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

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Febrina: "Great Crew, Awesome Diving, Smallish Boat", Apr, 2018, by Michael J. Millet, CA, US ( Top Contributor 96 reports with 59 Helpful votes). Report 10258 has 2 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	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
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
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.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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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,

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):

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