March 26-April 2, 2019 Marin Diving Center trip

March 26-April 2, 2019
The MV Bilikiki is back from a wonderful 7 night trip around the Florida Islands, Russell Islands and Mary Island with a fun group of divers from Marin Diving Center in the USA. During the trip we had absolutely stunning weather with sunny skies and flat seas.

The highlights for a lot of people were the two Japanese Mavis float planes we dived on, the conditions were perfect with some of the best visibility I have ever seen on the wrecks. Macro lovers were not disappointed with loads of pipefish, cuttlefish, octopus, an array of beautiful nudibranchs, a demon stinger and a bargibanti pygmy seahorse amongst many other things. There was also the hundreds of colourful reef fish and all of the anemone fish and shrimps and crabs. For those who preferred the bigger things, we had loads of schooling jacks, barracudas, midnight snapper, batfish and milkfish plus some bump head parrot fish and reef sharks.

Everyone enjoyed the village visit ashore at Karumolun Village. We got to see some traditional singing and dancing and to walk around with the Chief and learn all about life in the village. At night we all enjoyed our cocktails on the sun deck while watching the beautiful Solomon Island sunsets.

It was wonderful to meet everyone onboard and thank you to all the Marin Diving Center divers who made this trip so unforgettable. A big thank you too for your very kind and generous donation to help train a nurse in the Solomon Islands.

Thank you to Tina and Oli and all of the Bilikiki crew for taking us around the Solomon Islands, showing us these amazing dive sites, teaching us about fish we had never heard of and running such a well organised trip. Although not all of us did 5 dives a day it was great knowing we could if we wanted to!

I hope to see everyone again soon for more great dives together.

Cheers,

Kellie Oldfield

 

Group Photo of Marin Diving Center on their liveboard trip

Marin Diving Center Group

Listening to a dive briefing onboard the Bilikiki, Solomon Islands

Listening to a dive briefing.

Looking for dolphins between dives, Solomon Islands.

A few people enjoying the dolphins on the bow!

Group photo of all of the Bilikiki crew, Solomon Islands.

The Bilikiki crew

Posted by Sam and Kellie on April 02, 2019

What our guests say

"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

"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

"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

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

Brett Lobwein

"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 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

"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 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

"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

"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

"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