After years of hearing about the glories of exploring northern New Britain, the second largest island in Papua New Guinea, we finally managed a week on the 'infamous' Febrina. Her reputation, and that of Captain Alan Raabe, is almost mythical.

We boarded in Kimbe Bay then headed east to the Fathers followed by the Witus in the north-west. This region has bountiful marine life, warm water and superb visibility. It would take pages to cover it completely, so here are just a few highlights:

THE FATHERS: the reefs flicker with damsels, angels and fairy basslets; there are huge schools of barracuda, spanish mackerel and schooling jacks; octopus mate as you watch. You can even snorkel with spinner dolphins. Alan spins the boat around them while you tread water and as she approaches, we were instructed to put our heads down and watch... there, surfing in the bow wave, were the dolphins, seven or eight at a time.

KIMBE BAY: the local populations of grey whalers and whitetips swoop curiously along the walls. We were continually transfixed by these graceful creatures then we'd realise that we were missing the rest of the dive and turn back to the reef. Surfaces are encrusted with pristine corals and sponges, minute boxer crabs live in the rubble and morays free swim around your fins.

THE WITUS: tiny, primeval bays are smothered in coconut palms, ficus and liana vines. Beneath the water, black sand is dotted with detritus and a mass of weird critters. Tiny green crabs take on the appearance of coralline algae, hairy pink sangian crabs nestle on a sponge, and spider crabs pretend to be seagrass. We were amazed by two nudibranchs that were a mushroom colour with orange spots and attached nose to tail. Not so bizarre you might think - but their size! Seven inches from tip to tip, by far the biggest nudis we have ever seen.