A scattered archipelago of 992 richly forested mountainous islands and low-lying coral atolls, the Solomon Islands has been attracting international tourism since 1568 when Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana first sailed into this tucked away corner of the South Pacific.
It’s hard to imagine the people of these so called ‘Hapi Isles’ were once feared as the South Pacific’s fiercest head hunters.
Traditionally hunters and gatherers, head hunting and cannibalism were widespread throughout the Solomon Islands history until the arrival of missionaries in the mid-19th century which the locals say “spoiled all the fun.”
Echoes of those headhunting days can still be found in skull shrines on the aptly-named Skull Island near Munda in the Western Province’s Vonavona lagoon.
The people the Spaniard met during those far off times today remain the same, renowned for their gentle ways and omnipresent smiles,
Headhunting may have gone but little has changed since then, and happily the Solomon islands has escaped the ravages of mass tourism. It’s thanks to this that the destination have become such a breathtakingly fresh destination for those international travellers hardy enough to get off the beaten track and look for a new, richly cultural and very different experience.
Today SCUBA divers, sports fishermen, surfers looking for the ultimate uncrowded wave, and the families of the US Marines who fought and died during the Guadalcanal campaign make up the bulk of the 30,000 or so international travellers who visit every year.
But the destination is fast attracting a brand new breed of travellers from around the world and particularly those looking for something different in a South Pacific holiday – from family groups, bird watchers and honeymooners to yachties, culture-lovers and simply those looking to flop and drop in an unchanging eco-environment..
On the accommodation front, while there is an ever-growing demand for more beds to sell to match increased visitor arrivals, the Solomon Islands offers good choice – from the ‘big gun’ hotels of the capital Honiara to boutique resort accommodation, eco-lodges and home-stays dotted across the entire archipelago.
Best of all, and quite a surprise for many travellers, the Solomon Islands are very easy to reach – combined flying time from Brisbane to Honiara takes less than three hours.
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Culture
‘Kulture’ sits at the very centre of society with traditional singing, music and dance and craftmanship a mainstay of village life, handed down from father to son and mother to daughter.
One of the more curious events celebrates hand-crafted shell money, in use long before bank notes and coins arrived, and still widely accepted as currency in Malaita Province, used primarily as a form of dowry payment, for settling disputes and land payments.
Panpipe music, first ‘recorded’ by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, is an icon of Solomon Islands entertainment and known around the world – and in outer space too!
Recordings are carried on Voyager 2, the space probe launched in 1977, sitting cheek by jowl with Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky and other examples of traditional music from all over the globe as examples of human culture.
Malaita’s clans include the ‘Salt Water’ people who live on man-made islands around the Langalanga and Lau Lagoons. The largest, oldest and the most densely inhabited of these islands is Sulufou in the Lau Lagoon, home to more than 100 families.
The province also lays claim to the ‘Kakamora’, a mythical race of tiny people who featured in the 2016 Walt Disney movie ‘Moana’.
Annual festivals in the Solomon islands include the extraordinary ‘Wogasia’ spear fighting in Santa Cruz as part of annual yam harvest festival celebrations.
Surfing
While the Solomon Islands’ has a more than deserved reputation for world class diving, from the months of November to April when the northern pacific swells sweep in having done their dash with Hawaii, the destination’s extensive reefs and north-western facing islands come alive with some of the most perfect – and best of all uncrowded – waves to be found anywhere on the planet.
While the two best-known regions are currently Gizo in the Western Province and Santa Isabel Province, and to a lesser extent, the Florida Islands and North Malaita – there are still literally dozens of secret spots throughout this archipelago of 992 islands, the locations of which are closely guarded by a handful of hard travelling board riders.
The Solomon Islands offers surfers a good choice of accommodation – from village homestays to eco-lodges, hotels and resorts – but the best places to stay are the dedicated surfing camps, all of which package accommodation, boats, meals and most importantly of all, easy access to those all-important surf breaks.
And the jewel in the surfing crown is Papatura Island Retreat located on Papatura Island in Santa Isabel Province and without doubt one of the best surfing set-ups to be found anywhere in the South Pacific.
Fishing
In the Solomon Islands there is a saying that fishermen need to bait their hooks behind a tree – because if the fish see what’s happening, they’ll jump on the hook and spoil the fun.
Whether you want to take that on board or not is up to you but the reality is, the Solomons Islands is a true fisherman’s paradise – irrespective of whether you troll, fly fish, surf cast or simply dangle a hook, whether you like deep sea, river, reef or estuary fishing, the Hapi Isles offer something to suit every type of angler, experienced or not so experienced, and our in the main non-commercially fished waters are liberally teeming with countless catches of the day.
