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Scuba Diving in Munda
A village and former WWII airfield on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands' Western Province, now the country's most accessible dive base. Its reefs mix hard and soft coral walls, drop-offs, caverns and WWII plane wrecks, with direct flights from Brisbane and Honiara.
Why here
Munda is the easiest world-class diving in the Solomon Islands, a quiet village on New Georgia with a runway built by the Japanese in WWII and now served by direct flights from Brisbane. Off its shore lie more than thirty dive sites within short boat runs, and the mix is unusually rich: steep coral walls dropping into blue water, caverns and cuts, healthy hard and soft coral, and sharks and schooling barracuda in the current. The war is still in the water and on the reef, with a P-39 Airacobra fighter and a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber sitting on the sand, and a US wartime dump site scattered with ordnance. Munda is also the doorway to the wider Western Province and the Marovo Lagoon beyond. What sets it apart is the operator: a Solomon Islander-led dive centre that has trained local guides and built one of the Pacific's genuine community dive-tourism stories, so the diving comes with real local knowledge of reef and Kastom alike.
Best months
Diving is year-round in warm water, with the best visibility and calmest seas in the drier April to November window; the wetter months can reduce viz near river mouths. Sites range from gentle reef and the shallow plane wrecks, fine for newer divers, to deeper walls and current-swept passes for the experienced. Some drift diving on the outer reefs. Water is warm enough for a shorty most of the year.
Getting there & around
Munda has direct flights from Brisbane on some schedules and domestic flights from Honiara, so it is reachable without a long boat transfer. Divers stay at the waterfront hotel where the dive centre is based and dive from its boats, a short run to the reefs and wrecks. Onward boats reach Marovo Lagoon and other Western Province lodges. Bring cash and any specialist gear, and build buffer days around the limited flight schedule.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (1)
Dive Munda
OutfitterDive Munda is a multi-award-winning SSI Instructor Training Centre based at the Agnes Gateway Hotel in Munda, New Georgia, committed to community-led, sustainable dive tourism. Its operations director Belinda Botha, an SSI Instructor Trainer, was named the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019. The centre trains local Solomon Islander guides and dives more than thirty sites, from coral walls and caverns to the WWII P-39 Airacobra and SBD Dauntless plane wrecks.