Tami Islands

I've watched this group for a while in the hope of learning more about
the sport. So for it hasn't been to enlightening but I'm always
hopeful. In the spirit of you can't get anything out of a group without
contributing I will see what I can do. I know I am not strictly aus but
there wasn't any PNG.sport.scuba. I'm an expat from Rocky, Qld in the
land of the unexpected (more like what the hell went wrong there).
Normal diving grounds is Salamaua, 30km out from Lae PNG. It is a
peninsular that was bombed to hell by all sides during WW2 and has a
few relics to prove it. The house I stay in there has the puck marks in
the water tank from being strafed by aircraft bullets. There are a
couple of wrecks to dive in about 25m water, visibility is usually 30m+
as it is in the lee of the point. Water temp all year is luke warm. If
you're not a local and have no reputation to uphold or ever plan to
show your face again a stinger suit is as much as you need. You need a
thick hide to survive being seen in tights up here (Bob from BOC tried
to pull it off and failed). There are plenty of corals with prolific
small fish. An occasional red emperor, coral trout or cod will make an
appearance. Schools of pelagic fish are common as there is a drop-off
into 100m and a current/tide line that comes in quite close sometimes.
Large tuna are semi regular visitors. Spanish mackerel also make an
appearance. We have hooked Marlin (among others) on the way to and
from the dive site, Peter Pakula was up here earlier in the year, chase
up August edition of Blue Water for the article and a pic of the
skipper of EMVE - NJOY with his back to the camera. When diving I am
a guest on a boat owned by the local real estate agent Mike, It is
available for charter and does do some tourist trips.
http://www.melanesianarts.com.pg/pic...BOW%20VIEW.jpg
.. Salamaua is also the start and finish point for some memorable
trekking adventures, the end of a semi adventurous one from Wau and the
start of the black cat trail which makes Kokoda seem like a stroll down
to the shops.
This weekend I'm off to the Tami Islands classic fishing comp, I
think EMVE - NJOY is going to be a support vessel so we'll be doing
diving instead of fishing. I've been told we'll be heading off Fri
night to arrive early Sat morning. Hopefully the weather will be better
than the last time I was in the area. I'm looking forward to it and am
picking out my favourite skirts to take, at a hundred bucks a throw
it's always a risk if the razor gang are around. I'll pack Billy Bonito
and a Rapala 22 or two. All I want is one fish to christen my new
Tiagra 50W, doesn't have to be a blue, even a small sail or a 50+
yellow would do

Brad
6° 43.5816' S 146° 59.3097' E Work
7° 3.3981' S 147° 2.9431' E When I'm lucky.