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HOLIDAYS SOLOMONS NATION OF RICHES MORE VALUABLE THAN GOLD Revelling in his visit to “the bullseye of biodiversity”, MARK B HATTER brings us the first of two reports from the Solomon

ARRIVED A BIT EARLY in Munda, a that it was nearly dark. “Well,” I muttered town in the ’ Western to no-one in particular, as I ambled IProvince. I checked into the Agnes back to SIDE [Solomon Islands Dive Gateway Hotel, then walked the short Expeditions], “ must have distance under triple-canopy tropical decided to go after all.” shade from my cabana to SIDE Dive Jos had nearly finished rinsing dive- Munda, behind the check-in building. kits as I approached. “I knocked on Although my dive booking was not your door three times,” he offered until the following day, I was eager to get apologetically, “but you didn’t answer.” under water ASAP, if at all possible. I guess the jet lag of 36 hours’ travel “I think one of the divers has opted had finally caught up with me. out of diving this afternoon,” “No worries!” I assured him. “This Jos Smulders said promisingly. “You’re afternoon would have been a bonus dive welcome to join us if that’s the case – I’ll anyway.” But missing the dive would (tamu garata). This, of course, was before know for sure after lunch.” mean yet another night of anticipation the intervention of Western missionaries Above: Rainbow . I gave Jos my cabana number and and fitful sleep, especially after crashing in the early 20th century. A small number asked him if he would drop by to let me hard in the afternoon. of skulls of former tribal leaders and know, one way or another. Then I headed And it was a restless night. Visions of vanquished enemies not destroyed in the to the adjacent hotel restaurant patio to WW2 wreckage and pastel-coloured war have been preserved at sacred Skull order lunch, before heading back to my reefs adjacent to emerald islands set , in Roviana Lagoon, in shrines digs to prepare my kit. between ribbons of aquamarine and decorated with traditional shell money. Between bites of delicious grilled reef indigo waters assaulted my Next, consider the geography. The fish and UK-quality chips, I carefully subconscious. It was a night of a Solomon Islands archipelago stretches assembled cameras, strobes and other “thousand naps”, leaving me in a granny- north-west to south-east some 930 miles, requisite paraphernalia before lying knot of sheets by daybreak. just below the Equator between the Coral down for a quick cat-nap. Sea and the south-western Pacific Ocean. I woke several hours later, alarmed Y NIGHT VISIONS were not With a total landmass of 11,000sq Mwithout merit. The nation of the miles, the six major and 900-plus smaller Solomon Islands, named by Spanish islands generate substantial submarine navigator Alvaro de Mendana in 1568 real estate in the forms of plunging walls, after the biblical King Solomon, and in dynamic fringe, coastal and barrier reefs, the mistaken assumption that the bommie-filled lagoons and reef-ringed islands contained great riches, is indeed submerged atolls. wealthy on many levels beyond gold And, with the Solomon Islands fitting and gemstones. into the innermost ring next to the The nation’s cultural history is bulls-eye of marine biodiversity in the amazing, from its 74 endemic languages Coral Triangle, riches await divers in the to the practice of head-hunting between nation’s underwater realm. rival warring tribes for power, politics, Finally, ponder the amazing wealth of influence and overall good juju. historic wreckage from WW2 found Pictured: Photographing It was believed that it was necessary to throughout the country. Fierce battles the cockpit of the Douglas carry a victim’s head on the maiden fought between the USA and its allies Dauntless aircraft. voyage of a canoe to prevent jinxing it against the Japanese Imperial ☛ divEr 40 41 divEr HOLIDAYS SOLOMONS

