Milne Bay

To reach these isolated reef outposts, we must travel by live-aboard cruiser. Bob and Dinah Halstead ran the fabulous cruises aboard Telita for several years. Recently, Bob and Dinah retired and sold the operation to Mike Ball Watersports of Australia. The original Telita was so successful that Bob and Dinah expanded their operation with two sister-ships, Captain Kevin Baldwin's ten passenger, air conditioned Tiata and Craig DeWitt’s ten passenger, air conditioned Golden Dawn. Each of these sensational vessels works different areas of this sublime diving paradise.

Papua New Guinea has superb wall dives, sheer plummeting dropoffs festooned with lush soft corals and gorgonians, while schools of jacks and barracuda sweep by in the blue water.

Other sites find their greatest attractions in shallow coral gardens, filled with unusual fish, many species you will not have seen previously. For example this is where you may see the calico scorpionfish, Rhinopias aphanes, or the hot-pink deadly stonefish, or the red and yellow shrimpfish which occur in large schools. Then there are other sites with strong currents and big animals. Divers returning from Telita are voluble with tales of huge manta rays, sharks and during some seasons, whale sharks. There are also large turtles and a World War II B-17 Flying Fortress bomber sunk in clear water in 1992, Bob discovered a sensational new wreck, the S’Jacob, upright, untouched and swarming with life. This is one of the world’s great new dives offered in special expeditions. Papua New Guinea also offers unique cruises back in time, cruises up the Sepik River to native villages where quality works of primitive art are plentiful and reasonably priced.

For your dream dive vacation, let me help you arrange one of diving’s and the world's most exotic adventures.

Modified 06-16-23