Top 10 Dive Sites in The Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands sit at the heart of the Coral Triangle, and the diving here carries the raw, unspoiled quality that the rest of the Indo-Pacific once had before it was discovered and overrun. Iron Bottom Sound — the stretch of water between Guadalcanal and Florida Island — holds one of the densest concentrations of World War II wreckage anywhere on the planet, while the reef systems beyond Honiara remain largely intact and extraordinarily biodiverse. Water temperatures hover between 27°C and 30°C year-round, visibility typically runs 20–30 metres, and currents vary from manageable to powerful depending on tidal state and location. The Solomons rewards divers who seek depth of experience over convenience; infrastructure is limited but improving, and those willing to navigate the logistics find reefs and wrecks in a state rarely encountered elsewhere in the Pacific. Open the map to explore dive sites across the archipelago.
1. Bonegi Beach (Hirokawa Maru), Guadalcanal
The Hirokawa Maru is a Japanese cargo ship sunk in November 1942 during the Guadalcanal campaign, and it sits in the shallows immediately off Bonegi Beach in two sections. The bow section rests at around 10 metres at its shallowest, with the stern descending to around 40 metres — making this an unusual wreck that beginners and advanced divers can explore together. The superstructure is blanketed in soft corals and encrusting sponges, and large schools of batfish hang around the bridge. Intact cargo holds contain military equipment, and the forward hold has a vehicle still visible through the encrusted debris. Current is minimal here, which accounts for much of its popularity as a shore-accessible wreck dive. Open Water divers can see the best of it; Advanced opens the deeper stern sections.
2. Iron Bottom Sound Wrecks, Guadalcanal Passage
Iron Bottom Sound derives its name from the volume of ships sunk here between August and November 1942 during the naval battle for Guadalcanal. American and Japanese destroyers, cruisers, and transports lie across the seabed in depths ranging from 25 metres to well beyond recreational limits. The USS Aaron Ward lies at around 70 metres — technical territory — but the Japanese transport Kinugawa Maru is accessible from around 15 metres, sitting upright with propellers, anchors, and engine telegraphs still in place. The sheer variety of wrecks means a liveaboard week here can cover entirely different ships every dive. Sharks, including grey reefs and occasional silvertips, patrol the deeper wrecks. Advanced certification for most sites; technical divers access the deeper American vessels.
3. Munda, New Georgia
Munda on the island of New Georgia is the regional dive hub of the Western Province, and the diving surrounding it ranges from shallow gardens alive with nudibranchs to deep walls descending past 40 metres. The Kennedy Island passage — named for the WWII events involving then-Lieutenant John F. Kennedy — has strong currents that concentrate grey reef sharks, trevally, and barracuda in impressive aggregations. The seabed off Munda holds several WWII aircraft wrecks, including Zero fighter planes and a B-17, sitting in 20–30 metres amid hard coral that has grown to cover their fuselages. The variety is unusual: in a single day a diver might cover a coral garden, an aircraft wreck, and an evening dive on a reef teeming with lionfish and cuttlefish. Advanced certification for the current-exposed sites; Open Water for the protected reefs.
4. Marovo Lagoon, New Georgia
Marovo Lagoon is the largest saltwater lagoon in the world, enclosed between New Georgia and Vangunu by a double barrier reef, and the diving within it is as varied as the geography implies. The outer barrier reef on the windward side drops sharply from the crest at 3 metres to a wall disappearing past 60 metres, covered in pristine hard and soft coral that shows almost no bleaching damage. The inside of the lagoon offers gentle, clear-water dives in 10–20 metres among coral bommies that shelter pygmy seahorses, ghost pipefish, and mantis shrimps. Marovo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site candidate, and the local communities run strict fishing regulations. Mangrove creeks at the shallow end are dived at high tide for juvenile fish assemblages. Open Water throughout the lagoon; Advanced for the outer wall.
5. Mary Island, South Malaita
Mary Island sits off the southern tip of Malaita Province and represents the kind of dive site almost unknown outside the Solomons — a shallow seamount rising from deep water, swept by currents that concentrate large pelagics above a reef structure in near-perfect condition. The summit reaches around 12 metres and is carpeted in hard coral; the flanks drop away steeply. Schooling hammerheads are reported here during the dry season, grey reef sharks are resident, and Napoleon wrasse of exceptional size patrol the ledges. The dive requires timing with the tidal cycle; diving the site on a strong ebb current brings the sharks in but demands attention to your drift trajectory. Advanced certification and experience with current diving strongly recommended.
