7 adventures that define PNG
Some of the country’s most irresistible experiences
Visitors feel it the minute they touch down in Port Moresby, the moment the aeroplane doors open and they step out onto the tarmac. There’s an air of adventure that permeates Papua New Guinea, a sense that here, a courageous soul will find what it’s looking for.
There’s so much about PNG that appeals to the adventure travel set. It’s the landscapes: from densely forested mountains to tropical islands, volcanic fjords to underwater wonderlands. It’s also the culture: with more than 1000 distinct tribal groups, and 852 spoken languages, this is a country that fascinates. And of course, PNG’s appeal is also in its activities: from long hikes through the jungle to scuba diving under the sea, kayaking in pristine waters to exploring urban and rural life.
Essentially, there’s never a dull moment in PNG. And if visitors have the right sense of adventure, the willingness to step outside of their comfort zone and discover the activities that truly make this country tick, they’ll love every minute of it.
Deacon’s Reef is home to some of the most spectacular coral on the planet, vast walls of the stuff that reach 30 metres to the sea floor below.
1 DIVE IN MILNE BAY
For scuba divers, to describe PNG as an ‘adventure’ would be to sell it short. Because PNG is paradise. There’s pretty much nowhere else in the world that offers diving of the same quality – nowhere you’ll find the same mix of hard and soft corals, with colours so perfectly visible in clear ocean; nowhere you’ll discover such abundant sea life ranging from the tiniest, most colourful nudibranch (a sort of neon mollusc that you’ll spot gracefully gliding by) to the largest pelagic fish, or World War 2 wrecks resting in shallow water. And you certainly won’t find a spot like this that you’ll be sharing with barely another soul.
There’s excellent diving in the Milne Bay area, where many divers tend to begin their underwater adventure at a site called Deacon’s Reef, which is just 10 minutes by boat from the dive resort Tawali (accessible from Alotau). Deacon’s Reef is home to some of the most spectacular coral on the planet, vast walls of the stuff that reach 30 metres to the sea floor below, giant underwater gorges that divers can fin through as soft corals twist and wave on either side. Nearby Barracuda Point, meanwhile, is a fish-lover’s paradise, where schools of parrotfish, angelfish, sturgeons and gropers battle for space with the eponymous barracuda.
2 WATCH THE BAINING FIRE DANCERS
There’s a thump of wood on wood, a cadence that echoes in the jungle, its power amplified by the pitch darkness around. Thump, thump, thump. That’s all you hear. You trick yourself into thinking you can see it, too. And then it happens: a figure ducks out from the darkness, strikes a match and lights the giant pile of sticks and leaves in the centre of the clearing, the bonfire catches, and the Baining fire dancers appear.
This is a ritual played out in the province of East New Britain, up in the mountains to the south of Kokopo. It’s a richly held tradition, a ceremony conducted by the Baining tribe that the lucky few visitors also get to witness.
You wait in that clearing in the forest as the bonfire builds in intensity, until finally the dancers run in, their legs and torsos human, but their heads huge and ethereal, their eyes boggling wildly in the dancing light. One by one, the dancers crash into the fire, stomping on it, dancing in it, revelling and fighting it.
These fire dances are a ritual of celebration and obeisance, an initiation ceremony and an appeasement of the gods. They’re also unique to PNG, and the journey from Kokopo up into the mountains, in the dead of night, to witness a ceremony is something visitors never forget.
3 STAY WITH LOCALS ON AN ISLAND
There are no hotels in Maira, a small village on the island of Mioko. There’s a small collection of wooden houses, a brightly painted school and a footy field. There’s a beach where locals hang out and chat. It takes about two hours to get to Maira from Kokopo, the capital of East New Britain, but it seems another world away.
Gone are the trappings of modern life (save for a generator to charge everyone’s phones), and in their place is tropical bliss, the likes of which people travel a long way to enjoy.
