On the eastern edge of the Coral Triangle, the Florida Islands and Iron Bottom Sound off Guadalcanal pair some of the planet's richest reefs with one of the world's densest concentrations of WWII shipwrecks and aircraft, all in warm 28–30°C water with very low diver traffic.
Destination info
Conditions, highlights, and the resident marine life.
Conditions
Water and air temperature across the year.
WaterAirDryShoulderWet
Description
The Solomon Islands sit on the eastern margin of the Coral Triangle, and a 2004 baseline survey ranked them second only to Raja Ampat for coral diversity, recording 494 coral species and 1,019 reef-fish species. The dive heart of the country is Iron Bottom Sound — the stretch of water between Guadalcanal, Savo and the Florida (Nggela) Islands named for the dozens of warships and hundreds of aircraft that sank there during the 1942–43 Guadalcanal campaign. Divers can move in a single week from shallow shore-accessible Japanese transports at Bonegi Beach, to the intact Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats off Tulagi (the only divable Mavis wrecks on Earth), to the deep technical destroyer USS Aaron Ward at 63–70 m. Between the wrecks lie steep coral walls, current-fed seamounts like Twin Tunnels, manta channels and macro-rich muck. Water stays 28–30°C year-round, visibility runs 20–30 m (40 m-plus in the dry season), and most reef currents are gentle, though channel and seamount sites can run hard. A handful of land-based resorts plus two principal liveaboards (Bilikiki and Solomons Master) serve a destination that remains uncrowded and largely community-owned.
Highlights
What makes this dive worth the trip.
Iron Bottom Sound — the water between Guadalcanal, Savo and the Florida Islands — holds one of the densest concentrations of WWII wrecks in the world; combined Allied and Japanese losses in the Guadalcanal campaign approached 67 ships and over 1,290 aircraft, leaving dozens of divable wrecks from shallow shore dives to deep technical sites.
A 2004 marine baseline survey (conducted 13 May–17 June) recorded 494 coral species and 1,019 reef-fish species in the Solomon Islands, ranking the country second in the world for coral diversity behind only Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
The Tulagi/Gavutu area off the Florida Islands is the only known place in the world where divers can explore Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats; of seven Mavis aircraft destroyed when Allied F4F Wildcats raided the Japanese seaplane base, several (Mavis 5 and 6 the most intact) rest at around 27–38 m and are still recognisable, with cockpit, engines and structure visible.
Marine life
39 species you’re likely to encounter on a dive here.
Dive sites
7 signature sites at this destination.
Hirokawa Maru (Bonegi 1)
A 156 m Japanese transport, one of eleven attacked en route to Guadalcanal on 14 November 1942 and finished off by air and naval bombardment, now resting on her port side just off Bonegi Beach west of Honiara. Originally stranded upright, she has slipped over time so the bow lies in about 5 m and the stern drops to around 50–60 m, making one dive span shallow snorkel depth to technical range. It is a walk-in shore dive with quick deep-water access; sections of the deck are open and, with an experienced guide, parts can be swum through. The structure is heavily encrusted with hard corals, gorgonian fans, brain and cabbage coral and holds snapper, sweetlips, batfish, lionfish, basslets and fusiliers.
5–55 mintermediateShoreLightVisibility 15–30 m
Kinugawa Maru (Bonegi 2)
The shallower of the two Bonegi Beach shore wrecks, a Japanese transport that met a fate similar to the neighbouring Bonegi 1 in November 1942, with part of her engine still breaking the surface. The wreck sits roughly upright in shallow water — the bow area around 7 m and the stern in about 23–27 m — and is easily circumnavigated, making it one of the most accessible WWII wreck dives anywhere. Above-water sections were long ago salvaged, so there are fewer dramatic features than Bonegi 1, but the marine growth is excellent. Divers find round and longfin batfish, lionfish, spinecheek and clown anemonefish, hard and soft corals, gorgonians and cock's-comb oysters.
