Red Leaf Scorpionfish
I had often heard that the Bilikiki was the ultimate live aboard but was a bit skeptical whenever something was referred to as "ultimate". However, having traveled on the Bilikiki previously, I had to agree. It is indeed one of the best dive boats in the world. So once again I sent in a deposit for a trip scheduled over Thanksgiving of 1999 with my friends Chris Newbert and his wife, Birgitte Wilms, who we all call Deda.
Red Leaf Scorpionfish
There are basically two ways to get to the Solomon Islands and neither of them is short. The quickest and easiest is probably going through Nadi in Fiji; this involves an overnight to hook up with the appropriate plane to Honiara, Guadalcanal. The alternative route is going through Australia, but this too requires an overnight in order to hook up to the appropriate flight to Honiara. In either case, the travel is long, especially if coming from the East Coast of the USA.
The airport in Honiara is new and is a significant improvement over the previous version that I visited in 1997. Some things are unchanged, however, and that means that the airline clerks who check you in almost always find overweight charges and it seems as if they may get all or at least a percentage of what they take in, as record keeping is marginal to nonexistent. The amount, however seems somewhat negotiable if you are very nice.
The Bilikiki is a steel hulled boat that is 121 feet long with 10 spacious staterooms below deck, a dining area both indoors and outdoors on the main deck, and a sun area, photo room, manager's cabin, and captains area on the top deck. The diving area is on back of the main deck and allows ample room for the twenty divers who might opt to take this cruise. There is a private head in each cabin and two fresh water showers in the dive area with hot and cold showers. The Bilikiki has no desalinator and there are no plans to install one in the near future. This lack of a desalinator means that the Bilikiki must purchase water from various native villages during an extended cruise with a full complement of passengers; this is accomplished by stringing a long hose from the ship to the shore.
Solomon Islands
Reef Scenic The dive deck has two compressors, and a complement of 88 cubic foot aluminum tanks. Each passenger has a storage area that is adequate but not spacious. There is oxygen on board and a ship to shore radio in the case of medical emergency but the nearest chamber is in Australia so prudence is indicated.
There are two managers of the Bilikiki and a crew of 8 who do EVERYTHING to insure you have a wonderful trip. As with any live aboard, there is a tip expected if you find the service to be extraordinary; that was $250 for a 13 day cruise in our case. I had no problem with the tip as the crew went beyond the call of duty.
Reef ScenicTo say that Chris and Deda are personable is to greatly understate their charm and warm personalities. It is obvious that they really care about whether their guests have a good time and they do everything in their power to make sure the trip runs smoothly and that each person feels included. Photo assistance is available and in the evening Chris produces four slide shows that illustrate the elements of composition with some of his own slides. This teaching activity is best appreciated by an intermediate to advanced photographer but even beginners (and we had some) will learn and can acquire useful information. Chris is clear, articulate, knowledgeable and able to practice what he teaches right before your eyes. If you are curious about what Chris shoots, as I was, I will share that information with you. Chris and Deda have now moved to Subeye cameras with Ikelite strobes. Chris feels that electronically the Ikelite strobes are the best on the market despite certain mechanical shortcomings that Chris has gotten around with personal modification. The new Subeye cameras allow for remarkable closeups using extension tubes and teleconverters coupled with diopters and they also have an adapter that allows for any Nikonos RS lenses to be used. This means that the spectacular German 18 mm lens is available.
Harlequin Ghost
Pipefish
Water in the Solomon Islands was warm, about 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Some dives involve some current but most currents we encountered were rather gentle. 90% of the diving is done from Tinnies, the equivalent of a water taxi that drops and picks one up from the dive sites; the remainder are done off the dive platform on the back of the Bilikiki. While this introduces some inflexibility in diving schedule it allows the boat to remain in calm anchorage while diving the best locations in an ecologically sensitive fashion. The Tinny Drivers are incredible. At no time did we wait for more than about 30 seconds for pickup after a dive irrespective of whether it was at night or during the day even with a current carrying us to a location other than drop off. Apparently the Tinny drivers follow your bubbles so when you pop up, they are right there waiting for you. For those of use who are navigationally challenged, this means focusing on the diving knowing that a private taxi is available whenever you choose to surface. The diving is probably best described as intermediate to mildly advanced in that there are no dive guides and most dives have the potential of being deep, possibly with currents.
Solomon Islands
Reef Scenic The diving times on the Bilikiki are 8 AM, 11 AM, 2 PM and 5 PM with a night dive after dinner. These dive times are set up to give best light for photography, long surface intervals in case you were diving deep, and convenient meal times. This meant that breakfast was served rather early but that was not a problem for me; some people opted for sleep in lieu of breakfast but they made up for it with the warm cookies served after the first dive.
On our tour, Chris selected the dive sites with a mind to providing a mix of photographic opportunities. As such we had some excellent macro sites with Ghost Pipefish of various colors and varieties , Two spot Gobies, Mantis shrimp, Nudibranchs, Leaf Scorpion Fish, and some wide angle sites with schools of pelagic fish, colorful soft corals and sea fans in every imaginable color, and superior visibility. Some sites were single dives, other sites were full days of diving. Visibility was from a low of 50 feet to a high of 150 feet depending on the site.
Some photographic examples of the animals and scenics are found are scattered throughout this trip report.
The Bilikiki offers the opportunity to interact with the natives of the Solomon Islands. While fascinating from a sociological perspective, these interactions also allow one to trade with the wood carvers and I can assure you this opportunity is something which should be capitalized upon. There are three grades of wood that are used with the heaviest and best being King Ebony and this is also the most expensive. The process of trade (or purchase) requires bargaining with the carver and may involve money (Solomon Islands money only), T-shirts, tools, or whatever is of value. The carvings are intricate, of high quality in many cases, and are inlaid with shell. They are mostly priced in a fairly inexpensive manner but occasionally some of the larger more spectacular are priced significantly. As an example, a medium sized high quality ebony N'zu N'zu was $200 American.
In November (1999) the weather was mostly sunny, warm during the days, temperate at nights. Seas were exceptionally calm with two days which were literally glass calm. October and November are probably the ultimate months to visit the Solomon Islands as this corresponds to their spring time. Reportedly their fall also provides good weather (March/April).
School of Barracuda
For those who have been to Papua New Guinea, I would rate the diving as not quite as good as PNG for unusual critters but superior for reef scenics and generally of a similar quality and type; above water the geography is similar to Palau Micronesia. If you add up the boat, diving, and Chris and Deda, this is a trip well worth repeating. So you may ask, "is the Bilikiki the ultimate"? Probably the boat actually is or close to it at the least. If the Bilikiki were cruising in PNG the entire experience might be more than I could have imagined possible (despite the wonders of the Tiata in PNG). Would I go again? In a heart beat!! I am already signed up for 2000.