Dive Munda, Solomon Islands

Dive Munda’s dive centre is in the grounds of Munda’s Agnes Lodge Resort. Dive Munda is open from 8 am to 5 pm and will run double dive trips morning and afternoons; including dusk and dawn dives, night dives and bio-fluoro dives.

They offer courses from Try Scuba for people who want to experience the thrill of breathing underwater for the first time; Open Water courses with the SSI accreditation agency.

Dive Munda offers a full range of well maintained and annually serviced ScubaPro, Sherwood and Mares rental gear.

They have two boats, the small one takes 10 tanks and up to 4 divers and the dive guide and skipper. The larger boat takes up to 6 divers. Each boat carries a Dan Emergency pack with oxygen and a mobile phone. Their boats have a private jetty just behind the public jetty at Munda. They have two 7m fibreglass boats fitted for diving (can accommodate up to 5 divers) and powered by Yamaha F100 four-stroke outboards as well, another 7m boat (can take up to 4 divers) fitted with a Yamaha 40HP engine.

Their staff are very experienced with the local dive sites and they can select sites to suit the conditions and your experience. They also have models of the aeroplane wrecks so you can see what you’ll be diving on.

As you can see from the map, there are dozens of dive sites scattered all around Munda, on reefs and wrecks, and even a cave dive – which is a short tunnel that starts in the jungle and comes out in the ocean. The longest trip to any of the dive sites is less than 30 minutes.

Agnes Gateway Hotel is a 100 m stroll down the main street from the airport. It’s a pleasant walk after being on the plane, and someone will turn up with a car to take the luggage and dive gear.

As Dive Munda resides in the grounds of the Agnes Gateway Hotel, the Agnes is an easy choice for divers. There are also many different room types available, suitable for singles, twin sharers, couples, families and other groups.

Ask us what’s best for you. Amongst the options are:

• • Ibibu Cottages – Air conditioned studio rooms with fans & ensuite; lagoon view
    • 4 double rooms (queen beds) & 4 twin rooms (king single beds); & child’s bed if required
  • Ibibu Wing Rooms – Air conditioned rooms with ensuite; lagoon view
    • 2 double rooms (queen beds); 2 double with 1 single bed; & 1 double with 2 single beds (family room)
  • Naru Wing Rooms – Standard rooms with air conditioned, fans and private facilities; lagoon seafront location
    • 7 double rooms with 1 queen bed per room; & 4 twin rooms with 2 single beds
  • Orchid Wing Seafront Suite – Suite with ceiling fans & aircon; ensuite; lagoon shore location; mobility access
    • Original Rest-house refurbished with 1 queen & 2 singles in extra bedroom
  • Zazala Wing Upper Floor Rooms – Air conditioned rooms with ensuite and separate lounge; lagoon views
    • 4 doubles with 1 single in each room.
  • Tatangala Wing Upper Floor Rooms – Budget rooms with fans; shared facilities in the middle of the wing
    • 2 rooms with 2 single beds, & 2 rooms with 3 single beds
  • Tatangala Wing Lower Floor Rooms – Budget rooms with fans and private facilities
    • 2 rooms with 2 single beds, & 2 rooms with 2 queen beds
  • Zazala Backpacker Lower Floor – Rooms with fans, private facilities and a self-catering kitchen
    • 1 room with 1 queen & 1 bunk, & 1 room with 3 single beds & 1 bunk

For the morning double dive we checked in at 8:30 am and assembled the first tank with our own BCD and regs. The gear is taken out by wheelbarrow to the boat which is only about 80 m away from the shop.

A final gear check is made before leaving the jetty then were skimming across the waves of the lagoon. There’s very little current in the lagoon. Just enough to keep the viz clear; but the sea state will depend on the breeze, which can vary throughout the day from dead calm to ‘quite breezy!’ Even if it is at all lumpy, it is the surface that is a little choppy, there is very little swell as such. This means that seasickness is not usually an issue.

There is no GPS so the skipper takes transepts from the different small islands around. Once over the site, we get the dive brief. Then the dive guide will check for any current and determine which way around the reef to go. Conversely, if are looking for a plane wreck, the dive guide will hop in and locate the wreck assuming were not sitting right on top of it, (which we were both times), and send up a safety sausage so that we have a line to follow straight down to the wreck. The tanks are sitting upright in the slots at the rear so it’s very easy to strap in and roll off the side.

The reefs here are quite long and so you can have a very leisurely dive along the reef. There is no specific start or end points, so you just drift along until your air is down to reserve. There’s always a 5 m part of the reef to do the safety stop on.

The skipper, who has been following the bubbles all along will bring the boat over by the time you surface. The boat has a small ladder if required but most can fin up and into the boat – the top of the hull being just about 20 cm above the waterline.

The surface interval is taken on the beach of a small island, water and snacks are supplied; so apart from a hat and sunnies there is not much else you need to take on the boat. There is dry storage space up front though, if you do want to take a towel and a dry camera etc.

The skipper selects a beach depending on the breeze, the sun and the tide. While the surface interval is ticking away you can spend an hour beachcombing. It’s amazing what you might find, not just all manner of plastics, but also bones and shells, bits of wood, and even bits and bobs from World War II.

Pricing for Dive Munda staying at Agnes Gateway Hotel