Papua New Guinea is absolutely fascinating, stunning, and magical, and I’d highly recommend everyone to add it to their bucketlists! I traveled there solo, but with the intention of being an ambassador to an NGO called PNG Tribal Foundation, who showed me around to some of the beautiful places.
I’d only recommend using this safe, ultimate Papua New Guinea travel guide in addition to booking your trip with an established guide and company. PNG Tribal Foundation offers immersive tours and custom trips, while also giving back to the communities and country. Check out their website if you’re interested!
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Papua New Guinea is located in the South Pacific Ocean, right above Australia! In fact, before the last ice age, it used to be connected, and that’s why you can find some marsupials in PNG!
It is its own independent country, and it used to be the whole island of New Guinea, however now Indonesia owns half of it (West Guinea).
The only way to get to Papua New Guinea is by flight, and spoiler alert, it’s probably very expensive (if coming from USA or Europe). The main international airport there is in Port Moresby (airport code POM).
I would recommend playing around on Skyscanner using flexible destinations and dates to get the best prices.
For example, you can try to find cheaper flights into the Philippines or Australia, or even Japan, and then look at separate flights from there to Port Moresby.
This is always somewhat dependent of your nationality, but the basics for entering Papua New Guinea are:
Malaria pills are optional. I personally never take them and recommend strong bug spray, but it is entirely up to you.
Here’s a fun fact! Papua New Guinea has the most languages spoken in one country, with over 850 of them!
However most Papua New Guinea people speak English, and also Tok Pisin, which is also known as Pidgin. Pidgin is interesting to me because it basically combines two languages (a native one and English), so most of the time I could catch English words and slightly understand what people were saying!
For example, here’s some common phrases in Papua New Guinea Pidgin:
What is your name? – Wanem nem bilong yu?
Who are you? – Yu whosait?
My name is (Joe) – Nem bilong mi (Joe)
Thank you very much – tenk yu tru(e)
No thank you – sori nogut
How are you? – yu orait ? (you alright)
I’m fine – mi orait tasol
How much is that? – em hamas?
In the ten days I spent in Papua New Guinea, I did not feel any danger or unsafe at all. Again, I was there with the founder of an NGO who is from there, and would only recommend going with a tour, but I really did feel safe.
Actually the only time I felt unsafe was when we decided to jump off the cliff of an island, and below looked like all shallow coral. I definitely did not think that was a safe idea. But I did it anyway, and it was fine and FUN!
I wrote an entire (very long) post about the safety concerns in Papua New Guinea including current crime issues and something called Sorcery Accused Related Violence. Please read it if you plan on going to PNG!
Here’s a quick reference for some commonly asked travel questions:
Port Moresby is the main city in Papua New Guinea. Like most main cities, I don’t really recommend spending too much time there. Especially since there are just so many beautiful places outside of it to see!
I had heard mostly bad things about Port Moresby before I traveled there, but when I was there, I quickly found none of them to be true. To me at least.
Crime was something I heard often, so I just made sure to avoid sketchy areas, and only go where my host recommended. I stayed at nice hotels with security on purpose just in case, since it was my first time. And I don’t really go out at night, but we did have dinner and drinks a couple times and it felt safe.
If you’re staying in Port Moresby, and looking for safe things to do, I have a few suggestions!
1. If you’re just there waiting for a domestic flight, I recommend staying at Airways Hotel. It has a cool view of the runway and a nice pool, plus it’s literally next to the airport.
2. Port at Crowne Plaza has a nice restaurant/bar/lounge and is of course very safe. They also had live music.
3. If you want an island experience, book a day pass (or a night) at Loloata. It’s a resort on a private island!
4. The Waterfront is a bit more local, and has various restaurants and bars in an outdoor setting.
Here’s one of the main things that makes Papua New Guinea so expensive and so difficult to do logistically; the only way to see anything outside of Port Moresby, is by flight.
On top of that, most of the other regions and provinces don’t have interconnecting flights. Meaning you have to fly to them, then back to Port Moresby, then out to another one, then back to POM again. So those roundtrip flights really start to add up (they were around $500 each).
