About Spirit of Niugini
The Spirit of Niugini is a 115ft long scuba diving yacht that is based out of the Tawali Resort in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. There are 8 cabins and the vessel accommodates up to 16 guests. 6 cabins are twins, and two are doubles and all come with ensuite bathrooms, air conditioning, and plenty of storage. Enjoy our two articles on Papua New Guinea: Diving At The Edge of The World. Part One and Part Two.
Spirit of Niugini Diving
From Tawali they have several itineraries depending on the weather and time of year. They typically dive the northeast coral reefs as well as itinerary Option 1 :Samari, Nuakata Island, and the Conflict group. Option 2 includes: Eastcape, Nuwakata Island, Furguson Island, and Normandy Island. Option 3 includes: Cape Voge, Northern Nuakata and Option 4 includes Samar, Nuakata Island, and Duchess. The Spirit of Nuigini has access to over 60 scuba diving sites in the surrounding waters. Some popular dives site includes: Dinah's Reef for frogfish, and Wahoo Point for hammerheads. Wampas is a must-see dive site and right next door to Nancy's. So, you'll experience wall dives, pinnacles, and bommies “reefs”.
For scuba diving on wrecks they visit the P38 Lightning and the B17 "Blackjack" Bomber. It can be impossible to visit the bomber from small day boats if the winds and waves are against them, but a literal breeze for the Spirit of Niugini to reach this site. We should mention that even the Tawali Resort house reef is an excellent muck dive. At Tawali Resort in the evening the mandarin fish begin their courting rituals. Followed by night when the reef becomes a new stage for creatures with different behaviors such as the mimic octopus, lobsters, crabs, and inquisitive sharks. They also have a dive shop located next to the service jetty. So, you may want to stay here a day or three before the Spirit of Niugini departs. Nitrox is available for a fee.
Attractions and activities
Meals are served buffet style in the main dining area. They prepare western, local, and vegetarian dishes if requested in advance. They use 2-3 dive masters and most dives are done from the dive platform and divers return from their dive via 1 of the 2 dive ladders. This remote location is for experienced divers that wish to dive 4-5 dives a day, which may include night dives. Off the Spirit of Niugini you can do a rain forest hike, or go fishing. You can also do the popular skull cave and waterfall hike or visit the DEi Dei hot springs or picnic and snorkel around Boi Boi Waga Island. With over 730 species of birds, and 41 species of bird of paradise, it's a birding wonderland. Up for a coastal village walk? How about learning traditional cooking, basket weaving, face painting, or dance?
Before leaving on The Spirit of Niugini bring some Kina (local currency) because the locals make fantastic handmade gifts and souvenirs. So, for this remote wilderness, leave the fancy jewelry at home, but bring the bug spray when you are near any shoreline. Finally, the closest airport is Alotau Airport, which you can reach from Port Moresby, then take a 90 minute bus ride, and finally a boat ride the last 15 minutes to reach the resort. It's best to do it all in a same day transfer.
