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Dive Review of Febrina/Walindi Resort in
Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay

Febrina/Walindi Resort: "PNG is addictive", Sep, 2015,

by Leonid Baur, ZH, Switzerland (Reviewer Reviewer 3 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 8730 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Liveaboard diving on the M/V Febrina combined with additional shore diving from Walindi Resort.

The trip to Papua New Guinea’s New Britain Island from Europe or North America is long and arduous, but for sure worth it. The beauty of PNG both underwater and above is breathtaking.

Walindi is a very well-run resort very far away from everything. Several daily flighs from Port Moresby make it quite accessible though. Located on the north coast of New Britain on the shore of a huge, breathtakingly beautiful bay (Kimbe Bay) fringed by volcanoes, it serves as the base for high quality shore diving and as the departure point for MV Febrina, the only liveaboard in the area.
Shore based diving is done by speed boats going out to bommies located in the Bismarck Sea. Trips out can be long (~1 hour) but once your there; wow. The waters are teeming with life, from small to big. I overdosed on barracudas, there are huge schools to be seen regularly. A world war two fighter plane, a Mitsubishi Zero, can be dived also. It lies close to shore in about 15 metres of water and is pretty much intact.

Now to the Febrina liveaboard. The Febrina is an older boat (~20 years) that has been enlarged and kept up-to-date very well. All cabins have en-suite showers and bathrooms, were very clean and sizewise ok for a couple. If I had to share my cabin with a tall stranger (I am 1.90m), it might have been a bit cramped. The food was excellent and varied. Wine is included at dinner. Febrina is run by Alan Raabe, a thirty-five year PNG veteran, a true original, shaped by his surroundings. He is wonderfully opinionated and I got to like him very much. His cruise director Josie and the dive guide aptly named Digger know the dive sites extremely well and were relentless in finding that special subject for you to take a of photo of. Our trip was impacted by El Nino which brought strong winds and colder waters. The captain adjusted our voyage expertly and made sure we were not impacted by rough seas.

Febrina moors on top of the dive sites. You put on your tank at the back of the boat, go down a few steps to the dive platform and off you go. Currents were negligible except at one site. 4-5 dives are offered daily – the first one at 6.30 AM. Nothing beats a sunrise at Kimbe Bay with a smoking volcano as backdrop. The quality of the diving is superb. Again, the waters are teeming with life. Fish soup would be an adequate description. The diversity both in terms of coral and marine life is amazing. I can’t ever begin to list all the rare and unusual creatures I saw. True Coral Triangle diving. One thing I should mention though. The friendliest turtles ever live on Fathers Reef. One gets mobbed by them and they stay with you for the entire dive.

We did not encounter another boat during our voyage, (if you exclude the locals on their outriggers), letalone a dive boat. One gets away from it all – with lots of diving. I will be back, for sure. PNG is addictive.
Websites Febrina   Walindi Resort

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Maldives, Thailand, Borneo, Indonesia, Philippines, Palau, Australia, Wider Carribean, Florida, Kenia, etc
Closest Airport Hoskings Getting There see report

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy Seas calm, no currents
Water Temp 26-27°C / 79-81°F Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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