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 !

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.

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 for 2010
7-Night Package	Dbl/Twin per person	Single
Deluxe Bungalow, 10 dives includes accommodation, all meals, 10 coastal boat dives with guide, tanks & weights, return airport transfers	US$ 1730	US$ 2010
Deluxe Bungalow - unlimited includes accommodation, all meals, 6 days diving with up to 4 dives per day, dive guide, tanks & weights, return airport transfers	US$ 2206	US$ 2475
NOT INCLUDED: Reef and chamber fees of US$8 pp/per diving day. Fuel surcharges of US$15 per person/per night.
Daily Rates:
DIVING:
3 Tank Boat Dives (outer reef boat dives + free house reef night dive)	US$ 150
2 Tank Boat Dives (coastal reef boat dives)	US$ 100
1 Tank Night Boat Dive	US$ 60
House Reef Dive (per tank)	US$ 25
Nitrox                                      US$ 8 per tank, US$20 daily unlimited, US$ 75/week unlimited
ACCOMMODATION:	Dbl/Twin per person/night	Single per night
Deluxe bungalow (per person/night; incl all meals)	US$ 170	US$ 210
All prices are in US Dollars and per person Nightly Rates include: accommodations and meals Does not include: any government taxes, roundtrip airport transfers (US$40.00 per person), reef and chamber fees of US$8 pp/per dive day, US$15 per person/per night fuel surcharge (US$10 per person per night for non-divers) Please e-mail us for packages including flights from Australia!