PNG diving 2014-15

The long awaited trip to PNG finally came to fruition! After a chaotic second half of 2014 which involved a cross-country relocation for a new job, and all the shenanigans that entails, I was seriously looking forward to just getting away. Don’t get me wrong, I do like my job, but 2014 was just ugly for me in a variety of ways.

After spending Christmas Day in Cairns (because I’m an idiot who didn’t check the flight schedules properly), and going for a dive on the Great Barrier Reef to waste away the day, I was finally ready to fly out to PNG on Boxing Day! After some (expected) flight chaos, I finally arrived in Tufi ready to dive! One of my reasons for choosing Tufi was the wreck of the Black Jack bomber. From research I did before I left, I understood that it was at an additional cost, had a minimum numbers requirement, and that it was a deco dive only open to those with sufficient experience. There was no guarantee that I’d get to dive it unless I could convince enough people at the resort during my stay to do it as well. It never eventuated – if you want to dive the plane wreck, you need to organise it in advance, not when you get to the resort, even if you’re there for 2 weeks and want to do it on the last day. And on top of that, they’re now saying you must be a certified technical diver, regardless of how much experience you have as a rec diver.

Regarding underwater photography, the resort isn’t really set up for it. There’s no camera room or air guns or anything like that. You can charge things in your cabin though. And while there’s no camera rinse tanks either in the dive shop or out on the dive boats, they do have plastic tubs, so you can make your own rinse tank (i.e. ask them for the tub, put it either on the boat or in the dive shop yourself, and fill it with the hose yourself). They have things there, but you need to do things for yourself. Which is fine, just a bit of forewarning in case you get to the outer reefs and then have a “WTF?!?! Where’s the camera rinse tank on the boat?” moment. I had one.

Anyway, amazing experience. The visibility was nothing like I’ve ever seen before in my life! 40-50 m (and then some) – consistently, on every single reef dive. The reefs are in pristine condition, there’s no pollution, the coral is healthy and plentiful, and due to a lack of fishing, the marine life is epic! Plus, you know, hammerheads! It’s an obsession.

The view from Tufi Dive Resort.

Just another day in paradise?

A cuscus at the resort munching on a hibiscus flower I fed it (asked the resort managers first).

Local villagers coming to the resort to put on a song and dance show for us.

One of the locals singing and dancing at Tufi Dive Resort.

Worn out from the singing and dancing!

One of the musicians from the song and dance show – see the damage done to their teeth and gums from the betel nuts?

One of the young children who came to paddle us to their village in Maclaren Harbour when we visited.

Trying to scare the silly white tourists?

Another song and dance show when we did the village tour at Maclaren Harbour.

Part of the song and dance show when we visited Maclaren Harbour.

One of the drummers during the song and dance show during our village tour of Maclaren Harbour.

Random reef photo – been trying to get a shot like this forever!

Deep dive to see the PT boat wreck just off the Tufi House Reef (45-50 meters).

I still had my wide angle lens on after the wreck dive, so was messing around with reef shots that afternoon.

Ornate ghost pipefish on the Tufi House Reef.

Crocodile fish on one of the outer reefs – and here I thought they only existed in Wakatobi!

Clownfish. They’re all called Nemo in my head.

Fish ID book indicates a Pixy Hawkfish.

Schooling trevally on one of the outer reefs.

Batfish – which I love, because they ignore scuba divers and just sit there and pose for you!

Blacktip reef shark.

White tip reef shark.

Do the hammerhead dance and they will come?

This is the original shot that the hammerhead photo is zoomed in from – it’s gliding along behind a grey reef shark.