7–27 mbeginnerShoreLightVisibility 15–30 m
USS Aaron Ward (DD-483)
A 106 m Gleaves-class US Navy destroyer sunk by Japanese aircraft on 7 April 1943 during Operation I-Go, now sitting upright on a sandy bottom off Tinete Point near Tulagi in Iron Bottom Sound. The deck lies at about 63 m and the sand at the propellers reaches roughly 70 m, putting it firmly in technical-diving territory with significant decompression obligations. The wreck is remarkably complete: four 5-inch guns angled skyward, torpedo tubes with live torpedoes still aboard, 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, depth-charge racks, searchlight and telegraph all remain, though after 80-plus years the structure is beginning to deteriorate. Strong currents are possible and the dive is for trained, experienced technical divers only.
63–70 madvancedDay boatStrongVisibility 15–30 m
I-1 Japanese Submarine
A nearly 100 m converted-transport submarine driven onto the reef and sunk in January 1943 near Kamimbo Bay off Guadalcanal's northwestern tip, after being rammed by the Royal New Zealand Navy corvettes HMNZS Kiwi and Moa. The Allies recovered code books and charts from the wreck that aided in breaking Japanese ciphers, making it one of the most historically significant wrecks in the Solomons. A 1960s salvage attempt detonated live torpedoes and destroyed much of the forward section, but the rest of the boat is recognisable. It is reached as a shore dive — a short snorkel out to the fringing reef — with the top of the hull around 10 m and the stern in about 25 m, now heavily colonised by coral, seafans and Christmas tree worms.
3–28 mintermediateShoreLightVisibility 15–25 m
Mary Island (Barracuda Point)
An uninhabited, remote island reached only by liveaboard, often cited as the standout reef dive of a Solomons trip for its dense hard-coral cover and big fish life. Barracuda Point is a long-standing favourite where, when the schools are home, barracuda stretch as far as the visibility allows or swirl in tornadoes off the reef. They share the site with a resident school of jacks, bumphead parrotfish, numerous grey and whitetip reef sharks and the occasional manta or mobula ray. The reef top is shallow and coral-rich while the wall drops into blue water, and currents can run, concentrating the action; it suits intermediate and up.
5–35 mintermediateLiveaboardModerateVisibility 20–35 m
Twin Tunnels
A spectacular seamount about 1 km southeast of Tulagi in the Florida Islands, rising from several hundred metres to a plateau at roughly 12–16 m. Two vertical lava tubes drop from the plateau and meet a horizontal cave at around 34 m that opens onto a sheer wall, the tunnels wide enough to descend in a free-fall posture. Their entrances are lined with corals and fans, and the wall below is draped in gorgonians, whip corals, soft corals and black coral trees. The plateau top hosts as many as eight species of anemonefish in their host anemones, while fusiliers, anthias, snapper and reef sharks patrol the drop-off; current is usually manageable without a reef hook.
12–36 mintermediateDay boatModerateVisibility 20–30 m
Kawanishi H6K Mavis Seaplane (Tulagi)
A Japanese four-engined "Mavis" flying boat off Tulagi in the Florida Islands — part of a force destroyed when Allied F4F Wildcats raided the seaplane base moored at Gavutu and Tanambogo in 1942. Of seven Mavis aircraft, several remain divable, with Mavis 5 and 6 the most intact; this is the only place on Earth where the type can be dived. The wreck sits at around 27–34 m, largely complete apart from a missing starboard wing, with the cockpit, radio operator's station and engines accessible and a barrel sponge growing on a propeller. It is a moderate-depth dive best suited to experienced or advanced-trained divers given the depth and the value of staying off the fragile aluminium structure.
27–34 madvancedDay boatLightVisibility 15–25 m
Where to dive & stay
Local dive centers, resorts, and hotels.
Featured operators coming soon
Verified dive centers, resorts, and hotels around Solomon Islands will list here — pricing, photos, and direct contact.
