10 Skunk anemonefish
nestling in its protective
home
SOLOMON ISLANDS
Bilikiki Liveaboard
Text and images by MATTHEW SMITH
Moments after a giant manta ray blocked out
the sun I was amid a tornado swirl of thousands
of chevron barracuda. Simultaneously, the deep,
bassy grumble of a nearby erupting underwater
volcano reverberated through my ears and chest.
The water was deep, clear and warm and I
moved my camera aside to absorb it all. With
a smile so wide I almost lost my regulator I
thought, “this is what diving is all about.” Barra
Point on Mary Island was one of many fantastic
sites I visited during my seven-day liveaboard on
the MV Bilikiki.
Named after a distinctive local shore bird,
she is 38 metres of steel-hulled stability built
specifically for the South Pacific with 10 air-
conditioned, en-suite cabins, a fully appointed,
well-stocked camera room and a large dive deck
serviced by two tender boats. Nitrox is plentiful;
useful with five dive opportunities per day.
From Mary Island it’s east to the Russell
Islands then overnight to the Florida Islands with
spectacular dive sites aplenty. Leru Cut, where
luminous blue shafts of light penetrate into the
darkness, and Lologhan where several hundred
metres of shallow reef has nearly 100 percent
coral coverage and some of the most diverse
and multi-coloured life I have ever seen, were
favourites in the Russell Islands.
The peak of a deep water seamount, rising
hundreds of metres to 15 metres, sits next to two