Another treasure of South Pacific diving, the Solomons lie to the northeast of Australia and East of Papua New Guinea. The many scattered islands are best dived from a large, colfortable live-aboard—especially since some of the best diving islands have no other access!
Rick and Jane Belmare pioneered the diving in the Solomons, first with their dive shop and land div9ing near Honiara, then later with the large live-aboards Bilikiki and Spirit of Solomons.
This was without question the way to dive the Solomons. The boats were very stable on the long crossings, made a fabulous platform for divers with lots of cameras, and offered a level of comfort which was for that time quite sybaritic. Indeed, to this day there is a cohort of divers for whom the comfort of the big boat is a prime draw for them to fly across the Pacific to this out-of-the-way Paradise.Many of the best dives in the Solomons involve currents, not of a punishing level but enough to sustain a food stream for the marine life. So, there are lovely gardens of soft corals, vast aggregations of barracuda and some sharks racing about in the passes.
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Modified
03.17.14