Dive Review of Bilikiki Cruises in
Solomon Islands

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Bilikiki Cruises: "Crowded Diving", Sep, 2015, by Marilyn Walker, CA, US ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 8484 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	The Bilikiki is a high quality live-aboard dive boat. The cruise managers, Daniela and Csaba, are professional in attitude and performance. Our enjoyment was reduced by their practice of putting all 20-odd divers together, at the same place, at the same time. The divers who want to be first hurry along, which is okay with us, but we still had to manage our pace to avoid other divers below us (bubbles in our pictures and disturbing our visual space) or beside us (fin kicks) or in front of us (kicking up the bottom) or even above us (debris kicked off the wall). If the tinny groups were separated by just a little more time it would have been a big improvement. On other dive boats, that size group would be subdivided and led by different dive guides at staggered intervals. Visibility was murky, which the dive managers stated was unusual. There was strong upwelling at some of the dive sites, which contributed to cooler water temperature and decreased visibility. Is that part of global warming? Don't know. The boat visits these sites at regular and frequent intervals, over many seasons, but apparently are not collecting any data. That's not their mission, of course, but citizen scientists maybe could make some contribution. The diving was mostly in calm water, but there were several dives, such as the well-known Barracuda Point, where the current was embraced for its enhanced attraction of bigger fish. The village visits were great fun, an important part of the whole experience. My personal favorite diving occurred when the boat's stern is tied to palm trees and the bow is anchored in deep water, providing a delightful swimming pool open all afternoon.
Websites	Bilikiki Cruises
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Caribbean, Australia, Malaysia
Closest Airport	Honiara	Getting There	We connnected to Solomon Airlines at Brisbane, which made a fine place for a few days rest to get used to the time difference.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	79-82°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	20-25 Ft/ 6-8 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 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	Plenty of good charging stations on the top deck, a big, clean rinse tank on the dive deck, careful handling of all photographic equipment.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Diving Guide to Solomon Islands
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Dive Review of Bilikiki Cruises in Solomon Islands

Bilikiki Cruises: "Crowded Diving", Sep, 2015,

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