Your accommodation here: someone’s house, on a thin mattress below a mosquito net, on a wooden floor. Your activities: wander the village, sitting with groups of women as they weave mats, kicking a footy with the local kids, resting under trees and sipping from fresh coconuts. That’s about it. Mioko Island is a time warp, a place where shells are occasionally used as currency. Relax and just soak it up.
4 JOIN THE FES TIVITIES AT THE GOROKA SHOW
Brilliantly plumed people from many different tribes, gathered together, their outfits imposing and impressive, their attitudes proud but welcoming – these are the first images that come to mind for many when they picture PNG. Their photos are everywhere, because they’re so striking.
This gathering is a highlight of the Goroka Show, an annual cultural festival in the Eastern Highlands, an event that draws members of more than 100 tribes, who come together to display their culture and to share in the traditions of others.
It feels like an adventure just being in Goroka, far up in the mountains, a place that’s so distinct and so isolated from the rest of the country. However, at show time in September, the town comes into its own, filling up with performers and onlookers from all around. Don’t miss the sing-sings, the traditional dances and rituals at which those beautifully costumed performers – clad in feathers and face paint, beads and chalk – strut their stuff.
5 HIKE THE KOKODA TRAIL
This isn’t just one of PNG’s great adventures – it’s one of the world’s great adventures, and it’s a journey that’s become close to the heart for many visitors, particularly Australians.
What was once a World War 2 battlefield, where Allied troops repelled the advances of the Japanese as they sought to capture Port Moresby, has now become a rite of passage for modern travellers, a way to respect the sacrifices of the soldiers while having an adventure of your own.
Hiking the Kokoda Trail is no picnic. It’s a 96-kilometre slog along an undulating and sometimes muddy trail that leads into the heart of the PNG jungle. You’re looking at about eight or nine days to complete this arduous journey, with full days of hiking, and long nights spent in tents resting aching limbs. It’s tough, yes – but the scenery is beautiful, the people you share this experience with may be friends for life, and the feeling of achievement is worth every ache and pain.
6 . SURF THE LONELY WAVES OF TUPIRA
There isn’t a surfer alive who doesn’t dream of a perfect break without anyone else on it. And Tupira, in the province of Madang, offers that very place. The surf culture is in its infancy in this northern coastal village, where there’s just one surf club, which caps its occupancy at 12 surfers. Those lucky few have their choice of seven breaks, all the sort of clean, barrelling waves that surfers picture when they go to sleep at night. There’s a few right-handers, a few left-handers, some that work every day of the week, others that need a little more swell to really turn it on. Regardless, you’re almost guaranteed a good ride in Tupira any day between October and April.
And of course, the adventure doesn’t begin and end in the ocean. This is a part of PNG that’s rarely visited by tourists, a rustic spot with friendly locals and beautiful landscape. Most surfers stay at Tupira Surf Club, which doubles as a guesthouse, eating food prepared (and often caught) by the locals, going out fishing on quiet days, and just hanging out in the nearby village.
7 KAYAK PNG’S FJORDS
PNG has fjords. That’s the first thing to get your head around, the first surprise of many who visit the beautiful area around Cape Nelson in the northern Oro Province.
Here, a series of deep fjords have been carved out by volcanic movement over millions of years and, these days, the pristine waterways are perfect for exploring by sea kayak.
Many adventurers choose to base themselves in Tufi, a small village (as well as the name of the resort, tufidive.com) on the tip of Cape Nelson, which was once a British government station, and which now provides easy access for exploring the fjords. Each waterway snakes its way through steep, densely forested mountains, the pathways cut long ago by lava flow. Villagers paddle past in wooden dug-out canoes. Groups of divers head to the reef.
In a kayak, the pace is gentle and the scenery spectacular. You call in and visit small villages that barely see a western visitor all year. You paddle into estuaries and explore inlets. You spend the night in homestays in tiny towns. It’s an adventure like no other.