from 1942 to 1945 left many aircraft, image with my wide-angle kit. small boats, freighters and warships sunk As we approached the end in water shallow enough to explore on of the spur, the wall began to open-circuit scuba rigs. slope gently and the seafans Which is why I was in Munda, trying to gave way to colourful tabling get aboard a dive-boat a day early. A diver corals, competing for limited visiting the Solomon Islands has multiple space. I noticed a large geographical options, and I had opted for magnificent anemone two weeks of land-based exploration: hosting a pair of pink skunk a week in the Western Province diving out anemonefish, more suited to of Munda, and another in the Eastern my camera set-up. Province’s Florida Islands (the subject of As we dived on through another story to come). the day, I racked up a Additional options include two satisfying collection of out of , the capital images that would keep me on the largest island, in the busy later at the computer – Eastern Province. assuming that I could keep my eyes open. AMBLED DOWN to the restaurant The following day Jos had Ideck overlooking a smooth Roviana a plan for us to complete Lagoon. It was still too early for everyone, four dives, beginning on the including the water-taxis that are the edge of SIDE’s diving range. optimum transportation among islanders “I want to start at Mbigo Mbigo, because and tourists alike. we should have good morning light to Above: The P-39 Airacobra clear ocean. I rode the light down The sun was high enough for me to capture the sun’s rays in images,” he wreck. the deep canyon in the reef, paused to peer into the shallow water below the explained. “The reef is on the outer edge absorb the spectacular vista, then gently deck, and I considered finding a giant of the lagoon, adjacent to blue water, so glided down over the lip of the outer wall carpet anemone hosting a family of we should have exceptional visibility. And into 300m of water. clownfish a good omen. the spur-and-groove reef system should The dive was all Jos had promised, After breakfast, and an entertaining provide for some dramatic photography.” perfect for shooting sun-rays against a session throwing bread scraps to the fat Our panga pilot navigated expertly Below: Anemone cleaner canyon backdrop of reef structure. If only archerfish under the deck (incredibly, around shallow brown and green shrimp in a Merten’s my strobes could achieve the impossible they are able to follow the arc of a well- bommies and over pearly-white sandbars anemone at Haipe Reef. energy required to illuminate the distant thrown scrap and meet it on impact), between the islands of my dreams. Walt pastel vista that I knew existed at 20m. Bottom: Purple-violet I met Jos at the dive shop. With a large Disney could not have designed a better magnificent anemone with Jos suggested that it might be time to group of divers just departed it would be boat-ride in a tropical paradise. pink skunk anemonefish at switch to macro for our last dive of the only me, Jos and another diver from By 8.30am we rolled into a smooth Secret Spot. day at Secret Spot. “This is one of SIDE’s Australia for the next several days. favourite sites,” he said. “It’s a vertical wall SIDE has established more than 40 with a strong current pushing in one or dive-sites within 5-40 minutes’ boat-ride, the other direction, depending on the and the evening before I had given Jos my . And the wall has the most varieties of critter and wreck wish-list. To start he had nudibranchs of any reef we dive.” selected Shark Point, a spur of barrier reef extending into deep ocean on the seaward T WAS LATE AFTERNOON by the time side of the expansive Roviana Lagoon. Iwe had offgassed enough to dive Secret We began the dive at 30m along a Spot but I struggled to find nudis in the vertical wall festooned with jumbo low light and strong current. However, seafans in a variety of colours, and I was suddenly happy with the macro kit followed the sweep of the current to the when I came across a rare purple-violet point. Almost immediately we were magnificent anemone with a pair of very visited by a grey reef shark, perhaps the pink skunk anemonefish. largest I’d ever seen, but it kept a typical The mated pair posed perfectly, and arm’s length away, preventing a good I was congratulating myself when Jos pointed up to the reef crown at the top of the wall. There, in 2m depth, thousands of surgeonfish were beginning to spawn; rapidly rocketing up out of the vast school in small groups to milk the water with released gametes from both sexes. I shook my head in disbelief; I had the wrong kit, but simply enjoyed the spectacular display of raw biology until it was time to surface. Over the following days I worked through my wish-list, including the endemic white bonnet anemonefish. With a laptop flush with reef-work, it was time to dive a couple of aircraft shot down ☛

