Dive Review of FeBrina in
Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay, Witu, Fathers Reef

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FeBrina: "Widespread Dead and Dying Reef", Oct, 2018, by David Marchese, PA, US ( Sr. Contributor 20 reports with 29 Helpful votes). Report 10598 has 9 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	In general, the reefs were devastated and there were very few fish (big schools of barracuda being the exception). It was shocking to see dead reef after dead reef after reading rave reviews in Undercurrent from just a few months ago. The crew said that most of the die-off occurred in the last couple of months. Most reefs were 50% - 75% dead (some were 90% dead - one was "only" 25% dead). What was alive was all one color - brown (mostly stag horn). There are virtually no soft corals left. We literally saw only a handful of pieces and they looked stressed. An exception was black coral. That seemed to be healthy and there were large clumps of it in red and green. Sponges and anemones were healthy. Sea fans were stressed and not nearly as plentiful or as colorful as I remember. The general lack of fish was also shocking. There were some large schools of anthias in the shallows, several big schools of barracuda, and a couple large schools of spade fish, but nothing exotic and low fish density in general. Even the usually ubiquitous critters were absent. We saw one eagle ray in a quick fly-by, but that was the only ray of any type that we saw. There wasn't even a blue-spot ray! We saw one or two sharks, and even the shark feed only drew in two silvertips. There are two "trained" turtles that hang out on two dive sites waiting to be fed, but those are the only turtles that we saw. We saw two octopus and not one cuttlefish. Even eels were in short supply. We saw two ribbon eels and one or two morays. The nudibrancs were scarce too, and those that we did see were generally the common variety and were quite small. The guides worked very hard on the muck dives (and in general), but they generally turned up critters so small that they were specs to the naked eye. Non-photographers saw next to nothing on the muck dives. We did 4 - 5 dives/day (all that were offered) so I'm confident that we saw all that was to be seen. Many dives were honestly depressing from looking at the expanse of dead coral and lack of fish. Not one dive was what I'd call world class. I know this is hard to believe, and I wish it were not the case. I was reluctant to write this, but this is the purpose of Undercurrent. Don't shoot the messenger.
Websites	FeBrina
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Caymans, Turks & Caicos, Bay Islands, Bahamas, Fiji, Saba, Maldives, California, Revillagigedo, Cozumel, Midway, Kona, Galapagos, Panama, Palau, Tahiti, Cocos, Malpelo, Tonga, PNG, Komodo, Sulawesi, Holbox, Solomon Islands, Belize, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Wakitobi, Alor, Marquesas, GBR
Closest Airport	Hoskins	Getting There	Via Port Moresby
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	85-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	60 minutes/dive
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The boat is set up very well for photographers; however, on many dives, there was nothing to shoot and there was a lot of suspended particles in the water on every dive. Some sites had only one or two live coral heads, and there was a line of photographers waiting to shoot the only thing photogenic!

Report currently has 9 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Karl W Sherman in TX, US at Nov 04, 2018 16:55 EST

Thanks for the honest report, I'd much rather hear/read truthful facts than plan trips based on travel agent/dive resort propaganda.

By Ellen Marie Smith in MN, US at Jan 16, 2019 18:49 EST

I'm saddened to learn that the reefs are not in good condition. :(

By Ellen Marie Smith in MN, US at Jan 16, 2019 18:49 EST

I'm saddened to learn that the reefs are not in good condition. :(

By Trevor Chomik in BC, CA at Jan 19, 2019 21:22 EST

Wow, this is very surprising as there is so much positive hype about Kimbe Bay, Witu, and Fathers reef diving. I was thinking of a trip October 2019, but will have to reevaluate. I did Raja Ampat/ Misool in 2013, and was thinking this would be as good or better. Doesn't seem so. What month was your trip?

By Joe Lorincz in Mittagong , AU at Apr 26, 2019 21:34 EST

I’m very sorry to report that we have had the exact same experience last year (2018) on two separate trips to the Taveuni area in the Fiji Islands where the coral was devastated at almost every dive site and the lack of fishlife was beyond comprehension. I first dived this area some 36 years or so ago ... the corals were magnificent, the water teeming with every possible form of sea life. The change over these years is extremely concerning and extremely depressing. I agree with David Marchese, it is hard to write this but the facts are the facts.

By report author: David Marchese in PA, US at Apr 29, 2019 09:32 EST

I keep looking at UC and elsewhere to see if there are any more current reviews of the Kimbe Bay area of PNG, but I have not seen one. There is an UC review from January 2019 that says Fiji has the most pristine reefs the reviewer has seen in 40 years of diving, yet Joe Lorinczin had a very different experience, so the conditions seem to vary dramatically. Perhaps there are pockets of healthy reefs in Kimbe Bay and the Febrina has to find them and change her itinerary...but their "classic" itinerary is a rubble heap now...

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Dive Review of FeBrina in Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay, Witu, Fathers Reef

FeBrina: "Widespread Dead and Dying Reef", Oct, 2018,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of FeBrina in
Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay, Witu, Fathers Reef