November 20 - December 3, 2018

November 20-December 4, 2018
For this two week trip we had guests from the USA, UK, Switzerland and Canada! It was really nice to show everyone around the Solomons for their diving holidays.
We started our trip at the beautiful Elephant Reef where eagle rays welcomed us for the check out dive! We also dived at the amazing Leru Cut and around the gorgeous sites of Mane Island, we saw lots of our favourites including the split-banded cardinal fish with its amazing electric blue eyes! 


We spent two days at Mary Island, one on the way up to Marovo and one on the way back. Everyone fell in love with Barracuda Point and we did almost all our dives there one day. Huge schools of barracudas, jacks and fusiliers were joined by eagle rays, bump head parrotfish and sharks at the point. 


In Marovo Lagoon we dived many great spots; big walls with soft corals and beautiful sea fans, hard coral reefs that look like ornate gardens, slopes with amazing soft corals and barrel sponges, fishy sea mounts and atmospheric WW2 wrecks. Before diving Rapichana Cut we took our guest in the tinnies for an expedition trip around the mangroves. That was a very exciting surface interval! 


When it comes to marine life, big and small, Marovo was, as always, breathtaking. A lot of different kinds of sharks (grey reef, silver tip, black tip reef sharks, oceanic black tip and white tip reef sharks) came and joined us during our dives along with mobula rays, eagle rays, whitetail stingrays, crocodile fish, pygmy seahorses, schools of midnight snappers, robust ghost pipefish, short nose pipefish, sea moths, network pipefish, golden mantis shrimps, longnose filefish and many other amazing things. Some of our guests were also lucky enough to spot a leatherback turtle feeding near the surface! We were also very lucky to be surrounded by a pod of dolphins playing with our tinnies on our way to one of the carving villages. 


We finished the trip in the Florida Islands with whales at the surface and mobula rays diving under the boat! That was so cool! Diving in Maravaghi Bay was really enjoyed by this critter loving group and the sunset dive at the fishy Velvia was a very nice way to end a day, with Spanish mackerel, dogtooth tuna, sharks and all the other fishies having dinner before night time! The last day included the amazingly alive Twin Tunnels and two dives around the sea plane base at Ghavutu where we saw sea horses, clingfish, squat shrimps, demon stingers, squids, porcelain crabs, flatworms and also our favourite clown anemone fish wearing its black t-shirt!  
It was an incredible trip! Thanks to all our guests for being such a great crowd and making it so memorable. And thank you to our amazing crew for the wonderful job they do! 


We hope to see you all again soon,
Happy bubbles,
Pato and Fernando 

Above turtle shot by Frank Baensch

Seahorse shot by Pato & Fernando

Turtle shot and above clown fish by Frank Krasovec

Posted by Sam and Kellie on December 03, 2018

What our guests say

"I had an amazing 10 nights onboard the Bilikiki! The dive sites were so diverse and so beautiful, we had some amazing encounters with wildlife, the cr... Read More"

Lauren Thomas

"I can't think of a better way to spend 12 days than on board Bilikiki. It is absolutely spectacular diving amongst healthy corals, colorful fishes, st... Read More"

Karen Doby

"Second time and still finding new sights to see! Wonderful trip well worth the effort....."

Reed Nescher

"Just got back from a 10 day trip on Bilikiki with Tina and Oli. The whole Bilikiki team made our trip a memorable one, despite the temperamental weath... Read More"

Jonathan Rose

"My bucket list trip. Outstanding crew and service. Superb diving. Stable and comfortable vessel and accommodations. The chefs do a marvellous job, eve... Read More"

Fred Catella

"I did my 1000th dive on my second trip on the Bilikiki. Last time was in 2005 and then I thought it was the best liveaboard I had been on. It still is... Read More"

Alex Davids

"Always a great time on the Bilikiki. Spectacular diving, excellent food and an amazing crew. One of the best laid out boats I've been diving on."

Mike Aitken

"Bilikiki is much more than a great dive boat with a fantastic crew sailing the remote Solomon Islands and discovering new and beautiful dive sites; it... Read More"

Thane Kreiner

"I have been on many Bilikiki trips over the past eight years, and I will keep going back again and again. I’ve dived in more than 15 countries and h... Read More"

Joanna O'Shea

"If I could rate them 6 stars I would!!! Amazing boat, crew, food and diving."

Brett Lobwein

"Just really, really, really enjoyed our trip!!! We really fell in love with Pato and Fernando. They did an excellent job guiding us! The crew is as go... Read More"

Darlene Myers

"I have just returned from a 10 night stay on board the Bilikiki. It was my first trip on the Bilikiki however friends we were with have been 3 or 4 ti... Read More"

Pearl Corker