And where to go – two of the best are Zipolo Habu Resort and Papatura island Retreat.
Nestled on Lola Island in the heart of the Vonavona Lagoon, in the Solomon islands’ Western Province, Zipolo Habu Resort (its name means ‘good luck fishing’ in the local dialect) is one of the best equipped, dedicated fishing resorts to be found anywhere in the South Pacific.
Papatura Island Retreat is located on tiny Papatura Island in Santa Isabel Province and offers the very best in terms of river, reef and offshore fishing with local reef systems, atolls, islands, flats and bommies waters teeming with yellowfin tuna, mackerel, and giant trevally.
Honiara, the national capital, is home to several fishing charter companies which take anglers out to the nearby Ngela Islands, Western Province and Choiseul Province but local rivers make for good catch, including the elusive spot tail bass.
Diving
The balmy waters of the Solomon Islands offer diverse dive sites suitable for all experience levels. With an abundance of World War II wrecks and vibrant reef structures, it’s a paradise for divers. Honiara and its surroundings boast wreck and reef dives, including the famous Iron Bottom Sound. The Florida Islands, just an hour’s boat ride from Honiara, offers a huge selection of underwater warships and aircraft offering options for both leisure and technical divers, some more wreck and reef sites rich in history but and the list of quality, world-class dive sites in the destination is endless.
Marovo Lagoon, a natural wonder of the Solomon Islands, offers diverse diving experiences from shallow lagoon dives to deep passages accessible from Uepi Island Resort.
Gizo boasts exceptional diving opportunities with abundant marine life, including World War II wrecks like the Toa Maru and vibrant reefs such as Grand Central Station. The north-western tip of Gizo features some of the world’s richest fish populations, with over 270 species identified in a single tank dive.
Munda serves as a hub for exploring Rendova Harbour and adjacent lagoons, features of which are spectacular reef walls plunging over 600 meters. Wreck dives around Munda include the Japanese freighter Kashi Maru, a Bell P-39 Airacobra, and a Dauntless bomber, providing glimpses into the destination’s amazing WWII history beneath the surface.
Recently opening up a whole new underwater realm for the destination, Papatura Island Retreat on Santa Isabel has opened its new dive operation – Papatura Dive.
WWII
In early August 1942, hoping to halt the expansion of the Japanese in the South Pacific, Allied forces landed on Guadalcanal Province in the Solomon Islands marking the start of one of the bloodiest conflicts seen in the South Pacific WWII theatre.
It would take six long months of gruelling fighting and the loss of some 40,000 lives, including 31,000 Japanese soldiers, before the US Forces and their allies could wrest complete control of the island from the enemy and as importantly, place the Japanese Imperial Army on the defensive for the first time.
Today, many of the battle sites remain virtually untouched and artefacts strewn about from rusting jeeps, tanks and amphibious vehicles lying buried in the jungle to foxholes and caves used to shelter both Allied and Japanese forces abound.
A must for anyone visiting Munda in the Solomon Islands’ Western Province, the Peter Joseph WWII Museum is just a short drive or a 30-minute walk through pristine rain forest to the home of Alphy Barney Paulson, the man responsible for collating one of the best collections of WWII relics to be found anywhere in the South Pacific.
Bird Watching
Home to over 300 distinct bird species of which 102 which are endemic, irrespective of where you travel in in this archipelago of 992 islands – from the mountains of Guadalcanal, volcanic Savo and the UNESCO World-Heritage nominated Marovo Lagoon to the jungles of Makira-Ulawa and above the cloud line on Kolombangara – the breadth of the huge variety of birdlife to be found the Solomon islands is a magnet for birdwatchers from all over the world.
The list of the rarer and much sought after species to be found is breathtaking. These include the iconic Black-Faced Pitta, the Fearful Owl, Solomon Frogmouth, Roviana Rail and the rare Guadalcanal Moustached Kingfisher but one of the rarest and perhaps the most sought after sighting is the Megapode.
These chicken-like birds are renowned as egg buryers, using fermenting plant matter and solar heat to incubate their eggs but on Savo Island, the Megapodes seek heat produced by the island’s volcanic action.
But irrespective of where you travel in the archipelago, the islands abound with a wealth of avian life.
Romance
While lacking the lavish resorts and wedding venues of its near neighbours, the Solomon Islands with its diverse ‘living’ culture, stunning landscapes and intimate retreats, is gradually carving its niche on the international romance scene offering an alternative, enchanting destination for couples seeking the unconventional.
A short scenic flight from bustling Honiara, the nation’s capital, the Western Province is home to a number of boutique and very affordable eco-resorts on parr with anywhere to be found in the Blue Pacific.
