Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea is renowned for its beautiful reefs but also for its phenomenal muck diving, where a plethora of regional and endemic critters can be found. Pierre Constant has the story.
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Diving at Milne Bay started more than 40 years ago. Initially, it was all about liveaboard diving. The first liveaboard cruises were started by the late Australian Bob Halstead, a pioneer in the field, aboard the MV Telita. He is regarded as the father of “muck diving”.
Another Australian, Rob van der Loos, spent his childhood in the Solomon Islands before moving to Papua New Guinea. Initially a coffee trader and supermarket manager in the Highlands, he became involved in tourism in the 1980s when he ventured into organising camping and diving trips in Milne Bay. In 1992, he purchased the MV Chertan and initiated cruises in the region.
Passionate about exploration and underwater photography, he published Living Reefs of the Indo-Pacific 2001, a photographic guide to fishes and marine invertebrates that he encountered during his numerous expeditions. In 2000, he created a land-based resort with two partners: Bob Hollis, founder of the US dive equipment brand Oceanic, and a Greek businessman based in Alotau. Together, they bought a seven-acre piece of land on the northern coast of Milne Bay and negotiated with the local clans for the right to use the dive sites. In Papua New Guinea, the marine territory traditionally belongs to the local people. Back in the day, a 5 PGK fee per diver, per day was charged by the clan and consigned into a register. The collected fees were then paid by the resort at the end of the month.
The resort
Following a 3.5-year construction, Tawali Resort opened its doors in 2004. Built on a limestone bluff overlooking Hoa Bay, 10 luxurious wooden bungalows with verandas could accommodate 20 guests. Each large room consisted of two double beds, a bathroom, a fan and an air-conditioner, chairs and a fridge, not to mention a balcony. Made of local wood, a covered walkway through the lush jungle linked the reception to the bungalows. The dining hall and observation deck overlooked the Solomon Sea, with panoramic views of each of the adjacent bays and a little island to the northeast. The house reef down below plummeted to a few hundred metres.
At Tawali, nature predominates, and the feeling of peace is total. There is no road access to the resort whatsoever. A boardwalk comes down in a zigzag from the reception to the main wharf, where the boat brings visitors. It is a 15-minute boat crossing to the dirt road that leads to the airport in Alotau, one hour away.
Beyond the bungalows, the boardwalk continued across the jungle, past the enclosure of the cassowary—Tawali’s mascot—and climbed down to another bay, where the dive centre was located, along with rinse tanks and staff housing. I had come to Tawali for the first time in 2006 and kept fond memories of this jewel of a resort.
Since then, the situation has changed. Rob van der Loos retired in 2010 and sold Tawali to Mike Bromley, an Australian businessman. The dive resort is now managed by Dhoreen Gumtang, a Filipino woman who also runs the Nambis Inn in Madang.
Getting there
One early morning, I was picked up from the Napatana Lodge in Alotau by Tawali’s punctual minibus for the one-hour transfer on a good tar road towards East Cape. A dirt road branched off before the end and brought the bus downhill to the northern coast. There, a motorboat took me and fellow guests on a 20-minute ride to Tawali’s haven of peace.
Upon arrival at the dock, we were met by the cheerful receptionist, who led us up a sloping boardwalk and a flight of steps to the reception. A welcome cocktail with a cool towel was served for our refreshment on the panoramic wooden deck. As I walked over to the dive centre on the other side of the bluff, I noticed the new swimming pool with lounge chairs, a welcome addition to the existing setting.
Skull Caves
Early in the afternoon, the receptionist mentioned an excursion to the Skull Caves, led by local resort guide, which was not to be missed. The 20-minute boat trip was followed by a 10-minute walk through the coastal forest to a couple of caves at the bottom of a limestone cliff.
There, a collection of 300-year-old skulls, from the gruesome past of cannibals and clan wars, had been piled up at the foot of some stalactites. Some holes in one of the skulls indicated that the brain had been extracted for consumption to acquire the strength of a warrior. At the exit, local women sold seashells and beautifully carved wooden artefacts. Continuing on, the guide took us visitors on a hike to a waterfall in the forest where we could enjoy a swim accompanied by a few friendly children.