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during WW2. Our final dives included the small aerial-combat P-39 Airacobra fighter and Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless dive-bomber. Discovered only in 2011, little is known about the fighter, which Jos believes was part of the USAAF 68th Squadron. It lies on a sandy bottom at 27m, in a relatively clearwater channel between two islands. An oasis of life in the otherwise barren channel, it remains photogenic with its propeller, cockpit, left wing and tail still intact. It was an excellent dive, and I surfaced contentedly. we made our final return to SIDE and the Above: Mbigo Mbigo. soldiers’ dog-tags to bayonets and light The Dauntless eternally rests in only Agnes under another Disneyesque sunset. machine-guns. It was well worth the time 13m in Rendova Harbor. Japanese anti- The following day I was catching a 5pm to hear the fascinating stories about his aircraft fire caught it during an aerial raid flight to Honiara for stage two of my wartime treasures. on Munda in July 1943, but pilot Jim Solomon Islands adventure, so had time I then joined two women, an Australian Dougherty managed to crash-land to kill. I took a cab into the jungle to visit journalist and a local professional from without casualties. Barney Paulson, a local man who has the bureau, on a water taxi to Below: Nudibranch at In an amazing bit of follow-on history, collected artefacts for a semi-official Secret Spot. Skull Island. The driver would not let us he returned to Munda on the 50th WW2 museum in a shed beside his house. off the panga until he had completed an anniversary of the battle and dived the His collection includes everything from Bottom: Skull Island. incantation that would ensure proper wreck! (see Lost Warriors of the South “permission” to visit the shrines without Pacific on YouTube). “incident”. Returning to the panga, the tourism THOUGHT ABOUT Dougherty’s bureau representative confided to the Ibravery and that of other aviators on Australian that she felt “something bad” both sides of the war as I descended was going to happen. I had brushed off the through murky harbour water to the well- concern as superstition, until my outer ear preserved wreck. began to hurt on the way back to the hotel. At the nose I carefully settled to the soft By the time I was in the air I was in bottom, avoiding a plume of silt, and considerable pain, and worried about waited for Jos to swim into the viewfinder. being able to dive. I assured him back aboard the panga that Things got worse as the evening wore my mission was to make him a “rock star” on but the story of my malady, perhaps with a magazine cover shot. the result of somehow angering ancient We laughed at the chieftains on Skull Island, must wait until notion and promised the second part of this report at a later to keep in touch as date. Stay tuned… FACTFILE GETTING THERE! Fly from London to Brisbane, Australia, the gateway city to the Solomon Islands. Solomon Airlines has just started flying direct to Munda, saving a stop and a smaller commuter flight. Outbound departures still go through Honiara, but direct flights to Brisbane are planned soon. DIVING & ACCOMMODATION!SIDE Dive Munda at the Agnes Gateway Hotel offers up to three dives a day as standard and four on advanced request, mundadive.com, agneshotelsolomon.com WHEN TO GO! Year-round. Rainy season is November-January but it usually just showers. There is always a lee site to dive if the wind blows. MONEY! SI dollar, credit cards widely accepted. HEALTH! A recompression chamber in Honiara is manned by volunteers but not always available – the nearest after that is 1500 miles away in Townsville, Australia. PRICES!Return flights from London to Munda around £1200. Three-tank excursion with lunch £137. A cabana at the Agnes Gateway Hotel costs £31 a day. VISITOR INFORMATION!visitsolomons.com.sb divEr 44 divErNEt.com SOLOMONS DIVER NATION OF RICHES MORE VALUABLE THAN GOLD (Pt 2) DIVER’S WORST NIGHTMARE allowing us to step off the boat. I got In the January edition we left while on a diving holiday is my images, and brushed off Barbara’s MARK B HATTER heading onward Asuccumbing to some malady that continued apprehension that after the first leg of his inherently puts a stop to diving for the “something bad was going to happen”. rest of the trip. This was exactly my Later that day my right ear began to Solomon Islands predicament midstream on a recent visit ache, going quickly off the charts. adventures but feeling to the Solomon Islands. I managed the one-hour flight to I was halfway through an incredible Honiara that afternoon without my distinctly unwell. Had the curse of experience, having completed a week of head imploding, but was in dire need of Skull Island claimed a victim?

reef-, wreck- and wall-diving in the medical help, even after self-medicating V

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crystalline, pristine waters of Munda in the ear with a concoction of crushed- E

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the Western Province, and on my way to up antibiotics in a of alcohol .

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O a week’s worth of diving out of in and vinegar for most of the night. M the Eastern Province Florida Islands, And I might have written this off to when I hit a health speed bump. coincidence had it not been for the A big one, and one that might have compounding of additional problems, been the result of my own unwitting including the death of my mobile Coincidence again? The severe ear pain, stronghold before the Battle of irreverence to ancestral spirits at the phone (for no apparent reason) fever, chills and stomach issues abated Guadalcanal, with land-based garrisons sacred burial ground on Skull Island. coupled with a case of fever, chills and quickly after breakfast and my act of and a seaplane port between Gavutu and The tribes of the Solomon Islands, intestinal distress. contrition, leaving me only with a dead Tanambogo Islands leaving historic particularly in the Western Province, Did I somehow insult the spirits on phone and near-deafness in my right ear. wreckage everywhere within a stone’s were fond of taking the heads of enemies Skull Island? I’m not particularly Regardless of my improved condition, throw of diving operations at Raider’s to ensure that tamu garata (good juju) superstitious but I figured it couldn’t I had time before my 10am boat-trip to Hotel & Dive. This centre was named after would prevail over them. hurt to make my apologies to Tulagi in the Florida Islands for a pit-stop the US Marines 1st Raider Battalion, They also believed that keeping the deceased chieftains for any at a Honiara clinic, where the medical commanded by Lt-Col Merritt A Edson the heads of their deceased perceived faux pas, and thank attendant confirmed my ear infection. and known as Edson’s Raiders, on Tulagi. tribal leaders enabled their them for the privilege of He prescribed internal and external It’s this history, the tropical climate and eternal afterlife. The capturing their images in their antibiotics, then issued me a strict the spectacular diving on the edge of the practice of head-hunting shrines. Which I did with gusto. warning: “No diving for at least a week.” Left: Anemonefish on The mountainous archipelago includes Coral Triangle, the epicentre of marine continued until the early As I walked out of the clinic, meds in Nanjalakaulau Wall. two main isles, Nggela Sule (Florida biodiversity, that brings divers like me to 20th century, when hand, pain-free but unable to hear from Island) and Nggela Pile (to the south), the Florida Islands. missionaries arrived to one ear and more than worried, I heard Top: ‘Bulb-tip’ anemone plus several smaller ones, the largest of forest at Twin Tunnels. impose Western “influence” myself say: “Yeah, like that’s gonna which are named Tulagi, Gavutu and Y WATER-TAXI for the one-hour on what they called “these happen.” A week sitting in a hotel room in Above: A pair of Tanambogo. Mtrip to Tulagi turned out to be the primitive cultures”. the beautiful and historically storied nudibranchs at Twin Tunnels. While dive-sites around Munda in the large, comfortable, fast boat from Raider’s Fearing that the Florida Islands? No way… Western Province are largely defined by Hotel & Dive from which I had been Westerners would The Florida Islands archipelago lies Below: Dwarf gobies in the inner and outer reef structures diving. bubble coral. destroy their revered, north of Guadalcanal Island on the surrounding the massive Roviana lagoon, As we cast off from the dock in Honiara centuries-old tradition opposite side of Iron Bottom Sound (Savo sites around the Florida islands are I explained my medical problem to of skull-keeping, the Sound before WW2) – so named by Allied characterised more by offshore bommies Raider’s owner-operator Bob Norton, people moved their sailors for the stretch of water between and