Dive Review of MV Oceania in
Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay

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MV Oceania: "Excellent 10-days on Oceania Liveaboard across Kimbe Bay, PNG", May, 2023, by Rick Morgan, OH, US ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 12480 has 1 Helpful vote.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Really, very few surprises. Travel to PNG is challenging--allow an extra day each way, or better yet, spend time diving at Walindi, where Oceania docks. No mention was made of COVID, and nobody onboard appeared sick. Oceania is a very solid 28-meter catamaran with diesel engines and redundant generators and watermakers, all of which seemed completely up to the task. Dan Johnson (owner, master, and cruise director) did an extensive, multi-year refit, the boat was launched as a liveaboard in 2017. Eight cabins (identical, I believe) accommodate 16 passengers. Our trip had 11 divers and two snorkelers. Both Oceania and her sister ship, Febrina, have a few itineraries. Ours was the Bismarck Sea Signature, which ranges from Fathers Reefs Islands are remarkable. The anchorage is inside a huge caldera, about 5 km across, and when the boat is at anchor, the sensation is of being in a big inland bowl. The boat backs in and lines are sprung to shore, so that jumping in puts you in about 15-20' of water, about 75' offshore. While in the Witus, we visited the village of Widu, where we toured a school and a church and experienced fantastic hospitality and curiosity of children and adults. When the boat was in the caldera, Papuans paddled dugout canoes out to swap produce for hard goods. The cabins are nicely done. There is some storage room under the bunks and built-in nightstands, each with a shelf and drawer below, and bags can be stowed. Notably, nobody needs to crawl over their partner to get in or out of bed. The heads, with separate showers and sinks, are more than adequate. Portholes are oblong and basically the space above the bed is all glass. All passenger cabins are on the main deck level, a few seconds away from the dive deck and with an door which affords easy and quick access to the bow. I thought this was excellent from both convenience and safety perspectives. The diving was outstanding--fish soup at most sites, many species of anemonefish, large schools of trevally, barracuda, tuna, many batfish, a number of cuttlefish, many species of scorpionfish, and lots of macro--nudis, shrimpgobies, one blue ribbon eel. Mostly good viz. Photos here [rickmorgan.smugmug.com link] As to batteries--the captain permitted (only) cell phones, tablets and laptops to be charged in cabins, and only when attended; we were advised that if cabin crew found anything plugged in they would unplug it. Charging NiMH (Eneloop) batteries was permitted in the camera space adjacent to the dive deck, but all Li-Ion charging was restricted to the salon. The cook and staff did a fantastic job. Breakfast to order, lunch buffet (huge), very nice plated dinners. Mains include lobster, lamb, and steak. Special orders accommodated as needed. By the way–laundry service is provided! Shirts and whatever are picked up in the morning and returned in the afternoon, and warm towels are on the dive deck for every return.
Websites	MV Oceania
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Australia; Bonaire; Costa Rica; Fiji; Florida keys; Grand/Little Cayman; Saba; St. Croix; Galapagos; Tuscany
Closest Airport	Hoskins via Port Moresby	Getting There	Long trip. Ohio-Atlanta-Sydney-Brisbane-Port Moresby-Hoskins
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp	83-87°F / 28-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	10-90 Ft/ 3-27 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	70 minute max, not enforced, but most dives were deeper anyway
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Oceania has a 4x8 foot table on the dive deck for cameras. There were five medium-size (4/3 and mirrorless) sets on our trip, and a couple more would have been tight. But everyone got along, and there were zero problems.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of MV Oceania in Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay

MV Oceania: "Excellent 10-days on Oceania Liveaboard across Kimbe Bay, PNG", May, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of MV Oceania in
Papua New Guinea/Kimbe Bay