Madang is a bustling town on the north coast of Papua New Guinea.
It is also renowned for some superb diving and its unique marine environment is of great interest to scientists, with new species regularly found here.
Rescued from the swamps around 100 years ago, the pretty town is in a beautiful bay and is now a popular tourist destination. There are many convenient sites close to Madang and others further afield, providing lots of variety & options for divers.
Highlights
Best diving spots
There are many convenient sites close to Madang and others further afield, providing lots of variety & options for divers. Just off shore from Madang is an impressive Barrier Reef that plunges down to great depths. A little further from shore, a submerged mountain chain - the product of volcanic activity thousands of years ago - rises up to create a series of islands and underwater sea mounts that attract incredible numbers and variety of life. The area also has some excellent wreck diving.
Just a short distance from Madang is one of the area’s most famous dive sites, known as Planet Rock. Strong currents sweep by this huge pinnacle, which rises from great depths to within a few metres of the surface. Apex predators abound here, from Tuna & Trevally to numerous species of Shark, including Silvertips, Hammerheads, Bronze Whalers & Tiger Sharks.
The numbers of fish here can be astounding especially around the tip of the pinnacle, while the keen eyed will find a treasure trove of smaller life including numerous species of Nudibranch. Despite the numerous Sharks, the biggest safety threat to divers here are the currents and the Triggerfish, which aggressively defend their territory from encroaching divers.
Magic Passage is a narrow, colourful passage that is a great drift dive. The tidal currents that sweep through here feed lush coral gardens in a bewildering array of colours & shapes. Above the reef, clouds of colourful reef fish mingle with larger pelagic species, including Barracuda & Silver Trevally - a large species that was once common in the Pacific but is now only found in a handful of places.
Mitchell Bomber is an excellent example of a WWII plane wreck, while further north the USS Boston and Coral Queen are also fantastic wreck dives. A night dive on the Coral Queen is a dive with a difference. Descending just as the sun sets, divers will be greeted by literally millions of Flashlight Fish leaving the holds of the wreck, lighting up the water with their impressive show of bio-luminescence.
Further afield is Babang Island, part of a submerged mountain chain that rises to the surface and has superb fringing reefs. Around the island are numerous sea-mounts that attract apex predators, including Hammerheads & Tiger Sharks, Even more remote, the Purdy Islands attract enormous numbers of larger fish, including large schools of Barracuda, Nurse Sharks & sometimes Manta Rays.
The visibility at theses remoter islands is usually fantastic due to their distance from the mainland. Between July & September, Sperm Whales pass these tiny tropical islands and are sometimes spotted by Liveaboards.
When to dive
Madang can be dived all year round. While it can, and does, rain at any time, May - October receives the largest rainfall, which creates run-off and reduces visibility at sites closer to the mainland.
Getting there
Madang has an airport and is a 60 minute flight from Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea to the south.
Activities
Madang has a good variety of shops & restaurants, an interesting craft market and good tourist facilities. There is also an excellent golf course nearby. For those looking to really explore the area, there are plenty of sight-seeing tours on offer, or you could hire a car and check out the local attractions for yourself. It is also possible to arrange trekking.
Resort and liveaboard options
There are a few accommodation options, both within the town itself and dotted around the area. If you are looking to dive locally, rather than with a Liveaboard, Jais Aben Resort & Madang Resort are the only resorts with dive centres.
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Port Moresby
Port Moresby is the capital of Papua New Guinea and was the first diving area to be explored in the country. The city gazes out over the Coral Sea, which separates PNG from Australia in the south.
While the area is PNG’s most populous, this does not mean that the diving is of a lesser standard to other areas of the country, especially of you like rare critters.
Bangka & Sangihe
Just off the northern-eastern tip of Sulawesi, between Bunaken & Lembeh, lies the islands of Bangka & Sangihe.
These volcanic islands are less renowned for diving than Lembeh or Bunaken nearby, but are equally fascinating.
The volcanic nature of the area has led to some very unusual dive sites, including the chance to dive an active volcano and a dive site in a sunken village.
Southern Leyte
Southern Leyte may not be as famous as some of the Philippine's more celebrated diving spots, but don't let that fool you.
Leyte is the most easterly island of the Visayas region, and the island is also the least developed. It boasts exceptional scuba diving.
Currently, diving here is concentrated in Southern Leyte, which is gaining a reputation as one of the best places in the Philippines to see Whale Sharks.
Perhentian Islands
Off the north-eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, not too far south of the Thai border, the beautiful Perhentian Islands rise vertically out of the sparkling blue sea, creating one of Malaysia's most iconic diving destinations & one of the most popular spots in Malaysia to learn to dive.
Ambon & the Banda Sea
The Banda Sea is a deep sea ringed by islands in eastern Indonesia. Right in the middle of the sea are the Banda Islands, while Ambon lies to the north.
While they may seem incredibly remote, they were once world famous as the Spice Islands, where nutmeg & mace - much sought after in those days - were grown & fought over by colonial powers.
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