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Every
morning when we hoped on the dive boat our gear was waiting for us on board.
For the rest of our trip we didn't have to move or take apart any of our gear,
the dive crew of Archie, Glen and Alex truly spoiled us. The only thing we had
to carry on and off was our camera equipment, this was rinsed down in the big
freshwater tubs conveniently located at the boat wharf. It was very similar
to diving from a liveaboard, except for the fact that you got off each afternoon.
We
did all our diving from the large Tufi Dive boat known as Crystal. Diving out
of this boat is as easy as you can get. The boat features a shower and toilet
facility and is well equipped with all safety features. The boat cruise speed
of 20 knots ensured that we got to most of the outer reefs within an hour.
One
of the dive guides, using a detailed coloured map, would provide a dive briefing
prior to each dive. They tell you what you can see and where you can see it,
generally they were pretty accurate as well; our hammerheads managed to arrive
right on cue! There were no set bottom times so the majority of our dives were
all over an hours duration as the last part of the dives was spent in the shallows
of the reef 'critter hutting' whilst 'gassing' off.
The
diving in Tufi can be described with one word - Totally awesome! Okay, that's
two words but I have to emphasise how good the diving actually was. The water
temperature was 30 degrees and the visibility averaged about 30 metres on each
dive at the coral reefs. On some occasions there were strong currents but as
soon as we moved to the other side of the reef the currents would become non
existent. And for us lazy divers, those currents are very useful to cruise along
on.
Here's a run down on some of our favourite divesites and what we encountered:
Mulloway reef
This
was the site to see Hammerhead sharks and big schools of pelagic fish. At the
most northern point of the reef the current runs very strong and this is where
the action is. We had schools of barracuda circling us, large dogtooth tuna
coming in out of the blue to check us out as well as a large school of big eye
trevally that swirled in a big balling mass. On the last days diving the departing
guests are allowed to choose which reef they wanted to dive, Mel and I no hesitation
in asking for Mullaway again. We did three dives on this site and on one dive
we had a 3 metre hammerhead appear out of the blue and follow us along the reef
wall before departing off into the gloom. This was a huge highlight and finally
I lost my hammerhead 'virginity' - its taken a while but was worth it. Unfortunately
there is no photo to prove the hammerhead sighting as I was to excited to remember
to press the shutter button. I guess I'll just have to go back for it…
Cyclone reef
Cyclone
is just one of the many outer-reefs that are dived by Tufi. Cyclone reef is
a bomie that comes up from 600 metres of water, you can get some serious depth
on your computer if you wished. We saw some good pelagic fish action at this
site, Dogtooth tuna, hammerhead sharks, white tips, black tips and gray reef
sharks were observed patrolling amongst the numerous schools of fish. In amongst
the shallows we found turtles, large numbers of anemone fish and even a singular
hairy ghost pipefish. The discovery of the hairy ghost pipefish was a highlight,
even made more exciting by the fact that a 12 year old junior diver discovered
it.
Tufi Wharf
Tufi
Wharf is truly macro/muck heaven! Each dive under the wharf never ceased to
amaze us, we always found something new and along the line of "What on
earth is that?". And at the bottom of the wharf in 45 metres there are
the remains of two P.T. cruiser boats - including a deck gun and loaded torpedo
tube. If you visit Tufi you must dive the PT wrecks at least once, it was well
worth it. Just off the wharf, one of the mooring buoys is home to two resident
anglerfish that can be found at 3 metres hidings on the rope - very handy location
for a photographer!
We dived under Tufi wharf almost every evening as a dusk/night dive. On dusk we found that the mandarin fish were very active and this was the best time to photographer them as they were out in the open darting amongst the wreckage. There are also resident harlequin ghost pipefish under the wharf, we found 5 individuals on the 1 dive, 3 red and two black. And if you're interested in Nudibranchs, then Tufi wharf is for you. We were fortunate to find 20 different species under the wharf and on the surrounding reef. If there was some advice for diving Tufi Wharf, take a really big memory card for your digital camera or plenty of rolls of film!
The
only downside to our whole trip was that we were very keen to dive on the SS
Jacob and 'Blackjack' Bomber - these are two divesites that Tufi promotes as
possible diving destinations. Unfortunately the new management of Tufi has taken
these sites of the diving itinerary and we were not able to visit the wrecks.
This was pretty disappointing for us.
After 10 days of diving we were well and truly complete. Tufi is a fantastic place and well worth heading too if you are after an excellent diving experience. We had the most amazing honeymoon experience at Tufi and hopefully will get back their again one day.
Facts about Tufi:
Getting
there
Tufi is located on the north eastern coast of Papua New Guinea, and 250 kilometres east northeast of Port Moresby. The Tufi Dive resort is based in the fjords of Tufi and is perched on the flanking slopes of Mount Trafalgar. There are no roads leading in to Tufi. The only way to get there is by domestic Airline from Port Moresby, or by boat from Popondetta.
Milne Bay Airlines fly from Port Moresby to Tufi generally 3 times a week. Charter flights can also be organised by the resort when required.
The Resort
Tufi
Dive Resort is built in traditional style and accommodates up to 24 guests comfortably
with all of the trappings of less remote destinations. The resort also offers
conference facilites and fax and phone facilities are available if required.
Tufi accepts Mastercard and Visa credit cards, travellers' cheques, cash and
overseas bank drafts.
Diving
Tufi
offers a wide variety of diving experiences. From diving the fiords to unchartered
reefs and WW2 wrecks. Constant visibility of 30 metres plus and water temperatures
of 26°C to 29°C all year round. The best time for diving is apparently
over the summer period.
Day or night, a wide variety of nudibranchs, Mandarin Fish, Ghost Pipe Fish, Seahorse and a plethora of other fascinating creatures can be found under Tufi Wharf. The outer reef experience is unsurpassed with a choice of dozens of world-class dive sites. Moor onto a few of our favourites, Cyclone Cay, Black Rocks, Stewarts Reef and Shark Tip and enjoy some pelagic fish action as well as great shark encounters.
Activities
Outside of diving, there are many other activities to do at Tufi. These include, but are not limited too: fishing, Bushwalking, Canoeing And Kayaking, local village tours and of course snorkelling in the Fjords. Many of these additional activities do come at a cost.
Contact Tufi
Tufi
Dive Resort · PO Box 186 S&S, Waigani, Port Moresby, Papua New
Guinea
Ph: 675 329 6000
Fax: 675 329 6001
Email: info@tufidive.com