Their two airlines are Air Niugini and PNG Air. You can try to navigate their websites on your own, but this is another reason why I recommend just using a travel company.
FULL DISCLOSURE: While I was there, we had a total of five cancelled domestic flights. Because of these cancellations I couldn’t go to the Highlands, and we randomly went somewhere else (which was a beautiful island so I’m not complaining).
This is going to get confusing, so please read it carefully. In Papua New Guinea there are provinces. In those provinces there are towns. All of the above is in certain areas. Got it? Great, moving right along.
So for example, we went up to the “Islands area”, to East New Britain province, and went to towns called Kokopo and Rabaul. This is also where Duke of York Islands are. I’m not really sure which classification they fall under.
Here’s more about where I went:
Without a doubt, the Duke of York Islands were the highlight of my Papua New Guinea trip. I’m also an island-addict and was likely a dolphin in a previous life, so I might be biased.
Speaking of DOLPHINS!!! I saw more dolphins up close than anywhere else I have been to in the World! Previously it was Zanzibar, but Duke of York just replaced it! It was hands down one of the most magical moments of my entire life!
I sat at the bow of the boat for a while, where the dolphins like to play. Then they showed me this genius contraption that is like a rope ladder on the side of the boat that you lay on face down with your mask and snorkel in the water. Then the boat drives forward, attracting the dolphins to the bow, and you get an incredible opportunity to “swim” with them!
You can book a dolphin tour only (which leaves at 6am and comes back around 9am). But the tour I did was for Duke of York Islands which was half a day and took us to several different little islands We got lucky with the dolphins being out later).
The Duke of Islands tour was just utterly incredible. Crystal clear, perfect-temperature water, buzzing with colorful sea life, and lush tropical islands. It really can’t get much better than that! Plus we immediately encountered all of the dolphins and got to “swim” with them for about 30 minutes!
This tour will take you to several of the little islands, depending on your preference. Some we just cruised by, some we snorkeled at, and one we actually swam up to a small beach cove, climbed up the rocks, and had local kids show us where to cliff jump into the water!
Towards the end of the tour, we stopped at a gorgeous sandbar area, that seriously looked like places I’ve seen in the Maldives, Hawaii, and Tahiti. It made me really wish PNG would get more attention! You can relax here and take in the views of the clear-blue shallow water with the three volcanoes in the distance!
Yes, you read that correctly. You can hike an active volcano in this area! Mt. Tavurvur is the smallest of the three volcanoes you see from any position in the Duke of York Islands area.
To do the hike we had two locals guide us up, and it took about 35 minutes for us (we are experienced hikers). From the top you can see partially down into the volcano, where smoke constantly rises. You also get a birdseye view of the islands below!
Afterwards, you can visit the small hot spring area where the locals are! It’s a really stunning landscape to see a hotspring at the shore of the sea. The locals can also show you how you can boil an egg in the hotspring!
Both of these locations are named after what they look like. In case anyone didn’t assume that already.
The Beehive is a stunning island near Mt. Tuvurvur that looks similar to ones you’d see in the Philippines or Thailand. It’s more tall than it is wide, which is what makes it resemble a beehive!
There’s a smaller island next to it as well that was easy to climb up onto, and the entire rim of it below the waters surface was absolutely brimming with coral and colorful fish!
We went to Rabaul to deliver medical and surgical supplies to a hospital that PNG Tribal Foundation is working with. It was an eye-opening experience, realizing that the doctors there had been using hand saws and drills for amputations and head surgeries.
After our hospital visit, we went to see one of WWII tunnels that still has several Japanese barges in it. It’s located on a local family’s land, so they (rightfully) charge a small entrance fee, and sell small souvenirs as well. The entrance fee includes an explanation of the tunnel and barges given by the head of the family there.
From what I gathered, the prisoners of war (locals, Americans, and Australians) were forced to build big tunnels like this one, so that the Japanese could hide their war crafts and weapons in them. This one was pretty far from the water, which means they also had to drag the boat barges quite a long way.
