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V-O-L-C-A-N-O! I spelled out the word using the sign language that we had learned to communicate underwater. What else could it be? A huge BOOM that sent shudders through the water, and my bones, and continued to reverberate for many seconds after the initial sound. Walker looked at me, bubbles of laughter coming from his regulator. N-O, he signed, and pointed up to the surface where 60’ above we could clearly see that the skies were cloudy and okay, maybe it was thunder. And at that instant, another BOOM echoed through the water. Walker signed, L-E-T-S G-O. But I digress…..this is later. For now, welcome to the wild, beautiful, exciting Solomon Islands.
The three amigos, Jeff, Walker and me, in our own version of “Same Time Next Year”, met up in LA and winged our way to the Solomons via Fiji, where we spent some time at the Sheraton Denarau. This is a beautiful resort that sprawls over Denarau Island and includes another resort, a marina, golf course, dive shop, stores, restaurants and lots of sand. After a couple days of biking, sailing, golfing, playing kamikazi scrabble, and lounging in chairs on the beach, soaking up the sun, drinking “Tropical Itches” and engaging in discussions on topics like whether psychotic people can, in fact, be rehabilitated and released back into society, we were off on our adventure.
The Solomon Islands: Located in Melanesia, a geographic and cultural designation for about 1,000 islands that extend from New Guinea to Fiji. A more beautiful, unspoiled paradise is hard to imagine. Glimmering lagoons, lush jungles, forested peaks and small villages on stilts. The people are just as striking, especially in the western Solomons: they have blond hair and chocolate-colored skin. But like so many scenes in paradise, that serenity has not come easily. The Solomon Islands have a surprisingly violent history, having experienced volcanic eruptions, tribal conquerors, slave traders, even missionaries cooked and eaten. The islands were, in fact, once known as the “terrible Solomons.” And that was long before the devastating battles of World War II that raged there on land and sea, leaving thousands of U.S. and Japanese soldiers dead, along with an uncounted number of islanders caught in the crossfire or lost while helping the Allies.
The islands stretch for 1,200 mi/1,900 km northeast of Australia. The 10 large volcanic islands and four smaller island groups that make up the Solomons are covered with lush, green mountains. Hot and humid conditions prevail. Although accommodations and infrastructure are primitive in most areas, those with a spirit of adventure and love of diving will find it wonderful and exciting.
The Boat: The M/V Bilikiki is not a luxury liner, it is not a Peter Hughes boat, but it is a roomy, solid, well-planned, efficiently run liveaboard whose crew ensures that divers will enjoy every moment of this trip. For the photographers out there, this is your “dreamboat”! The Bilikiki has played host to the likes of Stephen Frink, Stan Waterman, Cathy Church’s annual photo school, and other U/W photo celebs and Jim and Kay Light, the DMs and boat managers, are both very knowledgeable in this area and were of great help to both veteran and newbie camera buffs and the nicest couple you’d ever want to meet. The crew, mostly natives of the Islands, were warm and friendly and kept things running like clockwork. And the food….awesome! Consisting of fresh fish and vegetables purchased from natives who approached the boat by dugout on a daily basis. To make things even nicer, there were only 13 of us on the boat so all the singles had their own cabins. No Nitrox on this boat so all the O2 junkies have to do without.
Dive profiles are controlled by the divers. There’s a thorough briefing, the two “tinnies” are loaded up, you go a short distance to the dive site and roll in. Stay down as long as you like – an hour and a half if you want (ahem! Like SOME people I know!) , surface anywhere you like – you’ll be picked up promptly and returned to the Bilikiki. This is diving that’s tailor-made for the person that wants to explore to their heart’s content and enjoy a site to the max! If I were to think of one thing that would bring me back, this would be it!
The Diving: WOW! Too many great sites to talk about so like usual, I’ll talk about my favorites.
“Twin Tunnels” - First dive of the trip and all (3) of us surfaced, looked at each other, and said, “If this was a checkout dive, what’re the rest going to be like!?” We dropped thru the reef via a tunnel that went from 45’ to 110’. I went down first, and came face to face with a big lionfish, then Jeff and Walker joined me and we went on to enjoy a wonderful, creature filled dive. There was a gray reef shark, and my personal favorite, the Titan triggerfish, (I kept my distance), Royal angels, butterflyfish, and others too numerous to mention. It was like the freeway at rush hour! A great start to a great trip!
“Tanabosi Rock” – I saw my first cuttlefish happily munching on an anemone. What a cool creature! Did I have my camera? NO!! But fortunately, Jeff took some great pictures and I have one. It’s really interesting to watch it turn colors as it skims over different growth on the reef. And, it could have cared less that we were watching! There were some beautiful nudies, scorpion conches, gigantic mauve-colored sea fans, and fish of every sort and color. I was sure it was heaven!
“Velvia” – “Can we just dive here the rest of the day?” This was the question we all asked as we surfaced from this dive. I’ll try to describe it but won’t do it justice. Picture gin-clear water, even at 105’, bright pink sea fans, magenta dendrobes, anemones of pink, green, and yellow, and a rainbow of fish everywhere. It was mind-blowing! Walker and I found an octopus out in the open being harassed by a couple wrasses. It looked like he was invading their feeding ground or maybe a nest. We also saw some pin cushion stars, lots of blind shrimp with their goby buddies, and YEAH! More cuttlefish. Nobody, and I mean, NOBODY, wanted to come up from this dive!
