Discover Papua New Guinea

Monday, 19 September 2011

About Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a country of adventure where travellers can enjoy a range of unique experiences. With over 800 individual languages and species of flora and fauna yet to be discovered, this truly is the land of the unexpected!

PNG offers a destination that remains relatively untouched by hordes of tourists with a range of exciting activities, stunning natural scenery and rich, diverse cultures. The diving, surfing, trekking and sailing together with fishing for challenging local fish as well as exotic bird-watching makes Papua New Guinea much more than your typical tropical destination.

Culture
With over 800 languages and many different tribes throughout PNG, this is a country that offers culture by the bucket load. One of the best ways to experience the rich and diverse cultures is by visiting during festival season which takes place between June and November each year. Visitors can indulge in the vibrant colours, costumes, dances and sing-sings that take place. A local village stay can provide unique insight into what life is like in modern day PNG.

Surfing
PNG is emerging as a top surfing destination which has fantastic breaks. There are also strict regulations on how many people can be on a wave at a time, therefore PNG offers ideal surfing conditions for those not a fan of fighting the crowds. Great surfing locations include Madang and near Kavieng in New Ireland.

Diving
PNG offers a huge diversity of dive sites, including barrier reefs, coral walls (drop off) and coral gardens, patch reefs, fringing reefs, sea grass beds, coral atolls, and wreck dive sites. There are many wreck diving sites in PNG which include a collection of ships, aircraft and submarine wrecks from World War II. Top diving sites are off the provinces of New Ireland, East New Britain & Milne Bay.

Trekking
While the most well known trekking trail in PNG is Kokoda – famous for its fascinating WWII history and the stories Australians have heard passed down from past generations of ANZACs fighting battles in this area – Kokoda is not the only trail in PNG. Enthusiastic trekkers can also attempt the Black Cat trail and Lark Force Wilderness Track as well as climbing Mt Wilhelm.