Dive Review of Lissenung Island Resort in
Papua New Guinea/Lissenung Island

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Lissenung Island Resort: "Small Rustic Resort with Limited Dive Sites", Nov, 2019, by Gail M King, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 28 reports with 24 Helpful votes). Report 11463.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Lissenung Island Resort is very small & rustic with only 8 rooms...4 have a private bathroom,no ac on the tiny island,ceiling fans are used and windows are screened...beds were awful---I slept in a trench with my body against the wood bed frame & adding another mattress was only a slight improvement.A ship load of new mattress were in route...I wonder if they ever arrived...Food was basic & simple. The diving was the biggest disappointment...the resort lists 42 dive sites on its web site but in reality less than half of those are available due to the resort refusing to pay the tribal chief for diving on his reefs.This has been in limbo for years & needs to be corrected...either correct the web site or simply pay the tribal chief the small amount of money he wants.From all accounts these off limits dive sites were the best in the area.We were there for 10 nites & diving 3 dives/day...we thought we had plenty of dive sites for that period of time but we ended up repeating dive sites often.Echuca Patch was our only blue water dive site with healthy corals & lots of fish so it was repeated often.Some of the other sites were ok with a few things to see & others were dismal.Only one dive boat seemed to be in operation & one small boat to bring people to /from the island. The resort owner,Dietmar had a small turtle rescue operation so we saw baby turtles released into the ocean.I thought getting off the beaten dive path would be a good thing but it didn't turn out that way.The small staff did a good job with housekeeping,food prep,and diving.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Palau, Fiji, Philippines, Australia, Galapagos, Socorro, Hawaii, Bahamas, Caribbean, Cuba, PNG
Closest Airport	Kavieng	Getting There	LAX to Brisbane to Port Moresby on Qantas then Air Nuigini to Kavieng
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	84-°F / 29-°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	stay loosely with guide & back on boat with 500psi
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	one small pan of water on dive boat & rinsed camera in your room shower

Subscriber's Comments

By Christopher Bartlett in London, GB at Apr 25, 2020 07:38 EST

The problem with the unavailable sites is not simply solved by paying a chief. The issue is two chiefs both claiming a reef as theirs. Until the chiefs resolve the ownership, no one can dive it.

By report author: Gail M King in FL, US at Apr 26, 2020 11:45 EST

When we asked resort owner Dietmar why we could not dive a number of good dive sites shown on their website & in their room info booklet Dietmar told us he was paying the money to an aid group within the tribe until at some point several years ago the chief said the money had to be given directly to him...Dietmar said he refused & quit paying. Dietmar never said anything about ownership rites. Regardless of which story is true,or neither,the website should be updated with the correct number of dive sites available so trips could be planned accordingly.

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Dive Review of Lissenung Island Resort in Papua New Guinea/Lissenung Island

Lissenung Island Resort: "Small Rustic Resort with Limited Dive Sites", Nov, 2019,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Lissenung Island Resort in
Papua New Guinea/Lissenung Island