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/ Tawali Resort
Remote
world class diving in world class style
Tawali Resort is the newest of the dive resorts in PNG and
is located just around the corner from Milne Bay. The resort
is located near Alotau, just a stone's throw from East Cape.
A 90-minute car ride along the Milne Bay coast and through
some beautiful forest followed by a 15-minute boat ride
will get you from Alotau to the resort.
Tawali Resort is ideal not only for the hard-core diver,
but also for snorkellers or a combination of a diver/non
diver couple. - there's something here for everyone !
Click here
for general information about the diving regions of Milne
Bay.
Features
It
would be fair to say that as well as being the newest Tawali
is also one of the most luxurious dive resorts in PNG. The
resort itself is located in a small bay, with great views
over the water.
The
new main building of the resort is located on the cliff's
edge and houses a dining room, lounge, bar, reception and
office.  Built
from timber into the forest, the entire resort blends in
perfectly with tropical surroundings. It features traditional
exquisite carvings and other local artifacts.
Perched
on the edge of the cliff is the big verandah with spectacular
views out
to the ocean. Looking straight down, you can observe the
fish on one of the house reefs without even getting wet.
Dolphins are frequent visitors, and even whales can be spotted
from this beautiful setting during the whale season.
In the evening, sit back, relax with a glass of wine from
the bar and enjoy the sunset before dinner. The restaurant
serves a lavish mix of local seafood, vegetables and real
tropical fruits. The tariff includes all meals at the resort
as well as lunch on full day dive excursions.
The main
building and the bungalows, which house the accommodation,
are connected by an undercover boardwalk which runs all
the way through to the dive shed and a small beach.
Accommodation
 The
resort has 10 bungalows, each housing two double or twin
rooms. Inter-connecting rooms make this ideal for family
option. Rooms are very large, with two double beds, a small
sitting area, a desk, a small warderobe, air-conditioning
and your own bathroom with hair dryers. There are tea &
coffee making facilities as well as a small fridge. The
rooms are furnished in beautiful timber and more local art
is displayed on the walls. Beautiful paintings from a local
artist complete the picture.
Mercifully,
there's no TV, radio or phone in any of the rooms.
Each room has it's own large private balcony overlooking
the bay.
Dive
Sites
Much
of the diving at Tawali is made on the coastal reefs which
are only a short boat ride away. There is a little muck-diving
to be enjoyed, but most of it is reef diving. On one of
these sites, 'Wahoo', mantas, barracudas, hammerhead sharks,
stone fish and crocodile fish are common sights.
The day boat "Prowler", can zoom into actual Milne
Bay in a very short time, where you can do some great drift
diving.
The
main house reef can be accessed from the jetty, no need
to take the boat. This is great for snorkelling and many
of the night dives are done here. There is a resident mandarin
fish, loads of anemone fish, nudibranchs and flat worms.
A Maori wrasse also appears to be spending a fair bit of
time here.
Dive
Shop
Seba, the Dive Instructor, and his guys will load the boat
while you enjoy breakfast and meet you at the jetty at around
8am for the two morning dives. The
boats used for the coastal boat dives are two 7m (22') centre-console
boats with twin 50 Honda engines. They are big and conformtable
enough not to have to sit with your tank the whole way out
and take a maximum of 6 divers each.
Prowler is
the name of the day boat, a 12-metre (36') catamaran with
a cruising speed of 23 knots, is very well laid out with
two tank racks and a big bench for seating and cameras.
Prowler has a toilet and shower. This is the boat that will
have you at one of the site in Milne Bay in a flash. Of
course, it also has
all of the modern navigation aids such as GPS chart plotter,
radar, HF and VHF radio, and depth sounders. Up to 12 divers
will be taken at the time. If there are less divers (2-4),
a smaller but very comfortable banana day boat will be taking
the divers to the reefs.
 
Photo/Video Facilities
Currently no special photo facilities are available. Make
sure you bring enough film and spare batteries. For the
digital cameras, there is a computer where you can download
your pictures.
Rinse tubs are available on the boat and computers are on
the way, so watch this space.
Activities
The resort can organise a half day excursion to the local
skull cave and waterfall. The trip commences with a 20-minute
boat-ride to the skull caves. Many small skulls of passed-on
locals are being kept here.
The walk then continues on, past the local school, to the
waterfall. It's only a small fall, but the clear water invites
for a refreshing swim. If you are a little adventurous,
you can climb to the top of the falls, where another 5 small
pools are located. The choice of either taking the boat
home or a 1,5 hour or 3 hour walk back to the resort make
this as strenous a day as you like.
A small fee of 30 Kina each goes to the local owners of
the caves and the waterfalls and although the resort provides
a local guide, the excursion is otherwise free of charge.
The resort is also in the process of building a number
of small sailing boats that can be taken out by the guests.
The owners of the resort are setting the local villagers
up in business by providing the material and, of course,
the guests. Again, all income will go directly to the villagers.
Access
 This
is quite a remote area of PNG and the resort is fringed
by rugged mountain ranges on one side and the bay on the
other. Flights from Port Moresby to Alotau and back run
daily, but it is advisable to take the afternoon flight
out of Alotau.
The trip
between the resort and the airport in Alotau takes approx.
1.5 hours by car and boat, so the morning flight means a
very early start indeed (4am)!
| Tawali
Prices 2008 |
|
7-Night Package Per Person |
Dbl/Twin
per person |
Single
per person |
|
Deluxe
Bungalow, 10 dives
(Accommodation,
all meals and 10 coastal boat dives with guide, tanks
& weights, chamber fee return airport transfers)
|
US$
1595 |
US$
2238 |
Deluxe
Bungalow
(Accommodation,
all meals and 6 days diving, with up to5 dives per day,
dive guide, tanks & weights, chamber fee, return
airport transfers) |
US$
2156 |
US$
2842 |
| |
|
|
|
Daily diving rates: |
|
Coastal
Boat Dives
(2
tank dives, dive guide, tanks/weights) |
US$
80 |
Outer
Reef Boat Dives
(3
outer reef dives with lunch, , dive guide, tanks/weights,
plus free house reef night dive) |
US$
150 |
Coastal
Night Dive (min. 4 divers)
(dive
guide, tanks/weights)
|
US$
40 |
House
Reef Dive
(1
dive incl, tanks/weights)
|
US$
25 |
Nitrox
|
US$ 8 per tank, US$ daily unlimited |
| Additional
Nights (includes all meals): |
Dbl/Twin
per person/night |
Single
per person/night |
Deluxe
bungalow
(per
person/night; incl all meals) |
US$
165 |
US$
250 |
- All
prices are in US Dollars, per person and valid until
31.12.2008
- Note: Packages with flights ex Australia
are available. Contact
us for further details
|
|
Independent
