Should we go?

In 2024 and 2025 we spent a few months cruising the outer atolls and islands in the NE and N of Papua New Guinea.  We were hesitant at first whether we should sail there at all, because of negative reports about crime and harassment of sailors. We were positively surprised to get a very friendly welcome wherever we went, the only complaint the locals had that yachts had stopped visiting their islands (in many places we were the first sailboat after a decade or even 15 years!). So I decided to summarise our experiences here and put links to the various blog entries to encourage more cruisers to visit the friendly backyards of PNG!

Note: We did not stop anywhere on the mainland, but reports from other cruisers about assaults and thefts and tales from locals about drunken youth and gang violence, suggest that it’s indeed risky to do so (or you may get lucky and only encounter friendly people like we did when we took trucks up into the highlands in 2005…).

Security

We went shopping in the hardware stores of Fiji and Vanuatu before sailing to the Solomons and PNG and prepped up security measures:

• metal bars over hatches
• motion sensors with solar lights on the radar arch and mast
• a surveillance camera dummy

Once there we removed potentially attractive gear from deck and locked up what was too bulky and had to stay on deck (e.g. we put a wire through jerry cans and the spare anchor and locked them to the railing).

Opportunity makes the thief, so we locked the companionway whenever we left the boat and tried not to leave irresistible goodies (like dive goggles and fins) lying on deck.

We bought a can of pepper spray to fend off intruders, but we were not once harassed by drunk or aggressive locals. Just one time we had fins taken – we had left them out to dry while we were down below in the salon –  stupid really. We went to the village chief and got them back within five minutes, so no damage done. When you see how few people out there own snorkel gear and how lovingly fins are kept together with all kinds of makeshift repairs when they are already falling apart, you realise how precious these things are and it’s quite understandable that some youth couldn’t resist the temptation.

Saltwater crocodiles

Another big worry was saltwater crocodiles, called pukpuk in PNG. Knowing that we’d spend the super-hot summer there, we were horrified that we wouldn’t be able to spend much time in the water. Turns out that the outer atolls are completely crocodile-free and around the little islands near bigger islands (around Kavieng and in New Hanover) the islanders always just pointed to the “mainland” where they told us that the crocodiles lived in the mangroves, but they assured us that snorkeling out on their reefs was safe. We spent hours in the water each day and enjoyed the wonderful reefs!

Weather and temperature

PNG lies so close to the equator that at least the northern parts are outside the cyclone belt. The temperatures are hot all year round (averages vary from 28°C to 30°C). As we were planning to spend the southern summer in PNG (which is meant to be the hot rainy season) we prepared accordingly with shade/rain protection canvas over all hatches. We got some rain in December, but none at all from January to March! Water tanks ashore became empty and the locals told us that the NW winds and rain hadn’t arrived during the previous years either. Climate change…

Of course it was very pleasant to have calm, sunny weather and perfect conditions for snorkeling, so we spent hours in the water every day, but it also meant that we had to witness a severe bleaching event on the otherwise very resilient coral when surface temperatures went up to 31.5°C and even 32°C!

Wind and currents

Looking at predominant winds and reading cruisers’ reports, we expected SE trade winds until December (and therefore planned to sail quickly up from Vanuatu using those) and NW winds from January to March (which we wanted to use to sail down from Northern PNG via the Solomons to Vanuatu again).

The reality was very different: during this la Nina year (but also the previous year, which was el Nino…) the NW winds stayed away from Northern PNG and we had calm weather with short, light breezes from the NE and sometimes E. We therefore couldn’t make as many miles as we had expected westwards (we never made it to the Hermits and Ninigos) and had to be very patient to use the few weather windows to slowly hop back SE during January to March 2025.

What makes sailing towards the SE even more difficult is the fact that a strong current runs in a NW direction along the northern side of New Ireland (up to 2 knots).