“Japanese Sea Plane Base” – When you dive this site, it reminds you of what happened here during WWII in the heat of the battle in the Pacific. It is eerie, and there is almost a feeling of reverence when you descend onto this and other sites in the Solomons. The plane, which is in excellent condition, sits in about 95’ of water and it slowly comes into view as you descend down the buoy line. All I could think was, “Man, that’s a big plane”. Trite but true! Propellers of massive proportion, giant wing span, double tail…I’ve never seen a plane underwater so I was pretty wide-eyed.
The other dive at this site was a muck dive which I really enjoyed because I’m a dawdler as some of you well know. Amid the tires, cans, jars, rocks and other flotsam and jetsam, there were little anemones with resident clownfish, blind shrimp and gobies, nudies, garden eels. Jeff, Walker and I stayed down after everyone went back to the boat and we went under a nearby pier to explore. The growth on the pylons was spectacular and then we encountered a school of trevally. There were so many that we could hear them swimming! It was fun!
“Karumolun Island” – Here’s what I wrote in my log….”OK, this has just moved up to the top of the list of dives to remember! Fabulous mounds of hard corals, coated with sponges, soft corals, polyps, anemones in pinks, yellows, whites, a mantis shrimp, (2) leafy scorpionfish, a cuttlefish! We saw a family of humphead wrasses eating their way uip the wall and finished the dive just gazing at the beauty. This site is why people dive! Indescribable to people who don’t- identifiable to people who do. It is amazing to me how healthy and prolific these reefs are. I sure hope they stay this way for a long time to come. I wish our surface interval were over so I could get right in again!”
“Custom Cave” – Even as I type this, a feeling of sadness comes over me. Some of the natives had approached the boat via dugout and asked for Jim’s help in locating a man that had fallen out of a dugout the prior evening. We were all stunned. Again, I need to write straight from my log……”They won’t find the body. That’s what Jim said after he searched for an hour along the wall in sharky, current laden waters. The villagers, some in canoes, some gathered on the shore, waited hopefully. You could hear the mournful sounds of keening coming from the shore where a wife and daughter waited. We all felt so helpless……This dive was hard to enjoy and it was hard to concentrate on life and not think about death. All three of us felt a sadness that wouldn’t quite go away. These waters that hold such splendor and beauty can be quick to claim a life. There is such power in the sea….This was a beautiful, quiet site. Very peaceful…perhaps fitting of the moment where a gentle life was lost.”
“Mary Island” – We were so lucky to be able to get to this location. A defunct volcano rich with life! Normally, this site is only done on the longer of the Bilikiki trips (which I’d highly recommend as 7 days is not enough!) but good weather allowed us to dive here and it was thrilling! The island is beautiful….lush jungle with tropical birds flying limb to limb and no civilization, native or otherwise for miles. We mostly dove a site called “Barracuda Point” and it was awesome!
V-O-L-C-A-N-O! I spelled out the word using the sign language………This was our first experience at Mary Island. When Walker and I surfaced, we looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Wait! It was sunny, so what were those noises? They were in fact, eruptions from Kavachi, a live volcano located 20 miles from our dive site. Our jaws dropped…..
“Mborokua Bay” – Four of us went in for a night dive here and immediately I found an oscellating lionfish, an elusive and beautiful creature. And again from my log……”Kavachi chose to demonstrate her furor and we could hear and feel the rumblings which were longer now. The power of the ocean and the power of the earth…..that’s all I could think about in the dark waters. A rumble went on for 45 seconds and as I looked around me, I could see (3) other lights stop cold, waiting, listening, feeling. I could feel every inch of my body shake and I listened to the ladders rattle on the boat. All I could think was…I am so small and unimportant in this scheme of things. I can’t imagine a more awesome moment on a dive…”
“Barracuda Point” – "You’re swimming against a wall of fish." That’s what Jeff said when he sent me into the middle of the schooling jacks for a photo op. There were fish everywhere! And once I got over my initial apprehension of being in their midst (I hadn’t been attacked yet on this trip and was just waiting) it was playtime. You can herd fish….did you know that? You can fin along side them, hold out your arms, gather them in and turn them in another direction like a thousand piscine cattle. They engulfed me, I could see nothing but fish and then……as Kavachi unleashed yet another roar, we finished our final dive. I chose not to get picked up by the tinnies, but instead , took off for some solo time to explore the caves, enjoy the quiet beauty and reflect on what had been a wonderful time.
After a ceremonial leap from the top deck of the boat, we were treated to a spectacular sunset. The perfect end to this amazing trip.
The next day, we headed back to LA and with a loooooong layover in store…..Walker and I took our film in to get developed, then the three of us went to enjoy a bottle of wine, a nice dinner and a reliving of the memories of the trip when we looked at the pictures. It was time for me to go back to reality and after tearful hugs goodbye, the 3 amigos parted ways until the Galapagos in May.
All I can say about the Solomons is-GO!!! Someday, I will be there again…..
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Last edited on June 29, 2002
