Things to Do in Milne Bay

Diving the wrecks and reefs off Samarai

The waters around tiny Samarai Island hide some of the Pacific's least-trafficked dive sites. Once the second-largest town in PNG, the place was flattened in WWII. You'll drop into walls dripping with soft coral in pink and lavender, drift past schools of barracuda that ignore you completely, and surface to absolute silence except for cicadas onshore. On calm days, visibility tends to push 30 metres. Properly clear water.

Kenu and Kundu Festival at Alotau foreshore

Held in early November, this is the cultural set-piece of the eastern provinces. Outrigger canoes race across the bay under woven pandanus sails. Sing-sing groups stamp in unison. They come from a dozen island language groups. Earth-oven smoke hangs over the grassy waterfront. Bring earplugs if you're sensitive. The kundu drums and conch horns get properly loud by mid-afternoon.

Tufi fjords and skull caves

A short flight north of Alotau, Tufi perches above a series of drowned river valleys that locals (and the dive resort) call fjords. Sheer green walls plunge into water dark as ink. You'll likely find yourself paddling a traditional outrigger up the inlets at dawn. Mist still clings to the canopy. Then the guide points out the ancestral skull caves tucked into the cliffs above.

WWII battlefield walk around Turnbull Field

The Battle of Milne Bay rarely gets the airtime that Kokoda does. A shame. Arguably it was the more decisive engagement, the first time Japanese ground forces were beaten back in the Pacific theatre. You can walk the old airstrip at KB Mission and the coconut plantations where the fighting raged. Rusted shell casings and aircraft fragments still surface after heavy rains.

Island-hopping to Kwato and the Engineer Group

A morning banana-boat ride from Alotau drops you at Kwato Island. There, a coral-stone church built by 19th-century missionaries still holds Sunday services that echo across the strait in four-part harmony. Keep going east. You'll thread through the Engineer Group's scatter of palm-fringed islets, the kind where you wade ashore through ankle-deep warm water. The only footprints are crab tracks.

Alotau town centre. Convenient for the market and wharf, with mid-range guesthouses offering sea views and reliable power.

Waterfront east of town. Slightly removed, breezier, where the larger international-style hotel and a couple of dive lodges cluster.

Tawali (about two hours by boat). Remote dive resort tucked into a limestone cove, all-inclusive and quiet.

Tufi (a short flight north). Fjord-country fishing and dive lodge, the splurge option with the best setting in the province.

Samarai and the China Strait islands. Basic village guesthouses, cold-bucket showers, but you're sleeping ten metres from top-tier reef.

East Cape villages. Homestay arrangements through local families, the cheapest option with the most cultural immersion, if you don't mind sago for breakfast.