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Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Things to Do in Rabaul

Things to Do in Rabaul

Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Complete Travel Guide

Rabaul squats inside the shattered throat of an ancient volcano. Streets lie half-buried under 1994 ash that never melted. Sulfur rides the breeze. Roofless colonial shells echo with fig roots that straddle rusted typewriters and bar stools. The harbour flashes impossible turquoise, as if someone cranked the color dial too high. Tavurvur grumbles nearby, a dragon exhaling white steam you can watch from breakfast. Kids bat using lava bombs as wickets. Share a warm SP beer with the ex-mayor who keeps eruption photos in his shirt pocket. Three eruptions, three albums. He will show you.

Top Things to Do in Rabaul

Climb Mother volcano at dawn

The trail starts behind the abandoned golf course. Switchbacks climb through scorched casuarina that hiss like snapped flutes. From the rim sunrise paints Tavurvur's plume gold. Duke of York islands float below like green marbles on molten glass. Volcanic gravel crunches under boots and echoes off the caldera walls. If you are lucky the earth clears its throat with a deep boom.

Booking Tip: Start hiking by 4:30am to beat the heat. Locals at the trailhead may ask for a small guide fee. Pay it. The path splits confusingly near the top.

Dive the Japanese WWII fleet

Below Simpson Harbour's jade surface, Mitsubishi bombers stand upright on pale sand. Propellers bloom like frozen metal flowers. Lionfish drift through cockpit windows. You can swim the cargo hold of a 200-foot freighter where sake bottles glitter like sea pearls. Visibility is so good you can see the wrecks from the boat, silhouettes forty feet down.

Booking Tip: November through April offers the calmest seas. Bring a 3mm wetsuit. Thermoclines can drop the temperature without warning.

Yamamoto's bunker tour

The admiral's concrete bunker tunnels 150 meters into ash hillside. Walls sweat mineral water that tastes metallic on your lips. His personal sake cup still sits on the desk. Japanese cartographers sketched Pearl Harbor maps that never left the tunnel. The air smells of damp cement and old paper. Your flashlight finds machine-gun nests carved like dark mouths.

Booking Tip: The caretaker lives in the blue house across the road. Knock loudly. He naps. Bring small bills for the entry donation.

Kokopo market morning

Fridays are best. Tolai women from the Duke of York islands arrive with woven baskets heavy with turmeric tuna and wriggling octopus. The betel nut corner pulses red. Old men chew while discussing the volcano in Kuanua, teeth stained crimson like raspberry jam. Woodsmoke drifts from mumu pits where taro bundles roast underground. Someone will press steaming kaukau into your hand.

Booking Tip: Go hungry around 7am when the food stalls fire up. Carry small change. Most vendors will not break large notes.

Hot springs beach at Tekedam

Where black sand meets tidal hot springs you can dig your own spa. Scoop a warm pool while waves crash ten feet away. Sulfur smells like hard-boiled eggs. Steam ghosts rise when trade winds pick up. Local kids show the best spots. They laugh when you yelp at sudden hot patches.

Booking Tip: Time your visit for two hours before low tide. At high tide the springs vanish under seawater.

Getting There

Air Niugini flies daily from Port Moresby to Tokua Airport (RAB). The 50-minute flight crosses the dramatic Bismarck Archipelago where volcano cones punch through equatorial clouds. From the airport it is 45 minutes by taxi to Rabaul. Drivers wait outside baggage claim and may overcharge tourists. Agree on the fare first. Locals pay about half what foreigners get quoted. The road winds past coconut plantations and over the ash-covered remains of the old airport. You can still see the control tower roof poking through grey dunes.

Getting Around

PMV buses run infrequently between Kokopo and Rabaul for a few kina. Look for red route number 4 on windshields. Most travelers hire a driver for the day. It costs less than two taxi rides back and forth from hotel to town. The old Rabaul airstrip makes excellent walking. It is flat and shaded by flame trees, though you will crunch broken roof tiles with every step. Rental cars come with mandatory volcano insurance. It is not just marketing fluff.

Where to Stay

Kokopo beachside lodges let you watch Tavurvur smoking from your balcony hammock.

Old Rabaul's ash-buried guesthouses offer rooms built into the crater rim with morning sulfur smells.

Duke of York Islands bungalows - solar-powered stilt houses over reef shallows

Kerevat plantation stays - colonial mansions surrounded by cocoa trees

Kokopo town center hotels - walking distance to the best markets

Tunnel Hill area - budget rooms in former mining barracks with harbor views

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Food & Dining

Rabaul's food scene clusters along Kokopo's waterfront. The Rabaul Hotel serves excellent reef fish curry laced with coconut milk and curry leaves from their garden. Follow the smoke to the market mumu pits at lunch. Women sell roasted pork and taro bundles wrapped in banana leaves for mid-range prices that beat restaurants. The Chinese diaspora runs most formal eateries. Dynasty on Mango Avenue dishes out wanton soup with prawns the size of your thumb. Islander Hotel's Friday seafood buffet runs out of mud crab by 8pm. Most places close early. Generator fuel gets expensive after dark.

When to Visit

May through October brings the driest weather and clearest volcano views. You'll trade some humidity for visibility. Trade winds can whip up rough seas for diving. November to April is hotter and wetter. The jungle glows an almost violent green. Afternoon storms create dramatic backdrops for photography. January and February see the biggest Tolai cultural events. Masked dukduk dancers perform in Kokopo. You can taste fresh tambu nut for the first time all year.

Insider Tips

Pack a dust mask. When the wind shifts, volcanic ash turns the air chalky. Your lungs will thank you.
The best volcano viewing isn't from the caldera rim. Try the old Rabaul Hotel's rooftop. Security guards might let you up for a small tip.
Friday mornings at Kokopo market, look for women selling turtle shell combs. These traditional Tolai currency pieces make better souvenirs. Skip the Chinese-made 'bilas' sold to tourists.

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