And therein lies it's charm. In other parts of the tropics you can encapsulate a dive site or region by saying this is the best muck, or the ultimate in soft coral reefs. And that's what you do, head of to a place because it's a brilliant place to go for that particular dive style.

However, Solomon Islands diving is just the opposite as it has a little bit of everything. There are coral covered reefs and steep walls, some small cave systems that open up inshore where you can surface and shallow mangroves with archer fish hovering amongst the roots. There are secretive critters that you would only expect to find elsewhere and enormous schools of pelagics. Sharks and other big animals swing by and there are some very interesting wrecks.

The one area where you could start to pigeon-hole the diving is over the remains of the American-Japanese battles in WWII. Around most islands there are remnants littering the sea bed and some of the most interesting wrecks we have seen. What's particularly nice about them is that, outside of Guadalcanal, they're not all that deep so you can get a decent amount of time on them. There's even a fascinating munitions dump with trucks, barges and stray ammunition littering a calm bay.

Land side, the islands are just lovely. Over 900 beautiful specks of land covered in deep green forests pepper the ocean. We travelled on Bilikiki who arranged several local village visits. The people are friendly, the children typically shy but highly amused by their visitors.

PROS AND CONS:

The only logical way to get to the Solomons is via Brisbane in Australia with Solomon Airlines. The flights are comfortable but can be at inconvenient times of day. Although Bilikiki tailor their cruises to the flight schedules you are likely to get stuck in Honiara for half a day. This small city is dusty and busy and accommodation standards are low. It is isn't somewhere to spend extra time unless you want to see some of the historical WWII sites.

Complete reports on this area are in Diving the World

TRAVELOGUE:

Flights: Singapore Airlines or Qantas to Brisbane
Transfers: Solomon Airlines to Honiara.
Liveaboard: Bilikiki Cruises