Diving
The resort offered three boat dives per day, with a night dive on the house reef available upon request. Diving on the northern coast is best described as a combination of two types of diving. On the one hand, there are reef or drop-off dive sites, such as Wahoo Point, Sponge Heaven, Barracuda Point, Coral Garden and Deacon Reef. At these sites, the reef is flat, 5m to 7m deep, with coral bommies, Acropora sp. staghorn and table corals, followed by a vertical wall with cracks, caves, overhangs, swim-throughs and ledges.
On the other hand, there are dive sites aptly known as muck dives, which are found along volcanic, sandy beaches. Stone pebbles are present, which have been smoothed by wave action. Under the surface, the scene is that of a dark, sandy slope, with silt, bits and pieces of organic material, such as tree branches and leaves. Two renowned sites are Lawadi and Michelle’s. These are naturalist dives, where underwater photographers will be keen to look for critters, colourful nudibranchs, crustaceans and octopus—a wonder world for dedicated macro enthusiasts and passionate critter seekers endowed with endless patience, needless to say!
The dive instructor in charge of diving activities, selected the dive sites for the day. I was introduced to the dive guide, with a feeling of déjà vu. He was a real character with an expressive face, whom I recalled having met 20 years before!
Michelle’s dive site, a 20-minute boat ride to the west, was a black, sandy beach fringed by coconut trees. Underwater, the saddleback anemonefish (Amphiprion polymnus), in their white beaded anemone, favoured this dark environment. I discovered a white-spotted hermit crab (Dardanus megistos) in a big spindle shell, a stupendous arrowhead crab (Huenia heraldica) carrying a green piece of algae on its back and a pale blue and white slug (Samla bicolor) on a piece of seaweed. Albert pointed out some stunning black and blue sea slugs (Philinopsis sp. 2) crawling in the silt, and I was charmed by some squat anemone shrimp (Thor amboinensis) in the empty tube of a cerianthid anemone.
Lawadi, further away, was another muck dive. Dive guide Jona provided a thrill by finding a rarity: a Cyerce nigra sea slug, which displayed a succession of sails with a wavy design—when seen from the front—and yellow spots on a black body when seen from behind. Mesmerising! On the same dive, a Caledonian devilfish (Inimicus caledonicus), mimetic with its surroundings, intrigued me. A miniature painted frogfish (Antennarius pictus), which was bluish black with yellow and red spots, fascinated me. Although pretty to look at, the corallimorpharian, Amplexidiscus fenestrafer, reminded one that it was a no-touch type of creature!
Each of these two dives lasted up to 70 minutes, at a maximum depth of 17.5m. Rain poured down heavily in the afternoon as I downloaded and edited the images in the lavishly epicurean comfort of my room. A relaxing part of the day, by all means.
Cherie’s Reef. On day two, several divers, dive guides and the cook, and I were off for a three-dive day under the care of Captain Charlie, who was always good-humoured and smiling. We were headed for an offshore reef south of East Cape. Visibility was much better today. The current came from the north, and we chose the protected south side.
I got to see two species of flatworms: the starry night flatworm, Thysanozoon sp.1, which was black with yellow dots, and the sapphire flatworm, Pseudoceros sapphirinus, which was black with a blue girdle. The dive guide signalled to me, pointing out a pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti) on a gorgonian at 20m. Against all odds and despite the current, I managed to get a decent shot.
A blue jellyfish in a bad shape drifted over the sandy bottom, and a shy Napoleon wrasse made an appearance. Schools of double-lined fusiliers (Pterocaesio digramma) and yellowtail fusiliers (Caesio cuning) streaked across the blue screen in a hurry. Goldlined sweetlips (Plectorhinchus chrysotaenia) were pleasant. After the second dive, the wind picked up and the sea surface became choppy, forcing us to forget about the dive at Tania’s Reef.
Wahoo Point turned out to be a much better location. The dive guide found an exquisite Doriprismatica stellata dorid nudibranch, which was grey with fine white dots and silver-yellow gills. A bubble coral shrimp (Vir philippinensis) smiled at me as I passed by.
Coming up from a depth of 22m, the dive guide called my attention frantically. Feeding into the current, a resident reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) was doing loops above, with some rainbow runners following closely behind. I was having trouble with my zoom lens, so I shot the manta at random as it displayed its white belly in full view. It took me down into the blue again, only to realise that I had lost visual contact with the reef. Luckily, my compass helped me to head back south.
