific and after a while, they all start to feel the same. Every so often one dive will stand out, but it is often about being the right place and the right time.

Then there’s the dive destinations that offer new and exciting opportunities at every turn. The Solomon Islands is one of those locations if not the location. Yes, it has all the coral, the fish, the sharks, the deep Gorgonian fans and vibrant soft coral walls but it also has wrecks. Not just a few, not just a few hundred... but thousands. Do a little research into this area of the Pacific during World War II and you will quickly understand why this place stands out. In the Battle of Guadacanal alone, 67 ships and 1300 planes were lost - most to watery graves.

But this place is not just about the exceptional diving, experiencing the Solomon Islands is also about the people and some of the most diverse cultures on the planet. It truly is the last paradise left in the Pacific.

The Solomons aren't everyone’s cup of tea. If you’re looking for a five-star resort experience,go somewhere else. But if, like me, you don’t like hordes of demanding tourists, or queues for the buffet or worse - 30 divers on the same dive, then try this place.

I love getting off the beaten track and feeling as though you’ve stepped back in time. I love the authenticity. There’s a rawness to this place, to the accommodation and a genuine warmth of the people. No plastic tikis here. And there are so many places in the Solomons to travel to and to dive, each with its own unique flavour.

Gizo, Western Province

One of my favourites is Gizo in the Western Province. Two places that stand out to stay at are Imagination Island, and Fat Boys Resort on Mbabanga Island a little further south.

Flying in is an experience! The runway is a relic of WWII - longer than the island it sits on, with all access to Gizo town and the surrounding islands by pango boats, or canoe if you’re brave enough. Imagination is 5 minutes away with spinner dolphins often guiding you across the insanely deep waters between these tiny islands.

Imagination is pretty special. The accommodation hangs over the water, and you can watch the fish through the gaps in the floorboards or watch the sunset from a hammock on your own private deck. The food is good, the nesting Black Noddys loud and the staff super friendly. But the best bit is after lunch, when you can step out onto the dock and leap into a coral wonderland just metres from your cold beer. The coral and fish life is right up there complete with giant clams the size of small cars. There’s a resident shiver of black tip sharks constantly patrolling the edge. They’re used to divers and snorkellers too meaning they will come close enough for you to get that shot of a lifetime… 10 times in one dive.

There are dozens of dive options available from both Imagination and Fat Boys, including the wreck of the Toa Maru – a Japanese freighter that was sunk by American Dauntless Dive Bombers and still has a tank in her hold.

Or an almost completely intact American Hellcat fighter sitting in 9 metres of water. Two dive operations run trips – Dive Gizo in town and Fat Boys from the Fat Boys Resort.

One of the popular dives close by is a place called Grand Central Station where the dive begins in a calm coral-covered bay before descending out onto a wall where the current brings an array of fish past in a constant procession. Every dive here is different.

Like Imagination Island, Fat Boys resort has its restaurant out over the coral reef, and some of the best snorkelling you'll find here is right under the restaurant. The shadows hold great clouds of baitfish, long toms and mackerel. The rocky outcrops around the pier legs home to half a dozen species of squirrel fish and big eyes all darting in and out of the shadows. Pipe fish are everywhere and there are dozens of huge giant clams rescued from the markets by the resort and thriving in the shallow clear water here. If you wait long enough, particularly in the late afternoon or early morning you might be lucky enough to witness the patrolling bluefin trevally attack the clouds of balled up mackerel – quite a sight to behold.

A short distance from both islands sits Kennedy’s Island – a memorial to the bravery of JFK after the sinking of his patrol boat PT-109. You can visit for a BBQ and a swim and there are great dives all around the island as well as exceptional snorkelling.

If you want a taste of some even older history, the resorts can arrange to take you further south to Skull Island, the last home of a head-hunting tribe before they were wiped out by the surrounding villages. There you will find an eerie open-air shrine filled with real human skulls - the remains of warrior chiefs, tribal leaders, and the victims of their headhunting raids.

These stories and the islands' history is what makes the Solomons so much more than just a great dive destination, your surface intervals can be filled with history, culture, great seafood and spectacular sunsets. Oh - and the local beer is pretty good too.

Ready to take your own dive trip to the Solomons and find out more for yourself? We've teamed up with the team at Tourism Solomons and put together an amazing deal so you can see all this and more for yourself. Check it out!

For more on this deal and more, contact Dive Adventures here. Happy diving!