Dive Review of Kabaira Dive Rabaul/Rapopo in
Papua New Guinea/East New Britain

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Kabaira Dive Rabaul/Rapopo: "Kabaira Dive Rabaul", Sep, 2016, by Michael O'Reilly, GA, US ( Reviewer 5 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 9221.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	East New Britain has nowhere near the reputation that Walindi and West New Britain possesses. I have not experienced Walindi yet, so please take this review with a grain of salt. Dive operator Shaun is an Aussie ex-Navy man. Locals claim that there are 65 wrecks within a 15 minute boat ride. I only dove about 4wrecks in my 3 days diving there, but there are a variety of WWII era wrecks at easily dive-able depths, with a few more recent wrecks thrown in. Of note, there is a Japanese Zero aircraft wreck in very shallow water at one site. The resort does not offer nitrox, which is a bit of a disappointment, given that several wrecks are shallow enough to be in the depth sweet spot for nitrox. The wrecks that I dived (sorry, I didn't write down the names of sites) had the usual array of wreck/reef creatures one anticipates in this part of the world - morays, banded shrimp, batfish, blue spotted stingrays, a variety of butterflyfish, some nudibranch, more. Fish density is moderate. Overall, I didn't spend enough time here to fully appreciate the variety of sites, and I am more keen to visit reefs than wrecks, but my limited experience led me to believe that this is a very good place for wreck diving, not as good as Truk Lagoon in the South Pacific or Coron Island off of Palawan (Philippines), but a place to note if you're a wreck diver. I don't think Shaun has any immediate plans to offer Nitrox. The resort itself is very very good for PNG, and the dive operation has much lower volume than Walindi. When I was there, the diving varied from 12 people on a boat w/2 guides to me alone with 1 guide. My best dive was near the Japanese Zero in between two more commonly dived sites. I saw a variety of nudibranchs, 2 seahorse, two white tips hiding under a thick patch of staghorn coral, a 1 meter long common reef octopus that climbed out of its hole near an anemone, changed color and texture to reflect the coral around it, and, over the course of ten minutes, advanced to within 1.5 meters of me. All in daylight. We also saw 2 unexploded WWII torpedoes. Shaun shared with me that he is searching for the wreck of an Australian sub off of New Ireland, which he thinks will have significant historical and tourism-related interest. We'll see. The best dive guide I saw was Jonah. As with anywhere in West New Britain, East New Britain or New Ireland, consider malaria prophylaxis. Food is very good here, especially given the PNG setting. Resort is owned by 3rd generation ethnic Chinese PNGers (odd to see ethnic Chinese in Asia Pacific who speak no mandarin.) I'd recommend pool view rooms. Swim with Dolphins available as an AM snorkel trip. Excellent vis throughout.
Websites	Kabaira Dive Rabaul Rapopo
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Bunaken, Lembeh, Wakatobi, Sippadan, Indonesian Borneo, GBR, South Australia, PNG, Tanzania, Philippines many locations, Little Caymen, Belize, Turks and Caicos, other
Closest Airport	Kokopo	Getting There	Flights direct from Port Moresby
Dive Conditions
Weather	cloudy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	27-28°C / 81-82°F	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	70-100 Ft/ 21-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Flexible
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	No dedicated tank on boat that I saw. Limited facilities at dive shop.

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Dive Review of Kabaira Dive Rabaul/Rapopo in Papua New Guinea/East New Britain

Kabaira Dive Rabaul/Rapopo: "Kabaira Dive Rabaul", Sep, 2016,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Kabaira Dive Rabaul/Rapopo in
Papua New Guinea/East New Britain