Papua New Guinea - Main Island

May 2018: Checking out at Vanimo Papua New Guinea - a warning!

For cruising yachts intending to exit PNG at Vanimo we would like to share with you our recent check out experience there.
We entered PNG at Rabaul in May 2018 and issued a 30 day Visa on Arrival by the Immigration Officer at Kokopo International Airport. Customs informed us of the need for point to point check in at each port visited and we were issued with the appropriate documentation.
On our arrival in Vanimo we completed the customs check in as required. In light of the information sourced on Noonsite about security issues we introduced ourselves to the police who were very helpful and keen to make our stay a safe one.
After 6 days of an pleasant, uneventful stay we contacted Mr Stanly Gardiwilo, Immigration officer, to arrange a time to complete the formalities and what followed was a sad end to our visit.
We were subjected to verbal abuse of the worst kind, an extraordinary irrational tirade that included threats of extortion and seizure of our passports. Mr Gardiwilo refused to discuss the matter with Immigration in Rabaul or Customs in Vanimo. He refused to stamp our passports out because we had not come to see him on our arrival in Vanimo. (Immigration at Rabaul confirmed we were NOT required to visit immigration until exiting PNG)
We were told to ‘come back next week’ (after our visas had expired) and would then be fined in a court of law and could expect to be jailed! We would have been in a very precarious situation had it not been for the excellent work provided by the Australian High Commission in Port Morseby in liaising with relevant authorities on our behalf. We were also confined to our yacht while Mr Gardiwilo gave consideration to our situation overnight. Our passports were duly stamped the following morning and we left Vanimo. While not required, it would be prudent to visit Immigration if planning to stay in Vanimo to avoid the the very unexpected situation we found ourselves in.
A formal complaint has been made to the relevant authorities in the hope that it will benefit cruising yacht community.
Andrew Irwin Meredith Louey Mary Lafferty
Yacht Calamia

Clearing in Milne Bay, only Alotau for full clearing. Samurai have only Custom Clearing. Misima have a health officer that will give you Quarantine clearance, but its no good if you go to Rabul, Samarie take it in as good
More info [email protected]

For up to date information or connecting with sailors in Papua New Guinea great information is available from RPYC Sailing Division - make contact via their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SailingPortMoresby/

Hello. I've been part of Katharsis II crew in july 2015 for PNG leg between Alotau and Madang. Our route was Alotau-Discovery Bay-Esa'ala-Dobu-Tewara-Kiriwina (Kaibola-Omarakana-Losuia)-Kokopo-Rabaul-Duke of York-Byrona Strait-Au-Bagabag-Madang. Most of this trail I have marked by Holux GPS. If anyone needs info pls contact me.

Read about SY INTI's project to distribute donated school supplies to remote areas in PNG and the Solomons adjacent, under "related news". If you are planning on cruising this part of the South Pacific, you can help.

Hi Sue, thanks for your response. After being told that I could, then I couldn't by the same person in PNG consulate in Brisbane I found out that you can't get one on arrival if your arrive by yacht. Or you might but they would have to send it to Port Morseby and back. I have just got a visa in Brisbane, took a couple of weeks and a dozen emails to sort it out.

Hi Simon, as far as noonsite is aware, visitors arriving by yacht in PNG can only obtain visas on arrival at designated international port of entry, i.e. Port Moresby, Rabaul or Daru.

Does anybody know whether you can obtain a visa on arrival if you arrive by boat into Bouganville ? I am a UK national.

We sailed briefly through the P.N.G with our three kids aged 9,7 and 6 in Oct and Nov 2014. We had no difficulties. Please note we stopped at very few places due to time pressures. We used SV Totem's map to plan our route and followed the same precautions as in the Solomons. We stayed away from the mainland and bigger towns. We cleared in at Kavieng which was a very very simple straight forward process. We listened to advice from locals about where to anchor, where to leave our dinghy, that kind of thing and once again, as in the Solomons, either we were in the right places or we were lucky but we never had any cause for concern leaving our boat or at night. A major highlight was the Hermit Islands. If you go there stock up on bath towels as that was a item high on the ladies trading list when we visited! Clearance from Vanimo was relatively smooth.
A note on malaria precautions. If you wish to take meds doxycyclone for adults is available in many places but not Larium (or anything else) for kids. We got a prescription from a hospital doctor in Suva, Fiji. I thought we could get a repeat in Indonesia but it has proved impossible. We were kindly given some malaria tester kits that you can buy online by another 'kid boat'. We also brought treatment meds in Kavieng that were recommended by the guys at Nusa Resort. The pharmacist was great as she made up little kits for each member of the family with the correct doses for each person. So, we try to avoid being bitten by using deet lotion (called "Autan" in Papua and Maluku), long sleeves and trousers in the evening, trying to be back on board before dusk and mossie nets.
We enjoyed our short time P.N.G and are keen to return and spend much longer there.

Correct Procedure for Entrance Clearance in Rabaul/Kokopo.
It is very important that yachts follow the proper procedure for clearing into PNG through Kokopo/Rabaul. You must anchor by Rabaul so that Quarantine inspection can be carried out before you are cleared in with Immigration and Customs in Kokopo. The authorities are extremely concerned that yachts are not adhering to the correct procedures. The Quarantine man, Peter Johnson, said the best thing to do is to go to the Yacht Club and they will help yachts do things the right way. There was talk of fining us and another yacht who had not done things the wrong way round too. Rabaul is the official Port of Entry, not Kokopo.