Dive Review of MV FeBrina in
Papua New Guinea/New Britain Island

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MV FeBrina: "FeBrina, Lots of Positives in Spite of a Unique Set of Circumstances", Mar, 2018, by David E Reubush, VA, US ( Top Contributor 68 reports with 35 Helpful votes). Report 10255 has 2 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Almost since I got certified 25 years ago I have read/heard about the MV FeBrina; its captain, Alan Raabe; and the diving in PNG. So, when Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock (Secret Sea Visions) advertised a trip on the FeBrina for March of 2018 I signed up. While the FeBrina for most of the year uses Walindi Plantation Resort on the north coast of New Britain as a home port and explores Kimbe Bay and the surrounding area; due to the weather conditions in the Kimbe Bay region in March (the end of the rainy season) the particular trip we would be going on was scheduled to leave from Rabaul at the northeast point of New Britain and we would dive our way across the Solomon Sea to Milne Bay and end in Alotau at the southeast point of the main body of PNG. As I am a macro fan and Milne Bay is renowned as a macro destination I thought this would be a great trip. Unfortunately, about a week and a half before we were scheduled to leave, Burt and Maurine forwarded an email from Alan that told us that it was too dangerous in the Alotau region so the itinerary had to change. It turned out that we would now be doing an exploratory trip along the south coast of New Britain. After getting over there and reading some of the newspaper reports of what was happening around Alotau we all agreed that Alan made the right decision. The FeBrina is a fairly small boat, and I initially wondered how things would work with the number of divers in our group, especially since there were lots of cameras. I was pleasantly surprised. Alan and his crew have been doing this for long enough that things just work. There were bins on the dive deck for gear, a rack for hanging wetsuits, and enough other space for the cameras. One of my favorite things about the FeBrina was the food. Considering the small size of the galley the cooks did an amazing job. As with most liveaboards there was toast, cereal, etc. available before the first dive, a cooked-to-order hot breakfast after the first dive, a buffet with a variety of meats and vegetables for lunch, and a plated dinner with wine after the last dive of the day. The food was all very good and plentiful. Another benefit of having a smaller boat is that the boat can get close to most of the sites so that almost all the diving was done off the back of the boat. After back-rolling off one too many zodiacs it was a very pleasant change to be able to just jump in, and, at the end of the dive, just climb the ladder and get back on the boat. Josie, the cruise director, was dealing with a sinus infection while we were on the boat so she did not dive, but Digger, Zebulon, and Ben; the dive guides; were all better than good at their jobs. While the diving along the south coast of New Britain was not bad, it was definitely not up to my expectations. At the southern-most point in the trip (even though Alan had cleared our diving with the local chief) we got run off by a local who showed up on the back of the boat with a spear threatening bodily harm for our diving on “his” reef. After this happened Alan gave up on the exploration, we returned the way we came, and dove many of the same sites we had done on the way down. I’d comment on some of the sites, but we ended up with the itinerary due to a unique set of circumstances and I don’t expect it to become a standard for FeBrina. At the end of the trip Alan apologized for all that had happened and told us that we could return at any time in the next 3 years for free. I think he made the best of a bad situation that was out of his control and, with the offer, went beyond what I expected. I will note that, after we got off the FeBrina, my dive buddy and I transferred to Walindi and spent most of a week diving there. I will discuss that part of the trip in a separate review, but will note that we were told the diving in Kimbe is best in September, October, and November, before the start of the rainy season. In the future I’ll plan on doing a joint Febrina/Walindi trip during those months.
Websites	MV FeBrina
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Australia, Belize, Bimini, Bonaire, Caymans, Curacao, Fiji, Galapagos, Indonesia (Wakatobi, Raja Ampat, Komodo, Lembeh, Bali, Banda Sea), Philippines, Red Sea, Solomon Islands, Southern Bahamas, St. Thomas, Turks & Caicos
Closest Airport	Rabaul	Getting There	Fly to Brisbane, Australia; fly from there to Port Moresby, PNG; fly to Rabaul
Dive Conditions
Weather	rainy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	10-80 Ft/ 3-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Don't do anything stupid, don't empty your tank
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
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
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	While there wasn't a camera room on the boat there was sufficient space, if we all took turns, to make working with our cameras not an issue. There were fresh water rinse tanks on each side of the boat so that everyone's camera got rinsed before it was returned to above your bin.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of MV FeBrina in Papua New Guinea/New Britain Island

MV FeBrina: "FeBrina, Lots of Positives in Spite of a Unique Set of Circumstances", Mar, 2018,

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 MV FeBrina in
Papua New Guinea/New Britain Island