Solomon Islands

Honiara — the capital of the Solomon Islands on the north coast of Guadalcanal — with the National Museum (covering the extraordinary cultural diversity of the 900-island archipelago: shark-worship traditions of the Lau Lagoon, the shell money system of the Langalanga Lagoon, the haunted skull islands of New Georgia) and the Guadalcanal American War Memorial (the Pacific’s most important WWII memorial site).

💡 The Battle of Guadalcanal (August 1942–February 1943) was the first major US offensive of the Pacific War and one of the most fiercely contested campaigns in military history. The 6-month land, sea and air battle for the island cost the US 7,100 casualties and Japan approximately 38,000. The waters around Guadalcanal are called Ironbottom Sound — the nickname for the seabed where at least 50 ships were sunk in single engagements.

Scuba diving in Ironbottom Sound (the waters between Guadalcanal, Savo and Florida Islands contain the highest concentration of accessible WWII shipwrecks in the world — USS Atlanta, HMAS Canberra, Furutaka and dozens more, lying at 20–50m, covered in coral and populated by enormous schools of fish 80 years after sinking) and the Bonegi Beach wrecks (two Japanese transports accessible from shore).

💡 The Bonegi wrecks (two Japanese supply ships from 1942, sunk by US aircraft while beached, accessible from the shore at Bonegi Beach, 15 min from Honiara) lie at 5–30m depth and are considered some of the most accessible and intact WWII wrecks in the world. The 80 years of coral growth has transformed them into artificial reefs of extraordinary biodiversity.

2h boat from Honiara. The Florida Islands — with the skull shrines of Moli (stone platforms where the skulls of notable ancestors and defeated enemies are displayed and maintained, the most striking expression of the indigenous Solomon Islands ancestor-veneration tradition, maintained by the community as a living cultural practice, not a tourist attraction) and the dugout canoe communities of Tulagi (the former colonial capital).

💡 The skull shrines of the Solomon Islands are genuine living cultural heritage — the skulls are those of ancestors (and sometimes of enemies killed in warfare) believed to retain spiritual power after death. The shrines are maintained with offerings and are consulted before important decisions. The practice is distinct from the historical headhunting tradition (which ended in the late 19th century under colonial pressure).

1h flight from Honiara. Munda (New Georgia Island) — the best dive base in the Solomon Islands, with the Munda Lagoon wrecks (Japanese Betty bombers and Zero fighters at 15–40m, perfectly preserved in the sediment) and the Baeroko Bay (a large natural bay with enormous coral bommies rising from 30m to within 2m of the surface, the finest coral diving in the Solomons).

💡 Rendova Harbour, Munda and the New Georgia Sound (known to WWII veterans as the Slot) were the sites of some of the most intense naval fighting of the Pacific War — the naval battles of Kula Gulf (July 1943) and Kolombangara (July 1943) resulted in the sinking of dozens of destroyers. Many lie in 50–200m of water; some are accessible to technical divers.

1h boat from Munda. Marovo Lagoon (UNESCO Biosphere Reserve — the world’s largest saltwater lagoon, 700km², enclosed by two parallel barrier islands with villages built on stilts above the water, traditional dugout canoe transport, and the finest woodcarving tradition in Melanesia) — the night dive at Uepi Island for flashlight fish and the shark feed at 4pm daily.

💡 Marovo Lagoon woodcarving (the most celebrated handicraft in the Solomon Islands — intricate low-relief carvings of sharks, dolphins, crocodiles and traditional canoe scenes carved in ebony, rosewood and kwila, produced by Seventh-Day Adventist communities in the lagoon villages) is sold throughout the Pacific and is collected internationally as fine art.

A full day in the Marovo Lagoon — a village stay with the woodcarving communities (watching the carvers at work, discussing the symbolism of each design with a guide, buying directly from the carver) and an afternoon dive on the coral bommies outside the lagoon barrier reef (visibility 30m+, with hammerhead sharks on the outer slope in July–September).

💡 The Seventh-Day Adventist Church has an extraordinary presence in the Marovo Lagoon — approximately 70% of the lagoon population are SDA, and Saturday is observed so strictly that no boats operate in many villages. This makes the lagoon quieter on Saturdays and creates a rhythm of activity quite different from other Pacific destinations.

Return to Honiara. The Honiara Central Market (the finest introduction to Solomon Islands food: taro, yam, leaf vegetables, fresh fish, betel nut, and the distinctive red-and-black Solomon Islands dollar notes) and a demonstration of kastom music (pan pipes of the ‘ Are’Are people, the most refined instrumental music tradition in Melanesia, with sets of 10+ reed pipes producing complex polyphonic arrangements). Fly from Honiara (HIR).

💡 The panpipe tradition of the ‘ Are’Are people (south Malaita, Solomon Islands) is among the most sophisticated indigenous music traditions in Melanesia — sets of 8–22 tubes of different lengths produce complex interlocking melodies that require 4–8 players coordinating simultaneously. The tradition was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2011.