fringe reefs surrounding the islands, who suggested a test dive after checking in leaders’ skulls from local Guadalcanal, and the Florida often with plunging walls. There is also a to see if I could manage. villages to Skull Island, Islands in which dozens of ships and plethora of Allied and Japanese WW2 I survived that dive, at a site called a remote, sacred location planes sank during the Battle of plane wrecks all around the islands. Twin Tunnels, and was easily able to clear where the chieftains could reign in Guadalcanal in 1942–43. Tulagi was a significant Japanese my ears without issue. I even got to shoot perpetuity in the afterlife. Which, some images with my macro kit. possibly, is where my medical calamity I was now looking forward to exploring began. those WW2 aircraft wrecks and reefs, On my no-dive air-travel day from mostly minutes from Raider’s dock, for Munda back to Honiara I had taken a the balance of the week. water-taxi with an Australian journalist And with regard to that check-out dive and Barbara, a representative from the (it was slow to occur to me thanks to my Solomon Islands Tourism Bureau, to preoccupation with ear-clearing), Twin visit the sacred shrines on Skull Island. Tunnels was phenomenal! Barbara had told us that ancient lore Only 10 minutes from Raider’s dock, barred women from visiting the shrines, the reef is a large, flat-top volcanic leaving her uneasy about our trip. pinnacle, rising from the deeper sound But we did it, assured by our panga- with a pair of ancient lava-tubes roughly driver that we had spiritual permission in the centre of the reef-top at 15m. The after his requisite incantation before tubes drop nearly vertically, exiting ☛ divEr 54 divErNEt.com 55 divEr SOLOMONS DIVER

water but misjudged the current. Reaching the bottom, we clawed our way upcurrent for perhaps 50m before the fighter, lying intact upside-down, materialised into view. Lying in a passage with strong currents, visibility was excellent, with along a plunging wall at 36m. They were house-reef below. I had counted 11 giant no silt. cool, but I was particularly blown away by clams when Bob ambled up, announcing: Time was short, the numbers and density of anemones “Dinner is served!” Then he added: left early on a smooth sea. About 40 and we worked together to capture the with families of anemonefish atop the “Tomorrow we’ll dive two plane wrecks – minutes into the run north, Bob slowed best angle to portray this rare discovery reef. an American Catalina between 24 and the boat and offered a new option. before having to work our way back to the Over a bowl-shaped depression near 31m and a pair of Japanese Kawanashi “About three weeks ago, two WW2 shallows along a beautiful fringe reef at the tunnels, as I hovered a few metres Mavis 1 seaplanes off Gavutu Island, relic researchers I’ve been working with the edge of the passage channel. above the reef, I counted more than a approached me regarding a possible new Back aboard the boat we celebrated dozen anemone colonies represented by airplane wreck at Maravagi Passage, close with fist-bumps, ate granola bars and five species within my circle of vision. to the walls we’d planned to dive,” hydrated while idling at a nice, slow off- This site is special, and we observed the between 25 and 32m.” the Solomon Islands (including those in Above: The new discovery, he explained. gassing pace to our wall-dive site along Bilikiki spending a day at the If you’re a wreck buff, particularly if Munda) had been US planes. So I looked the US Grumman F4F-4 “As they were fluent in some of the Nanjalakaulau Island. site later in the week. you’re into aviation wrecks, the plane forward to diving the Mavis seaplanes, Wildcat. island languages the researchers talked to The wall-diving at the northern end of Back at the hotel and finally able to relics around Tulagi should be added to sunk at anchor during an Allied naval Above right: Front view of locals about the rumoured wreck and the archipelago was impressive, as I would relax, I ordered a beer and rested elbows your diving bucket-list. We dived the bombardment of the Japanese base the Wildcat wreck. commissioned me to help find the