isolates communities between mountains and deep ravines .
In certain respects , Papua New Guinea is a country out of time , caught between the stone age and the 21st Century . When it comes to the sea , this can be a good thing ; tribal ownership and the absence of industrial fishing has preserved many of the reefs from the worst excesses of the modern age . The diving can be simply incredible , and even the relatively small area around the Capital , Port Moresby ( or POM ) has much to offer .
Diver photographing the elusive lacy scorpionfish ( Rhinopias aphanes )
A world apart
Traveling from the UK to Papua New Guinea requires at least 18 hours up in the air . For the most direct route you could catch a flight from London to Singapore or Hong Kong and then another flight to Port Moresby . However , you should also expect the first leg to cost less than the second , despite traveling twice the distance ! Nowadays , there ’ s around five flights from Singapore and three flights from Hong Kong every week . There are also direct flights from most major cities on the east coast of Australia and Manila if you are already on that side of the world .
Port Moresby is just the gateway to PNG , with many of the fabled dive spots located further afield , usually meaning an internal flight . For the more remote resorts , you may even need to travel by road and sea for several hours before reaching your ultimate destination . The main airlines in PNG typically operate a 50-100-seater jet , or sometimes propeller planes such as the DASH 8 and even the 16-seater Twin Otter . The landing strips in local airports usually consist of a relatively flat piece of recently mowed grass land or dirt track . It ’ s common for flights to cancel within short notice ; delays can also take place due to poor weather , or when the landing strip is too slippery for the plane to land .
Diving in a capital city
Unfortunately , my job does not require much travelling to other provinces , so I don ’ t have the luxury to squeeze a dive in during a work trip . Weekends are too short for me to catch a domestic flight , due to the no-fly time considerations . To make things even more difficult , domestic flights do not fly overnight , as airports are largely unlit . Port Moresby has excellent diving , but highly variable visibility , thanks to the proximity of the deltas of several major rivers that originate from the New Guinea highlands . During the wet season , the average viz around POM is around 10 metres , compared to 30m the rest of the year .
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