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Dive Review of Febrina in
Papua New Guinea/Kimbe, Witu, Fathers Reefs

Febrina: "Great Crew, Awesome Diving, Smallish Boat", Apr, 2018,

by Michael J. Millet, CA, US (Top Contributor Top Contributor 91 reports with 57 Helpful votes). Report 10258 has 2 Helpful votes.

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 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments GREAT CREW, AWESOME DIVING, ADEQUATE BOAT

Probably the most challenging part of this trip was just getting to Hoskins on New Britain Island from Port Moresby. I was attempting to make a connection thru POM from Tufi on Air New Guinea when my flight was cancelled requiring an overnight stay in Port Moresby. Flight cancellations and delays are not unusual in PNG.

After finally arriving at Hoskins, it was about an hour’s ride to the Walindi Resort where I spent 2 nights before boarding the Febrina for a 10-night dive trip.

The Febrina is a smaller live-aboard that makes maximum utilization of the space available. In this regard, it is important to note that all larger bags are not taken on the boat; they are stored at the Walindi Resort. So one must retrieve all wanted items of clothing, dive gear, camera gear, etc., before the boat departs on the dive trip. This is a bit of a hassle and inconvenient.

I was initially assigned to a forward, “single” cabin that was quite small and had very little storage for clothes or anything else. One had to climb over and walk on top of the bed in order to reach the shelves at the foot of the bed. Fortunately for me, the boat was not fully booked on this trip so I was able to move to a two-person cabin, which was a great improvement.

The dining area can comfortably accommodate all guests on board. There is not a separate salon area. The food was quite tasty with generous portions. The morning started with a continental breakfast before the first early AM dive. After this first dive, a made-to-order breakfast was served. Lunch was buffet and dinner was both plated and buffet. There was also a tasty afternoon snack. Dinner included beer and wine.

The dive deck included individual storage bins for masks, fins, etc. There is a fairly spacious camera area and battery charging area. All the diving is done from the back of the Febrina – no skiff diving. This saves a lot of wear and tear on the body and gear especially camera gear. There is a fresh water shower on the dive deck.

We did 3 dives in the morning, one afternoon dive and a dusk/night dive when available. The first dive was at 6:30 AM then 9:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 3:00 PM then about 6:00 PM. The night dive was before dinner. Three dives in the morning is an unusual schedule but one gets used to it and it’s not a big deal. The longer break in the afternoon allows one to catch a few Z’s.

The first day of diving was in the Kimbe Bay area. From there, we moved to the Witu Islands for 3 days of diving. The next several days were spent in the waters off of NE New Britain Island diving the Fathers Reefs. The last dive day was spent back on the Kimbe reefs.

The diving in all of these areas is excellent especially the Fathers Reefs area. We encountered a great variety of marine life providing opportunities for both macro and wide-angle photography. There area beautiful areas of quite healthy hard and soft corals with large sea fans and sponges. There also huge schools of barracuda, jacks and spadefish. The diving included a nicely done shark feed that attracted several silvertip sharks. The smaller critters included several types of anemonefish, shrimp, crab, squat lobsters, the occasional pygmy sea horse and various reef fish. I was a bit disappointed in the lack of nudibranchs.

All the crew on the Febrina is quite helpful and friendly always ready to assist when necessary. Josie, the trip director, did a great job keeping us all on schedule and accommodating questions and requests. DM, Digger, was a great help to me repairing some camera gear.

In summary, the Febrina is a smaller live-aboard than one quickly adapts to with a great crew and excellent diving. Schedule permitting, I will return for another trip.


Websites Febrina   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving All over the Caribbean; Galapagos, Socorro, Fiji, Solomons, GBR, Vanuatu,
PNG, Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Yap, Kosrae
Closest Airport Hoskins Getting There Must connect thru POM, which can be a hassle

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 82-87°F / 28-31°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-120 Ft/ 15-37 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No Deco
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Boat has a fairly spacious camera area with battery charging area. Also fresh water rinse tanks that were well maintained.
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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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