Islands and Atolls we visited

I list them not in the order that we went there, but from SE up to NW:

Takuu (Mortlock group)

Takuu is one of the remotest islands of PNG. They have no regular supply ship. A trip with an open boat to the next town (Baku on Bougainville) takes two days (with a stopover in Carteret) and when we there the medical centre was closed as the nurse wasn’t there. The local people are very happy to get basic supplies (rice, sugar, flour, clothes, etc.) and help with medical supplies (disinfectant, antibacterial creams, etc.).  They have no cell network and even the sat connection was down when we were there, so the villagers are eager to use Wi-fi!

Takuu is a Polynesian outlier and they keep up Polynesian traditions and language. The whole population lives on one motu. There’s one garden motu (they only grow coconuts, taro, bananas and papaya–so don’t expect much trading for vegetables) and all the other islands are full of birds–there’s even one dedicated bird motu with nesting boobies and terns. Snorkeling inside the lagoon was great, most of the eastern side is a no-fishing zone, so leave your speargun (if you have one) aboard. Generally the sandy areas on the lagoon side of the coral shelf are rather narrow, but we found many good anchoring spots.

Carteret

Carteret is a Melanesian atoll with hardly any landmass–just five tiny motu with one village each. Distances are large, but the people don’t have money for petrol, so all traffic between the islands is done with sailing canoes! Like in Takuu the supply ship calls rarely and people are welcoming and happy to trade, but not much is grown, so bartering is limited to bananas, coconuts and papaya.

We didn’t take Pitufa into the lagoon, but anchored on a sandy spot inside the NW pass. The pass itself was badly bleached, but the outer reef has wonderful coral.

Nuguria

Nuguria is a large atoll with plenty of land, but only two small villages: one next to a pass on the W side and the other one all the way down south. It’s another Polynesian outlier with very friendly people. We stopped briefly at the pass village to say hi and ask for permission to visit the other islands, but spent most of the time on the protected eastern side (we were there in easterly winds) anchored off stunning islands with large seabird colonies.  Snorkeling wasn’t as good as we had expected with many bleached and dead areas on the reefs.

Islands on the North side of New Ireland

We hopped along this chain sailing during the day and only briefly stayed in each anchorage.

Boang, Tanga Islands

We anchored on a large, sandy patch off the village of Sasa on the S side (calm in NE and E winds) and on the W side in the large bay that looks nicely protected by little motu to the north, but turned out to be very rolly in NE swell. There’s a market in Sasa, but (much to our surprise) hardly any produce to be traded in the little village on the W side. The reefs are badly overfished as the population has “exploded” from 5000 people to 15000 within less than two decades.

Lif, Tanga Islands

We anchored on the SE side in the shelter of a large reef and it was calm in N winds and in a light easterly breeze. We had quite a few canoes coming by with adults wanting to trade produce and giggling children who spoke surprisingly little English.  The water’s super clear with a strong current, nevertheless the reef was a disappointment with mostly dead coral.

Lihir

We anchored in the well-protected bay of Palie village (murky water). There’s a supermarket ashore and three (!) schools, so we had many kids visiting the boat in canoes.

Tabar Islands

We went into the channel between Tatau and Tabar island and anchored in a little bay off a mining exploration post (large building ashore). The miners gave us a friendly welcome, brought out coconuts and papaya and let us use their dock and road up the hill to stretch our legs. A few canoes came by to trade veg and fruit.

Kavieng

This is where we cleared into Papua New Guinea. We had applied for our e-visa in advance and sent the pre-arrival notification ahead. The check-in procedure at Kavieng was then quick and simple: just one stop at the custom’s office and we were done, we even got our passports stamped there (no fee). We anchored off Nusa resort and took the dinghy over to town, left it at the dock just south of the market. The vibes in town were friendly, the supermarkets surprisingly well stocked and the market cheap with a good range of veg and fruit (closed Sundays and Mondays).  Read our full report here.

Islands off Kavieng

The island maze between Kavieng and New Hanover is worth a visit! Even though the islands are only a short boat ride away from Kavieng the villages are very traditional (and poor) and they are excited to see yachts, as they hardly ever get visitors! In many places we were the first boat in a decade.

