Kitava Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea - September 2016

Like Kiriwina Island, Kitava Island is another small piece of paradise in the Trobriand Islands, on our visit today though we weren’t exactly blessed with your typical sunshine and blue sky south pacific type weather. Actually the weather was fairly average but figuring that we were going to spend a fair chunk of the day snorkelling anyway we weren’t overly concerned. With Kitava Island another largely undeveloped island with no tourist infrastructure to speak of that meant another tender operation to get everyone ashore, so while the rest of the punters headed for the breakfast buffet Sam and I headed down to jump on the first tender of the day, I figure that the food on the ship isn’t going to disappear but we only have one day in these spots to make the most of it, the tactics payed off again today as we were ashore quickly on the half empty boat.

Once on shore there was the usual welcoming committee of locals all excited to see the sweaty dim dims who had turned up on the big white ship. Seeing as it was still pissing down we decided that our first objective for the day would be to go snorkelling, now I’d heard that the snorkelling was actually the best on the nearby Nuratu Island but that meant we had to get over to it. Luckily there were no shortages of locals lined up and ready to row us over to the small island in their banana boats, after paying our 5 kina we clambered aboard and within ten minutes we were standing on the beautiful white sand of Nuratu Island……in the pouring rain, oh well at least it was warm.

Heading over to Nuratu Island, it wasn't exactly a blue sky kind of day.

Even with the overcast conditions the snorkelling here was very good.

Nuratu Island is a tiny little speck in the Solomon Sea, you could walk around the island in about 20 minutes if you wanted, walking wasn’t on the agenda this morning though. After sussing out where I figured that the best reefs were as best I could from the beach it was time to don the fins and mask and plunge in, with the water at approximately the same temperature as the ambiant air temperature it wasn’t much of a hardship. Once snorkelling the only real reminder that we had that it was raining was the feel of the rain drops on our backs as we surfaced between dives. Like our other dives in PNG the coral here was spectacular, I can’t help wondering what it would be like with a bit of sun shining down to light it up a bit.

When the weathers like this you may as well be in the water.

Under the surface it was serene.

Even without the sun we spent the next three hours immersed in the warm water, resting on the surface occasionally to check out what was going on around us. From our snorkelling spot we could easily see over to Kitava Island which was handy as we were trying to time our return for when most of the punters had got sick of the tropical rain and returned to the sanctuary of the ship. With the crowds returning on the tenders now at maximum dim dim we decided that it was time to say goodbye to the tropical fish and head back over and check out what the locals had on offer over on Kitava, first up though there was the negotiation for the banana boat ride back over….5 kina please (relax that’s about $2.50 Aussie, yeah we were hardly being gouged!).

The Feral Snorkeler, yep only the most flattering photos on my blog.

It was fairly uncrowded over on Nuratu Island today.

Arriving back on the big island, well bigger anyway, we spent the next hour or so checking out the sights, watching the local children dance and sing and politely declining the chance to buy any number of wood carvings. Once again the local kids squeezed our hearts and again we came way with some addresses that we’ll try and send some supplies back too when we get home. After redistributing a bit of kina I decided to head up to the lookout and check out the view, now up until now I’d been walking around in bare feet in soft sand so stupidly I figured that I’d head up to the lookout with the same alfresco footware. Leaving my gear with Sam I wandered off up the track in my bare feet, the crushed coral started about 20 metres from the beach, now I’m not that smart and I’m obviously stubborn because instead of going back to Sam to grab my hiking havaianas I figured that I’d just persist in bare feet…..like I said I’m not real smart.

There was plenty of enthusiasm for the tug of war with the boys.

While the girls were happier singing.

By mid afternoon most of the dim dims had returned to the ship.

My ultra light hiking shoes.

Paying my 5 kina I hobbled my way the last few metres to the lookout my feet now exfoliated nicely from the sharp coral and limestone. As well as the nice view down over KItava and Nuratu Islands the lookout also features the grave of one Cyril Barneveldt Cameron, a Tasmanian who came to Kitava and started a plantation back in 1912, I wonder if Cyril knew that other famous Taswegion Erol who was kicking around PNG back in the day. After taking the obligatory snap of the big white ship anchored just off shore I hobbled my way back down to Sam, my feet relieved to be reunited with my thongs again. We were sailing away at 3 pm today so by now it was time to jump back on a tender, head for a quick shower before heading up on deck and watching Kitava Island slowly recede from view before finally disappearing into the Soloman Sea. It had been a grey and wet day and I’m sure that we didn’t really see Kitava Island at anywhere near her best but as usual it was still a great day, a bad days snorkelling beats a good day at work anytime.

The day was still overcast but at least it wasn't raining.

I hardly needed oxygen for walk to the lookout.

The Dirt.
Of all the spots we visited on this trip to Papua New Guinea I think Kitava Island was probably the most undeveloped. The locals here seem to have worked out that their one chance to make any money is when the boats occasionally turn up and some of the signposted attractions seemed a bit dubious and contrived to me, for 5 kina you can check out orchids, skulls, headhunter caves, lookouts, and various graves, like I said I’m not sure on the authenticity of some of these attractions, but hey what’s 5 kina to us. The lookout was definitely kosher and worth the $2.50 that I paid so check it out if you want to get a bit of an over view of the surrounding area. From what I could see the snorkelling around the jetty didn’t look very appealing, so it is worth hiring a banana boat for the very short trip over to Nuratu Island where the snorkelling is very good indeed, keep in mind my dodgy photos were taken in the worst possible conditions. The boat trip cost us 5 kina in each direction and its worth it just for the experience alone I reckon.
Relevant Posts.

Rabaul, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, 2016.

Kiriwina Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, 2016.

Doini Island, Milne Bay Province, 2016.

Alotau, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, 2016.

Kokoda Trail, Papua New Guinea, 2006.

Not the usual blue sky sail away photo.

The big island is Kitava Island, the little one is where we spent the morning snorkelling, Nuratu Island.