Lissenung Island Resort

Lissenung Island Resort offers eco-friendly bungalows on a private tropical island surrounded by world-class diving.

How To Get There

Situated just 2 degrees south of the Equator, with the Pacific Ocean to the north and the Bismarck Sea in the south. Lissenung Island Resort is a fast 20-minute boat ride from Kavieng, the capital of New Ireland Province. The town is reached with a 1.5-hour flight from Port Moresby, which is Papua New Guinea's International Airport.

Dive Overview

Healthy reefs with colorful fish & critters.

[Read More: Papua New Guinea Dive Travel Guide]

Accommodation Overview

The four bungalows are spread out over the island, giving guests plenty of privacy. Three of the bungalows house two rooms, each with its own ensuite bathroom. The last bungalow also houses two rooms, but they share one bathroom, which is located between the two rooms and is accessible from the verandah. As the island is only 350 x 80m (450 x 110yd), all bungalows are ocean-front.

There is now on-demand hot water in all bathrooms. All rooms have ceiling fans, fly-screens, mosquito nets, a large desk (for photographers to work on their cameras) and cupboard space.

After the diving, you can relax in the comfortable chairs on your own verandah. The 24-hour electricity supply in each room allows for the re-charging of batteries to your camera and other electronic equipment. Free WiFi access on the island offers guests the opportunity to stay in touch with friends and family either through e-mail or Skype. 

Food & Drinks

The main house offers comfortable chairs on a sandy floor and it is here where cold drinks and delicious meals, prepared by our experienced cook, await you. Fresh seafood, such as fish, crabs, and crayfish (lobster) features high on a menu where set meals are served, rather than actually giving out a menu to choose from. Special dietary requirements are catered for on request. Wine, beer, and soft drinks can be purchased. Spirits are extremely hard to buy anywhere in PNG, so guests are welcome to bring their own duty-free spirits (there are plenty of mixers). 

Dive Information

Dive Overview

It is the unique location of the tiny little islands between the open South Pacific Ocean and the Bismarck Sea that has created an underwater wonderland.

The change of tides can produce some strong currents, which flush clear waters from the deep sea over the abundant reefs and through tiny passages. It is during those currents that the pelagic action is happening and you can expect to see sharks, tunas, mackerels, huge schools of jacks and barracuda, and with some luck schooling Eagle Rays and Mobula Rays. However, the diving is very varied and also includes wall, wreck, and muck diving and ensuring that every diver leaves the island a happy diver!

Our local dive guides are experts in picking the right dive spots at the right time. PADI dive courses from Open Water through to Divemaster are offered in English, German, Dutch and Japanese. Lissenung is a fully recognized member of the PADI International Resort Association and a PADI Go ECO Operator.

Last but not least, there is a great bonus feature: Located just off the beach is a fantastic house reef where you can do free shore diving while staying at Lissenung Island Resort and when booking morning boat dives! Interesting for day dives (for free as many as you like before 6 pm) as well as night dives (night dives are guided on request and will be charged locally). Over 175 different species of fish can be found just here this is more than in the whole Caribbean!

Diving here is year-round, with January to March subject to sudden rain squalls and thunderstorms. Typically tropical, these storms are often replaced by blue skies that return as quickly as they departed. The best months are usually April to June and September through to December.

Sample Dive Sites

• Albatross Passage: At an incoming tide, this narrow passage is like fish soup. Eagle Rays, white tip, black tip and grey reef sharks, big tuna, jacks, barracudas and even sometimes mobula rays can be seen here. And if youve had enough of all the big stuff, just turned towards the wall, beautifully over-grown with fan coral, black coral, sponges as well as little creatures such as nudibranchs, leaf scorpionfish and pygmy seahorse. In the right conditions, Albatross Passage is the best dive in the Kavieng area and a must for every visiting diver. Depth: 12 30m/40 99ft.
• Pete Floatplanes: A total of three of these Japanese reconnaissance planes have been found so far. Discovered by local fishermen, they now make for awesome dive sites. The pictures on the right are from the Deep Pete, near Nusa Island. Little critters, as well as schools of batfish, barracudas, jacks, soldierfish and snapper, ensure that this slightly shorter dive (due to the depth of 40m/132ft) is one not to be forgotten! Depth: 18 & 40m/60 & 132ft
• Ral Island: This tiny island in the South Pacific is surrounded by a beautiful coral garden. With no currents, this is a gentle and relaxing dive, and due to its shallow depth (max 15m/50ft), perfect as third dive of the day or following the Deep Pete. Alternatively, you can dive the sandy slope to the west of the island and search for little critters such as decorator crabs, seahorses, pipefish, nudibranchs & flatworms, frogfish and sometimes even mimic octopus! Its a great much dive and before you know it, its time to ascend. Depth: 5 15m/17 50ft
• Bermuda Drop: The colorful coral wall slopes from 3m/10ft down to 25m/80ft, then drops off vertical until out of sight. At about 18m/60ft is a big overhang, in about 14m/45ft sits a giant clam, plus there are lots of nudibranchs, flatworms, the odd leaf scorpionfish, crocodilefish, moray eels and flame file shells.
• Baudisson Bay: This is a vertical wall rising from 800m (2400ft) up to the surface and it has lots of swim-throughs and crevices. Grey Reef Sharks and Whitetip Sharks are seen here on almost every dive, but the real attraction at this spot is the big variety of nudibranchs and other small stuff.
• Echuca Patch: This is a large ridge rising from 45m (150ft) to within 12m (40ft) of the surface and is situated in the open ocean just outside Kavieng. A Korean fishing boat, the Der Yang, lies on its starboard side close to this ridge, in about 31 meters of water. This point is a magnet for Barracudas and Jacks. Depth: 12 31m/40 103ft.

Dive Center Information

Lissenung Island Resort Dive Center Overview

Lissenung's fully serviced dive shop includes two compressors (2 x 260l/m), 50 aluminum tanks (8, 9 & 11l), and 12 full sets of Scubapro-Uwatec rental equipment. PADI dive courses from Open Water right through to Divemaster are available, as well as a number of specialty courses. The resorts three dive boats will have you at any of the dive sites within 2030 minutes. The larger dive boat Andiamo is a 26ft fiberglass boat with twin 140HP 4-stroke Suzuki outboard engines and can comfortably carry 10 divers, 2 dive guides and the skipper. There are also two smaller dive boats, Raven and Carola. A DAN oxygen unit for emergency situations is on board all boats and our dive staff are trained in its use.

Practical Information

• Electricity: 240V
• Time Zone: UTC+10
• Languages: English, German & Dutch
• Local Currency: PGK (Papua New Guinean Kina)
• Accept credit card?: Yes, Visa & MasterCard