6. Florida Islands (Nggela), North of Guadalcanal
The Florida Islands cluster directly north of Honiara and offer easily accessible diving from the capital, with a mix of coral gardens, shallow walls, and scattered WWII wreckage. The passages between the Florida Islands generate predictable currents that bring in large aggregations of fusiliers and jacks, and the coral coverage on the walls approaching Tulagi Harbour is among the healthiest near Honiara. Tulagi itself was the pre-war British administrative capital, and a small Japanese destroyer wreck sits in its harbour in around 25 metres, surrounded by reef fish that have colonised the hull. Day trips from Honiara cover this area; the short crossing of Iron Bottom Sound itself provides some of the most historically resonant boat rides in Pacific diving. Open Water for most sites.
7. Russell Islands, Central Province
The Russell Islands lie between Guadalcanal and New Georgia and receive almost no dive tourism despite outstanding conditions. The outer reefs are in exceptional health — a consequence of the islands' sparse population and minimal fishing pressure. A WWII landing craft sits upright in 12 metres off Banika Island, almost completely encrusted in corals and sponges, with a colony of resident lionfish in the engine compartment. The lagoon at Mborokua offers night dives of unusual diversity: Spanish dancers, bobtail squid, and flamboyant cuttlefish are all reliable. Visibility runs to 30 metres and beyond in the dry season. The Russells require either a liveaboard passage or a small boat arranged from Honiara or Munda, which deters casual visitors and preserves the sites. Open Water throughout.
8. Leru Cut, New Georgia
Leru Cut is a narrow channel slicing through a small island near Munda, dived on the flooding tide when clear blue water is pushed through the slot at current speeds that send divers gliding through the passage without effort. The walls inside the cut are covered in dense soft corals — purple sea fans, yellow alcyonarians, and orange tubastraea cup corals that flare their polyps in the moving water. Lobsters pack the overhangs, and a resident school of long-nosed hawkfish perch on the outer fan edges. The cut is around 100 metres long and opens at both ends onto a wider reef. Timing is everything: dive it too late on the flood and visibility drops as disturbed sand enters the water. Advanced certification; experience reading tidal currents advisable.
9. Mbulo Island Reef, New Georgia
Mbulo is a small island on the edge of the Marovo Lagoon with a fringing reef on its eastern face that drops from a coral crest at 2 metres to a rubble slope at around 30 metres, interrupted by coral bommies of exceptional size. Individual bommies here reach five metres in diameter and are entirely covered in healthy Acropora table corals, with schools of anthias hovering in the water column above them. The site is regularly cited by liveaboard guides as the best pure coral-gardening dive in the Western Province. Macro life on the rubble between bommies includes several species of nudibranch, flatworm, and the occasional mimic octopus hunting in the open. Current is generally mild; conditions are accessible to Open Water divers.
10. Uepi Point, Marovo Lagoon
Uepi Island Resort operates one of the few fixed dive centres in the Marovo Lagoon, and the point immediately in front of the resort is a wall dive that begins at the surface and drops vertically to beyond 60 metres. The wall is divided by a series of gutters and swim-throughs that break its face into manageable sections, each with distinct coral communities. At around 20 metres a large overhang hosts a permanent colony of glassy sweepers and a resident whitetip reef shark that rarely leaves. Barracuda school off the point tip in the afternoon light. The site is accessible year-round; the calm conditions inside the lagoon make this suitable for Open Water divers willing to respect depth limits, though the wall's vertical nature means buoyancy control is critical.
Planning Your Solomon Islands Dive Trip
The Solomons dives year-round, but the dry season from April to November offers calmer seas and the best visibility, particularly for liveaboard itineraries in the Western Province. Water temperature remains between 27°C and 30°C throughout the year; a 3mm wetsuit is sufficient, though some divers prefer 5mm for extended multiple-dive days. Honiara on Guadalcanal is the entry point for most international flights, with connections via Brisbane, Port Moresby, and Fiji. Munda in the Western Province has a domestic airstrip with regular services and forms the base for most Western Province diving. Liveaboard operations are the most efficient way to cover Iron Bottom Sound, the Western Province, and the outer islands in a single trip; they typically run seven to ten-night itineraries. Malaria prophylaxis is required throughout the Solomons. Open the map to locate dive operators and sites across the archipelago.