Critter spotting
We returned to Lawadi for two amazing muck dives. The dive guide’s knowledge proved to be a great asset in spotting critters one had no idea about. In shallow water, a beige cockatoo waspfish (Ablabys taenianotus) was gently swaying in the light current, supporting itself between two cobblestones. A peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus) watched life go by, with its rotating globe-like eyes, from the safety of its burrow. It is known to pack a boxer’s punch on its chosen prey.
By a sheer stroke of luck, I fell upon two harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera elegans), which were white with purplish blue markings, that were feeding on the arm of a sea star. Interestingly, sometime after, I found the multi-pore sea star (Linckia multifora) with a severed arm!
A geometric nudibranch (Goniobranchus geometricus) attracted attention with its black and white design, yellow gills and rhinophores. A huge nudibranch, Goniobranchus sp.20 (formerly Chromodoris sp.6), was red with fine white dots and purple and yellow spots on the edge of its white girdle, with silvery gills and rhinophores. Another sea slug, Plakobranchus sp., was flat and mottled with green and white, with two dark blue-tipped horns.
An inconspicuous sponge crab shared an anemone with some saddleback anemonefish and black three-spot dascyllus. Last but not least, the dive guide found a dendronotid nudibranch, Crosslandia sp., which was green and white-speckled, with four appendages at the back and green rhinophores sticking out in front. A marvellous species that I had never seen before! On the subsequent dive, we explored the slope leading to the mouth of the river, which had many sea pens (Virgularia sp.).
Reef dives
Taking a respite from muck diving, and being the only diver on the following day, the dive guide took me on two reef dives at key spots with notorious walls.
Barracuda Point. On the way there, we saw a manta feeding at the surface. By the time we entered the blue water, with mask, fins and snorkel, it had turned around, and that was the end of it! The wall held little interest, as the fish life was unremarkable. The dive was once a highlight for its resident group of green bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum), which are slate grey as juveniles. As they move, they resemble charging buffalo! But I did not see any.
The top of the reef was broken and covered with lots of reddish-brown algae. Not a surprise, considering the elevated water temperature of 31.4°C. Global warming was evident, green algae were dying, and hard corals were bleaching. A school of rainbow runners (Elagatis bipinnulata) passed by. The dive guide pointed out three large banana nudibranchs in a mating frenzy. On the edge of the drop-off, in five metres of water, I was graced with the sight of the endemic white bonnet anemonefish (Amphiprion leucokranos) sharing an anemone with orange anemonefish (A. sandaracinos) and Clark’s anemonefish (A. clarkii).
Deacon’s Reef. Another wall dive, where a hawksbill sea turtle made a furtive passage at depth. A cream-colored dorid nudibranch (Goniobranchus coi, previously Chromodoris coi), with brownish spots and a white girdle with a wavy black outline, had the ability to lift its mantle sideways; a very pretty sea slug. The best part of the dive was at the end, when we came upon a shelf at a depth of 7-10 metres under a cliff. Nearly vertical light beams shone through the water column with great effect. Caves, overhangs and narrow passages close to the wall brought an atmospheric feel to the place. Lots of gorgonians, sea fans, decorated with feather stars, and bushes of red whip corals undulated gracefully—a great spot to photograph the ambience.
Wahoo Point revisited. On my last dive with the dive guide at Wahoo Point, I did not see any manta rays. Instead, I observed a school of 15 devil rays (Mobula tarapacana) in the blue, which were challenging to follow. Unfortunately, numerous particles in the water prevented a decent shot when using my strobe lights.
Topside excursions
Some excursions were offered by the resort, led by one of its dive guides. A walk to Wahoo Point, or even further to East Cape, was recommended for dedicated hikers. A jungle trail behind the resort climbed to the top of a ridge with panoramic views of the northern coast, then wound down along a creek to the main road, 45 minutes away. It was an opportunity to see a red and blue eclectus parrot (female), as well as a Papuan hornbill, which was black with a white tail and a chestnut-coloured head and neck.
On the way to East Cape, the road cut across a savannah with pandanus trees. There, one could marvel at carnivorous pitcher plants of the Nepenthes genus, which feed on flies and insects. It was possible to return by the northern coast road to the resort’s wharf, where the resort boat picked up guests.
Final thoughts
For those not interested in a liveaboard cruise, the resort is a perfect alternative for diving in Milne Bay, offering a pristine and idyllic location in the heart of nature. It is a very exotic and ethnic place with a friendly and professional team. Finally, without a shadow of a doubt, it offers what I consider to be a muck diving wonder. ■
References: Fishbase, Wikipedia, World Register of Marine Species
