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Dive Review of Solomon Islands Dive Expeditions in
Solomon Islands/Russel & Florida Islands & Mar

Solomon Islands Dive Expeditions: "Solomon Islands/Solomon Star rank low on pacific scale", Oct, 2015,

by Gail M King, FL, US (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 28 reports with 24 Helpful votes). Report 8659.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 2 stars Food 2 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 3 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 2 stars
Advanced 2 stars
Comments This company has been operating in the Solomon Islands for a year & using the old Nimrod boat brought from Australia.Our trip was half price as were all trips in 2015 so decided to check out the Solomon Islands on their 10 night trip which included the Florida & Russel Islands,Mary Island & Marovo Lagoon area.Some dive sites were unique such as Leru Cut & Mirror Pond,Custom Cave,& Bat Cave where you entered a cavern & surfaced to look at the jungle.Corals were healthy at many dive sites & looked like a fantasy land at several.Tropical fish & critters were not as abundant as other pacific locations.Only saw 1 tiny crab the entire trip & no large schools of tropical fish.Schools of jacks & cuda were only seen at Mary Island.Occasional sharks & eagle rays passed by in the blue but stayed 80+ feet deep & far off the walls on other wall dives.Nudis were there but not much variety.Did see the Bonnet Anemone fish several times & a few large Bumphead parrot fish.We had 4-5 dives daily but most were ho-hum.WW2 wreck dives were in such awful vis they should have been skipped.Boat was only 85 ft cat,so small & no comfortable seating especially outside.2 of us shared a quad cabin that was tiny even for 2.Luckily there were only 9 of us on the boat so we could all squeeze in at the table for meals & only having 9 divers made the dive deck seem large.Most dives were led & most were done off the boat.Food was plentiful but very blah.Breakfast was the best meal with good fresh fruit,bacon,sausage,eggs & lousy pancakes every morning.The rest of the meals were pretty tasteless & lots of repeat food items.Bottom line for us was we were so glad we had only paid half price for this not so great pacific location & liveaboard dive boat.
Websites Solomon Islands Dive Expeditions   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Indonesia, Palau, Fiji, Philippines, Australia, Galapagos, Socorro, Hawaii, Bahamas, Caribbean
Closest Airport Honiara,Solomon Islands Getting There Fiji Airways out of Los Angles with 7 hour layover in Nadi,Fiji.Return trip the same or worse depending on day.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, choppy, surge, currents, no currents
Water Temp 81-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 20-70 Ft/ 6-21 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions 1 hour dives,no deco diving,500 psi on return
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 2 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

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

Subject Matter 2 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 2 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments small rinse containers & camera table for cameras
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Subscriber's Comments

By Michael Anderson in CA, US at Nov 20, 2015 16:52 EST  
This is good to know. I've always been fascinated by The Solomons,but I don't want to waste my money. How much was airfare?
By report author: Gail M King in FL, US at Nov 21, 2015 09:17 EST  
Fiji Airways was $2000.00 round trip out of LAX....go to Raja Ampat....
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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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