Dive Review of Bilikiki Cruises in
Solomon Islands/Guadalcanal to New Georgia

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Bilikiki Cruises: "Awesome 2 weeks on Bilikiki.", Oct, 2022, by Mary Adams, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 27 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 12311.
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	This was a trip-of-my-lifetime on Bilikiki. I had trouble getting to Honiara, but the airlines have likely resolved that by now. I had to wait 4 days in Honiara, 3 days too many in that hot, crowded, dirty, potholed, and betel-spitted city. The American Guadalcanal Memorial is solemn and beautiful. We boarded Bilikiki on Saturday October 1 and departed on her 14-day cruise to the Florida Islands, Russell Islands, New Georgia, and back. The cruise directors are Pato and Fernando, an absolutely lovely couple who took turns leading the dives. The boat crew are native Solomon Islanders. They were friendly and highly competent. Battery charging is restricted to a charging room on the top deck. It was a bit inconvenient, but there were lots of plugs and towels for cameras and dive lights. Cabins are comfortable, with ensuite showers and toilets. There are also 2 nicely warm deck showers. I was doing REEF fish-ID surveys, and in general, I saw a tremendous variety of reef fishes, but not a great abundance of the schooling fishes I expected to see. We saw oceanic mantas, pinnate and golden spadefishes, sweetlips, pufferfishes, angelfishes, triggerfish, Unicornfish, a few whitetip and gray reef sharks, midnight and red snappers, Anthias, butterflyfish, parrotfishes, surgeons, and many other reef fishes. The stars were blubberlip snappers and bumphead parrotfish. I cannot confirm napoleon wrasse, but I might have seen them too far away to be sure. The corals looked mostly healthy, but there were Crown of Thorns starfish around that will destroy a huge coral area. Whenever we found a Crown of Thorns, the divers stabbed it with their pointers. I’m not sure that works. A local said I should turn the starfish upside-down and pile rocks on it to starve it. Bilikiki does 4 or 5 village visits during a cruise, mostly for the carving markets. The carvings are beautiful, but I did not buy any. There was a donation jar at each village, so I don’t feel terribly guilty. Bring about five SI $100 for the donation jars if you are not buying carvings. Bilikiki also purchases produce grown in the villages from seed provided by Bilikiki. The food did not quite meet my (unreasonable) expectations. Pato said they have supply-chain issues. The chef did magic with kale, eggplant, fish, cassava, and rice. Sometimes there were green beans and cherry tomatoes, and there were always bananas. Diving is from 2 “tinnies,” aluminum boats that hold about 10 divers. The crew hauled our tanks on and off the tinny, and helped us don the tank before backrolling. After the dive, we removed our fins and tanks to climb the ladder to the tinny, and returned to Bilikiki for surface intervals. There were 4 guided dives a day, and you could night dive under the boat if you wanted to. The diving was casual, ascend when you need to, and the tinny Captain would come get you. The weather was always perfect, the water was warm and pretty clear, the corals and fishes were beautiful. There was one non-diver aboard who snorkeled during most dives. Most of the dive sites had shallow-topped pinnacles or bommies, which were alive with anthias, damsels, butterflies, blennies, and lots of other shallow-reef fishes. The snorkeler said she had a great time. I highly recommend this 14-day expedition!!
Websites	Bilikiki Cruises
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Cuba, Bonaire, Cozumel, Florida Keys, Clearwater FL, Bimini, Saba-St. Eustatius, Roatan, Kona, North Carolina, Flower Garden Banks, Caymans, Palau, Chuuk, Jupiter Florida, Belize, Costa Rica, Turks and Caicos, Revillagigedo, St. Lucia, Solomon Islands, Fiji,
Closest Airport	Honiara, Guadalcanal	Getting There	Fiji Airways from San Francisco to Nadi, then Solomon Airlines to Honiara. It was A LOT of trouble, but that will likely be resolved before long.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp	84-87°F / 29-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	25-100 Ft/ 8-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	None.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	1 or 2	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	Small-ish table for the number of big cameras on board. No compressed air. Charging was in a separate charging room on the top deck. A bit inconvenient but fire-safe, with ample plugs and towels.

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Other dive reports on Bilikiki Cruises

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Diving Guide to Solomon Islands
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Dive Review of Bilikiki Cruises in Solomon Islands/Guadalcanal to New Georgia

Bilikiki Cruises: "Awesome 2 weeks on Bilikiki.", Oct, 2022,

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 Bilikiki Cruises in
Solomon Islands/Guadalcanal to New Georgia