Dive Review of Walindi in
Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay

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Walindi, Aug, 2007, by Gene Huff, CA, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports). Report 3533.
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 $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Walindi was the first resort of a two week PNG trip with Loloata immediately after. See the Loloata review for more on that. It is a long trip to PNG from the US with connections in Australia or Fiji. Got stuck in Port Moresby one night because Air Nuigini cancelled flight. Port Moresby is as bad as described and is far worse than any other Central American or South Pacific city of its size I have been in. The resort is an hour from the small airstrip by van. The accomodations are quite nice with bures set apart in a lush landscaped setting on Kimbe Bay. Our bure, the largest, was three large rooms including a couch, several chairs, a dining table and separate kitchen area. Meals are taken in a central communal area with an air conditioned small dining area and library. A small pool centers this communal area with a bar to one side and a larger outdoor dining area on the other. The pictures and descriptions on their website are accurate. Breakfast is cereal and fruit or made to order eggs, pancakes or french toast. Fresh coffee is always available. Lunches are on the boat or on a small island if you do three dives a day, or back in the dining area if you do two. Dinner is banquet style. The only significant complaint, and this was a problem for us, involved dinner where they ran out of food, or certain basic items like soup, several nights. They do not cater to night divers and although they offer night dives there were no arrangements for late arrivals or holding of a plate. So, there was somewhat of a rush for the soup and then the main courses. The meals were filling and offered good variety but the food tended to be bland and uninspired. Not what I would expect from a resort of this price. The diving was quite good. All the diving is done from one of two boats that depart from their jetty. There were only four or five people doing three daily dives so the boat was not crowded. Our DM Keiko, captain Martin, and deck hand Peter were all friendly and accomodating. Once she saw our skill level, Keiko let us all dive our own profiles. On about half the dives we ended up splitting up between photographers and cruisers. The reefs are in excellent shape and the deeper bommies held attractions like schooling batfish, sharks, dogtooth tuna, trevally, mantas, cuttlefish, and healthy schools of the usual reef fish. In-shore reefs sported mandarinfish, cuttlefish, several types of pipefish, lots of lionfish, anemonefish, numerous species of shrimps, nesting titan triggerfish, several species of shrimp gobies, razorfish and nudibranchs. On one dive about 10 dolphins joined us on a reef for a minute or two checking us out before moving on. Reef fish life is on par with Fiji outer islands. The corals and fans are in outstanding shape although with little current they are not huge on the inshore reefs. Typical days were 45 minutes out to the first site, a 60 to 75 minute dive depending on depths which were 75 to 100 feet, a cruise toward shore for your interval followed by another 70 minute or so dive in shallower water. Lunches were usually taken on a small island followed by a dive close-by in shallower water. Then motor back in for 30 minutes or so. Night dives departed about 30 minutes before sunset. Visibility was over 100 feet on the outer bommies and the worst was still 30 or so on an enjoyable WWII Zero near shore. The dive shop really is not one so bring repair kits or backup gear. Kimbe Bay is fairly protected and we never had combined seas over about three feet. Walindi is pretty far removed from anything so you should not plan on activities other than a visit to the local village or a birding hike. Most of the guests were divers with a few trekkers and birders in the mix. Bugs were not a problem although we did use DEET when we went out. Free internet was available on one very slow connection in the library. Overall we enjoyed Walindi and would recommend it. Just make sure to be first in line at dinner!
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	[Unspecified]
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-86°F / 28-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No deco. Dive your own profile after DM saw your ability.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
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	Boats only had fresh water tubs for photo gear. No area to work on gear on boat. Bring converters.

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Dive Review of Walindi in Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay

Walindi, Aug, 2007,

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 Walindi in
Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay