Page 456 - Melanesia
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The majority of visitors come to snorkel     to form the 5,750 km2 of reefs in the       enough to be snorkeled. From American
or scuba dive. The fish life, corals and     Solomons. These reefs absolutely teem       oil tankers and navy destroyers to New
the many wrecks from World War II            with life, from titan trigger fish, green   Zealand mine sweepers and Japanese
make the area one of the world’s leading     and orange neon slugs and superbly          seaplanes, the diving is sensational and
dive destinations. The Solomon Islands       colored sea fans to the full food chain of  evokes vivid memories of WWII.
have gained an undisputed reputation         creatures including large schools of jacks  POPULAR DIVES: There are plenty of
worldwide for spectacular scuba div-         and barracuda, all the way up to the        opportunities for world class snorke-
ing. The 992 islands and surrounding         cruising grey reef sharks. The Solomon’s    ling, diving and underwater photog-
waters that make up this special country     underwater realm provide spawning           raphy throughout the islands but sites
offer some of the most pristine dive         grounds and migratory routes for 1000       in the Western and Central Provinces
sites in the world. It is largely unspoiled  reef fish species, dolphins, rays, sharks,  are among the most popular. Dive the
thanks to its remote location and lack       and six of the world’s seven species of     lagoon at Marovo, the largest saltwater
of divers to put pressure on the reef and    marine turtles, to name a few. There        lagoon in the world. Many of the la-
fish. No matter what type of diving you      couldn’t be a better place to experience    goon’s islands are uninhabited meaning
crave, the diversity of the Solomon’s is     the joy and wonder of exploring under       the beaches are often deserted and to-
hard to beat. Whether you enjoy cor-         the water.                                  tally unspoiled. On the north side of the
als, fish, macros or wrecks you will be      WRECK DIVING: The Solomons have             lagoon is Uepi Island, a sliver of sand
indulged. Due to being the location of       one of the highest concentrations of        and tropical jungle lined with colorful
many battles during WWII, wreck div-         WWII wrecks in the Pacific. Aircraft,       coral drop offs. Munda and Roviana
ing abounds. There is even a waterway        ships and submarines litter the sea         Lagoon are also popular diving destina-
called, Iron Bottom Sound due to the         floor and now serve as artificial reefs     tions. Roviana is a large body of water
200 ships, 690 air crafts and countless      attracting corals and fish life as well as  that extends for over 50 km eastwards
landing barges that sunk there during        fascinating records of world history.       from Munda and is bounded by a chain
those many months of battle. Come            The waters just off Honiara are named       of barrier reefs and islands. On the outer
and enjoy the warm clear waters of The       Iron Bottom Sound with good reason so       sides of the barrier islands you’ll find
Solomons.                                    you don’t have to go far from the capital   walls and slopes .
MARINE LIFE: Almost 500 species of           to experience some very memorable
hard and soft corals have been found         wreck diving. Some wrecks are shallow
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