Holiday in the Solomon Islands, a lesser-known island holiday that won't disappoint. Photo / Getty Images
Holiday in the Solomon Islands, a lesser-known island holiday that won't disappoint. Photo / Getty Images
You may have been to Fiji or Hawaii, but visiting the Solomon Islands is a whole new experience, writes Ben Leahy
The Solomons are more than just a beach holiday. Here you’ll find a tapestry of cultures, fascinating history, and adventure without the crowds.
Its archipelago of 1000 islands -about an eight-hour flight north of New Zealand, via Vanuatu – is home to renowned diving, fishing and surfing as well as a diverse people, speaking more than 70 languages.
Historic war buffs will also nerd-out touring some of World War II’s most important Pacific battle sites.
So why not dive into the 10 top things to do in the Solomon Islands:
The Solomon Islands are full of WWII sites and artefacts.
United States Marines won three Medal of Honours for extraordinary heroism defending the slopes of Bloody Ridge.
Even 80-years later, standing atop the ridgeline on the outskirts of Honiara, the Solomon Islands’ capital city, the battle seems to come to life.
Japanese troops launched ferocious attacks up its almost vertical slopes in one of the Pacific’s key WWII battles, but were ultimately beaten back, leaving hundreds of their dead in the valley below.
As guide Michael Ben Walahula from Iumi Tours points out, the valley floor is disturbingly close, showing how close quarters the fighting was.
Just as moving as the battlefield is Walahula’s wealth of knowledge.
He’s guided hundreds through the Solomons’ historic sites.
That even includes returning WWII veterans, such as a US general and a Japanese soldier, who fought near Bloody Ridge before hiding in a cave for six months after the war ended.
Yet it’s not just Bloody Ridge. The Solomons is full of WWII sites and artefacts.
That means it’s still possible to view rusted cannons and plane wrecks, or hold a Thompson submachine gun at the Peter Joseph WWII Museum in Munda in the country’s west.
Dive thriving reefs and shipwrecks
US-born Danny Kennedy backpacked his way into the Solomons 39 years ago, and - after spear-fishing with expert local divers - fell in love with the country and never left.
As owner of Dive Gizo in Gizo - the western Solomons’ provincial capital – he is full of praise for the nearby “world class” dive sites.
That includes beginner dives to sunken WWII fighter planes and shipwrecks, like the Japanese Toa Maru, complete with sake bottles still onboard.
Kennedy also named the most popular local dive site Grand Central Station because it has one of the world’s highest fish counts, as the schools all bustle together like crowded commuters.
We visited nearby Njari Island with an escort of 30-40 dolphins before snorkelling in aqua waters and rainbow corals while a reef shark glided below.
Eat and snooze at Kennedy Island
Former US President John F. Kennedy was famously shipwrecked in WWII when a Japanese destroyer rammed his patrol boat.
Kennedy and his men swam ashore to what is now called Kennedy Island in the western Solomons.
Stranded, they may have died had they not been found by Solomon Islander scouts, who paddled off to get help, carrying a SOS message scrawled into a coconut shell.
Nowadays, guests, such as those from the nearby Fat Boys resort, can visit Kennedy Island to snorkel its reefs, snooze in hammocks, or eat barbecued lobster while being pestered by a cheeky local parrot.
Meet the people
Solomon Islanders are diverse in culture and speak as many as 70 languages.
Solomon Islanders are diverse in culture and speak as many as 70 languages.
On some islands, tribal chiefs still hold ceremonies in long rooms adorned with the skulls of their ancestors.
Panna Pase’s Titiru Eco Lodge on Rendova Island in the western Solomons is among pioneering outfits trying to turn local culture into sustainable tourism in places once dependent on logging income.
His lodge sits on customary land owned by the nearby villagers.
That means guests can be treated to cultural performances showing how villagers traditionally cooked, fished and made clothes or they can visit the village itself and spend time living among the locals.
Villager Sheller Besa Ugehe invites me to dance before pulling me aside to say she hopes more tourists will follow so local families can pay for medicine and education.
“My teeth are already out, I am very old now and money is not available here,” she says, albeit with a big smile.
Skull Island eerily contains human skulls, lain out reverently.
