409 Dive Log Australasia December 24

Lissenung Island paradise by MIke Scotland

Crocodilefish at Albatross Passage

L issenung is a tiny island paradise. Resident birds and Cuscus live in the lush rainforest, covering half of the island. You can walk around it in twenty minutes at low tide. I took longer. I had to stop to take photos every few minutes of the serene tropical beaches lined with lush green foliage and mirror pond seas. The horizon dotted with tropical islands and embossed with sunlit cumulus clouds of an early sunset glow. As George Gershwin’s song says, ‘It’s wonderful, it’s marvellous…

Hundreds of islands are dotted along the area between New Ireland and New Hanover. They create channels of sea water, which flow like rivers. The boat ride out to the dive sites is very scenic. Albatross Passage Albatross Passage is widely regarded as one of the best in PNG. The outgoing tide flows over an underwater cliff at about twelve metres depth. The vertical walls plunge down to twenty five metres. These walls are a dense jungle of black coral trees, Fan Corals, Soft corals and large sponges.

Albatross Passage is renowned for its fish and shark life, including Big Eyed Trevally, Black Snapper, Rabbit fish, Rainbow Runner, Batfish and more. Down below on the sand, there are sleeping White Tip Reef Sharks. Grey Reef Sharks patrol the open water. I had two dives where two of them calmly followed me for ten minutes. As usual, I took the macro lens down for the first three dives here. It is not because of bad choice but rather that it offers the maximum versatility to capture the best number of photographs.

Lissenung’s home reef is the best night dive Sleeping Parrotfish on the home reef

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DIVE LOG Australasia #409 - December ‘24