plane.” expect, with the full cast of characters on the deck railing, overlooking a small Catalina before breakfast. during the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu- “Incredibly, we found the wreck from reef sharks to giant seafans, yet I The historical record suggests that it Tanambogo. quickly – a Navy F4F-4 Wildcat, at 37m, couldn’t stop thinking about spending my was heavy with cargo at take-off and The Mavis were impressively large, right where the villagers said it had gone last dive of the trip back at Twin Tunnels. experienced problems during climb-out. multi-engine seaplanes and rested upright down more than 70 years ago,” said Bob. I wanted to go back with my wide-angle Unable to maintain lift, it crash-landed on the silty bottom, very much intact. kit, knowing the shots I wanted. shortly after take-off, killing one They were sunk rather ingloriously, rather N OFFER TO BE the first “Not a problem!” Bob assured me. passenger though the crew survived. than being shot from the sky, but their photographer to catalogue a wreck- “We’ll end the trip with an early-morning Top left: Japanese Mavis A The seaplane rests upright with its history and aluminum “bones” are no site doesn’t come along every day. Of dive at Twin Tunnels before we shuttle aircraft wreck. fuselage, wings and engines intact; great less glorious for that. course I’d ditch a wall-dive for this back to Honiara.” Top right: Twin Tunnels. for wide-angle imagery. Medium-calibre Later in the week, Bob suggested a wall- opportunity to be, literally, the fourth Next morning, again on a smooth sea, munitions can be found on the left wing, dive off Nanjalakaulau Island. With the diver beyond the researchers, Bob and his we slipped into the water to find excellent Above: Bicolour coral below the gunner’s cupola, a reminder wind nearly calm, the weather was wife, to dive this relic! visibility and a moderate current. Bob blenny. that this aircraft and the others of the excellent for the hour-long run to the Bob recalled his triangulation points worked with me and modelled well at the Left: Fringe reef slope at time were armed with deadly . dive-site. We packed a hearty lunch and from memory, and we slipped into the mouth of one of the tunnels while I Maravagi Passage. As the wreck is close to shore, in the silhouetted him from below. sound between Tulagi and Gavutu, the Reviewing my images through the Below: Medium-calibre bottom is silty and care must be taken not housing, I was pleased with a couple of munitions on the Catalina to stir it up – all of which adds to the shots and swam out to shoot the vast wreck. FACTF! ILE allure of diving historic relics. GETTING THERE Brisbane, Australia is bulb-tip anemone forest I recalled from the gateway city to the Solomon Islands. Until now, all the wrecks I had dived in my first dive. It was a fitting end to the Solomon Airlines flies direct from there to Honiara second chapter in my Solomon Islands and the resort will arrange boat transfers to Tulagi. holiday. DIVING & ACCOMMODATION!Raider’s Hotel & Dive offers three dives a day, raidershotel.com OSTSCRIPT: My hearing remained WHEN TO GO! Rainy season is November-January Pimpaired for four weeks following the but it usually just showers. There is always a lee site trip. In retrospect, the medical issues were to dive if the wind blows. simply random incidents, not a curse HEALTH! A recompression chamber in Honiara is from malevolent spirits. manned by volunteers but not always available – No, considering the possible dire the next is 1500 miles away in Townsville, Australia. circumstances of diving with an ear MONEY!SI dollar, credit cards widely accepted. infection, I am now more than convinced that the ability to clear my ears, while PRICES! Return flights from London around diving, and without pain, was based on £1200. Three-tank excursion with breakfast, lunch the gracious intervention of the and dinner with a single room at Raiders Hotel & Dive costs £210 a day. benevolent spirits of Skull Island; they wanted to share with me their nation of VISITOR INFORMATION!visitsolomons.com.sb riches, more valuable than gold! divEr 56 divErNEt.com divErNEt.com 57 divEr