Skull Island, or Nusa Kunda, is a tropic beauty, ringed by coral reef and the webs of giant orb spiders.
It also eerily contains human skulls, lain out reverently.
The island’s collection harks back to pre-Christian Solomons, when tribes kept the skulls of revered chiefs and ancestors – and even sometimes those of vanquished foes captured in raids.
My guide Peter Tipala Paulsen from Castaway Island Resort believes one of the skulls belongs to famous headhunter, chief Ingava from nearby Munda.
According to Paulsen, Ingava’s tribe visited his English great-grandfather, Frank Wickham, at the turn of last century after earlier cutting down an Australian missionary.
Wickham was most likely a smooth talker because he survived the visit and even earned permission to trade in the area.
The sea to yourself: only about 30,000 tourists visit the Solomons each year and just a fraction of those are surfers.
Picture this: rolling, crystal clear reef breaks all to yourself.
Only about 30,000 tourists visit the Solomons each year and just a fraction of those are surfers.
Board riders will find perfect waves across the country, but the most popular destinations are in the west, near Gizo and Munda.
If you’re lucky, Giza locals, like Jeremy Baea, will share their secret spots.
As the son of Australian and Solomon parents, he first surfed in Byron Bay, but is now fostering a new generation of local riders through the Western Solomons Surfing Association.
Fish, birdwatch and hike
Fishing enthusiasts are perhaps the Solomons’ biggest fans, including Clarke Gayford.
Fishing enthusiasts are perhaps the Solomons’ biggest fans.
Kiwi angler and former ‘First Bloke’ Clarke Gayford calls the “untouched” country one of his favourite South Pacific destinations.
Spanish mackerel and giant trevally can often be caught just minutes out from most western Solomons lodges, while larger boats are available for longer trips in search of leaping sail fish.
Birdwatchers are also regular visitors due to the many endemic birds living only in the Solomons - and sometimes only on a single island.
Kolombangara in the western isles is popular with hikers for its mountain jungles and famous carved stone that some say lists the hiding spots where locals could shelter when headhunters came raiding.
Escape to Saeragi village
Saeragi Village is a backpackers’ dream, the kind of off-the-track destination travellers might have found in South-East Asia 50 years ago.
When our boat glides into its shores in the western Solomons, its idyllic white sands stretch invitingly.
A handful of tourists idle in waters nearby, while local kids swing off trees and land with splashes about them.
Impeccably clean, the village boasts postcard-perfect stilted-houses, a colourful church and flowering gardens.
With basic dorm accommodation, it’s an ideal place to escape the rat race and immerse yourself in village life.
Watch the Wogasia spear-fighting festival
Aurigi warriors line up to hurl blunted spears at each other in the Solomon Islands.
One of the world’s most unique cultural experiences, Wogasia happens every year in May or June.
The Aurigi people in remote Santa Catalina in the eastern Solomons hold a series of rituals during Wogasia celebrating the past yam harvest and aiming to augur in a good upcoming season.
Aurigi warriors line up to hurl blunted spears at each other, with the understanding that if they’ve held grievances over the course of the year, the spear fight is the one day of the year to settle them.
Taking part in Wogasia as an outsider is extremely rare with tourism authorities granting space for just 15 tourists to attend next year’s festival.
Scale a stranded cruise ship
An aerial view of the ship. The captain deliberately ran the big cruise liner aground in Roderick Bay.
In 2000, the 87m cruise ship MS World Discoverer struck a rock near the island of Tulagi, just across the water from the country’s capital city Honiara.
In a bid to save the lives of his passengers, including many elderly, the captain deliberately ran the big cruise liner aground in Roderick Bay.
The local villagers might have been shocked by the surprise visit, but they’ve now turned the abandoned ship into one of the Solomons’ most unusual and popular tourist destinations.
Guests can now climb on the rusted and overgrown ship, zipline back down to shore from it, snorkel amongst the flourishing sea life surrounding it, watch cultural shows and stay in a handful of huts nearby.
Honiara International Airport is in the capital city of Honiara. Fly from Auckland to Honiara with Qantas (operated by Alliance Airlines) or with Fiji Airways and Solomon Airlines with one stopover.
