Silvertip Reef Shark
The boat is GORGEOUS. While not roomy, it is exceptionally well laid out and every inch is used maximally. The dive deck is not as spacious as the Telita but a trade off is an out door table which can be used for working on cameras and eating. Tanks are steel rather than aluminum which meant that many of us did not use weight belts. Both 90 and 100 cubic foot tanks are available. When all ten people want to gear up the dive deck is CRAMPED.
At 66 feet the Tiata has 5 double cabins for guests, one for the captain, one for the cook, and one for the crew of two. The cabins are small but comfortable and are laid out well. The boat has a desalinator so fresh water is plentiful. There are two heads internally for the guests and crew but there was no queue time for the heads so this seemed adequate.
Meals on the Tiata were usually sensational. Martina is a trained gourmet chef and she is able to create amazing fare from a galley that is almost microscopic. Her desserts and snacks are often killers; she knows how to use chocolate in sinful ways.
Many dives are pelagic dives and include sharks and rays as well as schools of Jacks, Tuna, Barracuda, etc. Some dives also have macro available but the macro is not as unusual as is found in the south at Milne Bay.
Silvertip Reef Shark
The most incredible shark dive is Silver Tip reef where you have very close (18 inches) encounters with Silver Tip Sharks of up to 9 feet. I think there were 7-9 at any one time. The sharks come very very close and there is plenty of time to get as many photographs as you have film to shoot. The picture above was taken with a 13 mm Nikonos RS lens from about 2 feet away. Planet Channel and Chapman's Reef are excellent pelagic dives with various sharks and Spotted Eagle Rays along with schools of Jacks. At Albatross Point we interacted with nearly 100 spinner dolphins.
Water temperature is a warm 84 degrees and most people wore little or no thermal protection. Some dives have heavy strong currents and most have mild currents. In some cases current lines and reef hooks were desirable as the current was far too strong to swim against. If you turned your head to the side it felt like it would rip your mask off.
Passages were often done at night (at a cost of sleep if you are unable to sleep during passages) so there were always five dives available including a night dive. The night dives were less sensational than in Milne Bay but good never the less.
Jacks, Tuna, Sharks, Eagle Rays were plentiful. Small critters were there
but not as plentiful as in Milne Bay. Lots of anemones and clown fish and many
types of shrimp. And of course a variety of nudibranchs.
Anemone Shrimp Ok, so would I go back? I would dive Milne Bay again in a heartbeat. I would also be happy to book the Tiata during the three months it moves to Milne Bay and sure, I would love to dive Silver Tip Reef out of Kavieng again but would prefer the diving in Milne Bay for the other 9 days. This preference is more because of the prolific macro critter life in Milne Bay than for any inadequacy in the diving out of Kavieng. I would NOT return to Walindi.