Kimbe Escape

WALINDI

Walindi Resort is a small dive resort, situated on the shores of Kimbe Bay, Northern New Britain, Papua New Guinea. New Britain is the largest of Papua New Guinea's Islands.

Walindi's accommodation consists of 12 self contained, comfortable bure style bungalows spread along the beach front, and surrounded by rainforest gardens. The bungalows are constructed of local materials and timbers, with thatched roofs. They are all fully screened, with private bathroom, a kitchenette with tea and coffee making facilities, and ceiling fans. Laundry service daily is included in the tariff.

The central resort area consist of dining room, lounge and bar area, swimming pool and sun deck, and administration offices. The dining room offers three meals daily (included in the tariff), and fare is Western and Asian style buffet meals, delicious and plentiful, featuring local seafoods, fruits and vegetables. Meals are at set times .... special dietary requests will be accommodated wherever possible, just let the Manageress know of your needs.

There is a large reference library, encompassing marine life and photography books, local terrestrial life and history information, and a small fiction selection.

The bar is fully stocked, and open most of the day. Please note that bar beverages are not included in the tariff.

Airport transfers are available in the resort's airconditioned mini-buses, the airport is 60km from the resort (a 60 minute drive, and a chance to see the surrounding area).

Walindi Diving have three day dive boats operating from the resort daily. The newest vessel is "Charmaine". 30 feet in length, she is an aluminium purpose built dive boat fitted with GPS and fresh water tanks. "Emma" and "Dilemma" are a little smaller, of a similar design. The boats take 6-8 divers each, and diving is on the many beautiful Walindi Reefs in Kimbe Bay. Most of the reefs are a photographer's paradise, all of them have an incredible array of marine life, from the smallest to the largest creatures and corals. Inglis Shoal and Kimbe Island Bommie are sea mounts, and attract the larger fish and sharks, as does North Emma Reef.

Generally, divers will head out for two dives, leaving 9:00ish and returning 4:00ish, with lunch provided on one of the deserted islands nearby. On request, three dives per day may be organised, subject to boat availability, and night dives can also be arranged with the Dive Manager. 

There are tennis courts at the resort, and racquets and balls are provided. The resort can also arrange a game of golf at the local Kimbe course, or a visit to the hot springs.

Accommodation

12 x Beachfront Bungalows with private facilities, available as single, twin double or triple rooms. 3 x Plantation Lodge rooms with bathrooms, available as single, twin, or double rooms.

Facilities

• Lounge and library: Situated in the main Plantation House, with comfortable seating and extensive range of marine, fiction and non-fiction literature.
• Bar: Comprehensive with mixed drinks, beer and a selection of wines.
• Coffee and tea: Tea and freshly ground coffee available at all times in the dining room. Coffee and tea making facilities also available in bungalows.
• Power: 24 hours power supplied by 240V 50Hz generator. Special charging facilities available at dive shop.
• Water: Spring water at Walindi is perfectly sound and completely free of added chemicals.
• Laundry: Included at no extra charge and laundry bags are provided in each bungalow.
• Baby sitting and child minding: Available day or night please inquire.

Meal times

Breakfast 7:30 am to 9:00 am; Lunch 12:30 pm, Dinner 7:30 pm. Children's meals are available earlier upon request.

Recreational facilities

• Swimming pool - next to the lounge area.
• Scuba Diving - operates every day on a 2 or 3 dive per day basis. Comprehensive equipment available for hire from dive shop.
• Snorkeling equipment - available for hire.
• Swimming - anywhere is suitable - the pool or jetty.
• Boating - outboard powered boats available for hire with a driver.
• Fishing - available with a guide.
• Walking: casual walks with a guide available.
• Tennis court - next to main house - racquets and balls available for guest use.
• Video: Small library - culture and diving
• Artifacts: A range of artifacts and souvenirs available for sale.

History

The Plantation that surrounds Walindi was originally established in 1935. The old Plantation was purchased by the current owners, Max and Cecily Benjamin, in 1969. In 1983 Walindi Plantation Resort was born out of the interest of visiting local and overseas scuba divers who recognized the incredible quality of diving that this area has. Since this time Walindi has become world famous for its diving and hospitality.

The coral reefs around Walindi are extraordinarily rich. Over 400 species of reef building corals have been recorded in Kimbe Bay. This is more than half the total number of known coral species in the world. Over 900 species of fish have been recorded and this number will continue to grow as more research is done.

The coral reef communities around Northern New Britain have remained largely undamaged by human activity. We intend to keep it that way. We use moorings where possible to reduce damage from anchoring.

As a diver, your help in protecting the reef is imperative. You may only damage a small piece of coral, but when multiplied by many divers, this will amount to considerable damage. Dive carefully and use good buoyancy control, don't touch the reef. Never lean on the reef to take photographs. We will treat your cameras with the same respect with which you treat our reefs.

Walindi Diving has approximately 25 dive sites which are visited regularly from our shore-based dive boats. The nearest dive site is a short 5 minute boat ride and the furthest is only 75 minutes from our jetty.

These dive site descriptions are intended to give you some idea of what you are likely to find on the reefs around Walindi. A number of the more interesting fishes that have been observed at each site are listed, but of course they may not be seen on every dive. We can guarantee, however, that you will see vastly more than can ever be described in the brief overviews given here. Take your time and dive carefully. In this way you will be better able to appreciate what is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world.

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