There were a total of five barges in the tunnel, but only the first two are visible and accessible.
After our flights got cancelled to two different areas of the Highlands, we ended up finally getting one to Milne Bay. Actually, one of our flights to Milne Bay also got cancelled, so we had to stay the night in Port Moresby and fly out the next morning.
But we finally made it! And it was glorious! Even if for just 24 hours!
The goal was to get to a remote island with a bungalow style resort on it called Tiwali. It required an hour long bus ride, and then a twenty minute boat ride just to get to it! Once we arrived though, it was clear why it was going to be well worth it.
From the resort, we took another boat to an even more remote region of the area. There were no other hotels, no buildings, no shops, and no concrete homes, just some of the wooden thatch-roof ones belonging to the locals.
The boat pulled up to a small shore with a thick jungle, and I was very confused. We walked a short distance though, and soon found the entrance to the first cave. Inside of it were three distinct, large piles of human skulls.
The guide explained that the cannibalistic tribe in this area would kill and eat their invaders, as a means to warn future ones not to trespass. There were probably around 100 skulls just in that one cave. Oh, and don’t worry, cannibalism no longer exists in Papua New Guinea, and hasn’t for a while!
We then hiked about twenty minutes through the jungle (and for me, barefoot because my shoe broke) to another small cave. This one left me awestruck. Inside were various stalactites, and in the middle underneath the main ones, were a pile of skulls that have been encased with minerals formed from the dripping water of the stalactites. This causes the skulls to appear to be sparkling!
After the caves, the boat took us to another area, where we did another short jungle hike to a beautiful waterfall! Don’t forget to wear your swimsuit!
Like most of the islands I encountered in Papua New Guinea, the one Tawali is on was surrounded by vibrant coral reefs and sea life!
They have a dive center there with snorkel gear that you can use any time, and you can access the endless reef straight from the dock next to it! Of course, you can also book dives there as well!
Since I didn’t make it to the highlands to see a local tribe performance, I was super excited to hear that there was one available in Milne Bay. I’m usually very wary and cautious of things like this, because I’d never want to participate in anything where the people are made to feel like a “cultural zoo”, or forced to perform against their will.
But they seemed very happy, excited, and like they were having fun. They were dressed in their tribe’s traditional wear, however just FYI, they wear regular clothes normally!
FUN FACT: Wondering why some of their mouths are red? It’s from “chewing” something called Betelnut, which when combined with powdered limestone, and rubbed on teeth, makes you feel a little buzzed for a few minutes. This is a cultural practice and very normal in PNG, however long term use eats away at the enamel of their teeth and causes a permanent red stain.
There’s so many amazing areas to see in Papua New Guinea, and ten days wasn’t nearly enough at all! I was incredibly sad to leave and am already planning my next trip there, with hopes to say for at least one month minimum!
Here’s some of the other places that I didn’t make it to (due to flight cancellations and time) but I’d like to go to in the future:
The Highlands refers to the region where, you guessed it, there are higher lands. This is where a high concentration of tribes are located (there’s over 1000 tribes in the country), and also where they have the Goroka cultural show!
During the Goroka Show, held each September, many tribes come dressed in their traditional wear, and perform their custom singsings (like dances or physical storytelling). We will be planning our 2024 Papua New Guinea group trip during this time!
I heard about the Conflict Islands from an American expat woman at the airport in Rabaul. She is an avid diver and said the Conflict Islands were absolutely incredible for sealife. She also said they are extremely difficult to get to.
Surprisingly I don’t know as much about East Sepik province as I should, considering that’s where my host grew up. From what I gathered, there’s a huge winding river that goes through it, and also an island with really good surf, sans the crowds!
Another very difficult place to get to is this Crystal River. When we were looking into it, it would have required either a four hour boat ride to get there, or a chartered flight. It looks beautiful in photos, but I decided to go ahead and let my host figure out logistics first before attempting it!
Have any tips for Papua New Guinea? Feel free to share them in the comments below!
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xx, Alyssa
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