There are quite a few good anchorages on the northern island chain (e.g. Nusalomon, Lemus), where the water is clear and the crocodile-ridden mangroves of the mainland are far enough away to go snorkeling without worrying about them.

Nonovaul is a tricky anchorage (you have to anchor close to the reef), but it’s worth the effort as Sam, the policeman, has been protecting a no-fishing zone for several years in front of his village and you’ll see more big fish than anywhere else in the area. Sam is happy to show you the anchor spot and take you for a snorkel in the Marine Protected Area–please leave a donation to keep him going!

Nonovaul Marine Protected (MPA) Area

Most of the reefs in the Kavieng area are overfished – the demand of a growing population and more and more people selling for money on the market. The people of Nonovaul have declared the reef around their island as a Tambu, with restricted fishing and down in the south (in front of the village where it can be policed) they have a permanent no-take zone! Sam, policeman and chairman of the committee, proudly showed us around: huge swarms of parrotfish and a biodiversity and biomass like nowhere else around here.

Islands off New Hanover

We hopped up the island chain off New Hanover on the NE side and anchored off Kulaunus, Tsoilik, Lukus and Nuslik . Everywhere we had excited kids (and adults) coming out in canoes, wanting to trade or just to chat as they hardly ever see sailboats. We then sailed over to Tunung, which is a bit different as Clem has not just established an eco-lodge there and a large no-fishing zone (fees for snorkeling trips), but he’s also trying to do some hands-on development aid for his island as well as raising awareness for ecological issues.
Read more about Clem’s Place here.

St. Matthias Islands

We considered stopping in Emirau, but weren’t certain whether we could make it into the anchorage on the W side (retrospectively we’re certain it would have been possible), but went straight to the lagoon between Emananus and Eloaua Island, which looked enticing on satellite images, even though we were not certain whether we could make it actually all the way into the lagoon.  Both Bing and ArcGis images are so brightened up that it looks much shallower than it actually is.

Once there we found that the entrance has a few bommies, but is generally about five metres deep, so no problem. We anchored off the tiny island next to the pass and were surprised to see thousands of frigate birds coming to rest there every night!

People from both islands (Eloaua as well as Emananus are actually pronounced without the E, so Loaua and Mananus) paddled by to welcome us and we visited both main villages.

In Loaua the “chairman for tourism” initially tried to ask for a fee for anchoring and snorkeling, but when we explained that sailboats wouldn’t stop there anymore if there was a fee, he quickly changed course and in the end everyone was happy with just having us around to trade and tell stories.

We had visitors every day, everyone was eager to trade vegetables and fruit for clothes, fishing gear, rice, etc.–no wonder as they have no supply ship coming and just a small (expensive) shop on the bigger island Musau.

All villagers are Seventh Day Adventists which makes for great snorkeling: they are not allowed to eat sea animals without scales, so the lagoon and surroundings are teeming with turtles, rays and giant clams. Both islands have established large no-fishing zones – please ask to snorkel there and leave a donation!

Worth a Visit

This area used to be quite popular, but for the last decade rumours of violence and crime (that are certainly true for parts of the mainland) have kept sailboats away. We enjoyed the little islands very much and would like to encourage more cruisers to visit – the islanders would be happy to have more visitors coming to their stunningly beautiful anchorages.

Birgit and Christian Hackl
SY Pitufa

More information, pictures and descriptions can be found on SY Pitufa’s blog: https://www.pitufa.at/cruising-info-papua-new-guinea/

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About the Authors

Birgit and Christian have been cruising aboard their SY Pitufa for 14 years. For more info about their journey and useful tips and tricks for yachties visit their blog www.pitufa.at.

They have also published several books on Amazon: “Sailing Towards the Horizon” (a travelbook), “On Velvet Paws Towards the Horizon” (a homage to their ship’s cat) and “Cruising Know-How” (an article compilation full of DIY, lifestyle and destination guides).

• Read their Noonsite Portrait of a Cruiser
• Read more of their reports for Noonsite here
• Order their Books on Amazon
• Visit their blog www.pitufa.at.

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