Dive Review of MV Solomon Master/Coral Sea Resort in
Solomon Islands/Guadalcanal, Florida Islands,

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MV Solomon Master/Coral Sea Resort: "Solomon Master Redux", Sep, 2024, by Jeffery Lynn Reeb, CA, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 13109 has 3 Helpful votes.
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
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Comments	I recently spent a week diving the Solomon Islands on the live-aboard Solomon Master and my experience was so positive I felt compelled to share it here. Well aware that the vessel's reputation in the past has been less than stellar, I booked a trip on it regardless as the destination and the trip's focus were in alignment with my dive priorities. A bit about me; I am a retired public safety executive with experience in marine firefighting, search and rescue and vessel operations. I served seven years as the Fire Service Chair on the Sector LA/LB Captain of the Port’s Area Maritime Security Committee and am a guest evaluator for USCG exercises. I’m currently the Operations Manager of a dive boat in Los Angeles (SOCAL DIVER), have a 50Ton USCG Masters License and a NAUI Divemaster certification. The Solomon Master has changed hands recently and undergone a retrofit. It appears the focus of the retrofit was likely the exterior and mechanical as the interior looked original. The new owner (Mark Shandur of Master Liveaboards) greeted us during boarding process and explained that the vessel is back under their management/ownership and they are focused on turning the operation around. I found the vessel clean, everything worked, the food was excellent (the Chef worked previously on the Bilikiki.), and the dive operations were a 10. There were 14 crew for 14 divers. I couldn't lift a finger. The crew observed I had a mobility challenge and carried my gear to and from the swim step. The DM's were also available for one-on-one guiding in addition to the typical small group model so I teamed up with DM Mark to do a 40M deco dive with gas switching to 50/50 02. There was no additional fee for this custom dive and other clients onboard also arranged them. Dive parameters were closely tracked before and after each dive. It was clear they were paying close attention to everyone’s diving. The trip's focus was "Wreck Week" so we hit the WWII wrecks near Guadalcanal, the Russels and Florida Island chains. In addition, we did several of the classic walls and reefs, which were absolutely mind blowing. The client mix for this trip was split 50/50 between 40M Advanced Open Water divers and a group of technical CCR divers doing >40M deep wrecks. They managed this mix well, especially after they figured out a good “battle rhythm” by staggering our diving and meal times. There was one morning where the 40M divers had to wait for three hours while the CCR divers completed a deep wreck, but this only occurred once and perhaps could not have been avoided as they needed extra time to locate the wreck, moor to it and set up the decompression rigging for the CCR divers. Overall, there was plenty of diving to be had throughout the week. Overall the DM’s were wonderful: the Cruise Director Lupa, a Solomon local, troubleshot my missing luggage and coordinated its delivery to the boat, while managing all the other task necessary to get clients settled and a cruise underway. Mark coordinated all of the support necessary for the technical diving operations as well as led 40M dives and Brian, also a Solomon local, was a calm, polite, and competent dive leader. I particularly appreciated the dinghy crews. They were very careful and focused when moving the boats around divers. I don’t take this for granted, as there are a lot of cowboys out there. As a vessel operator, I often observe how other vessels are operated as I’m always looking to learn from more experienced skippers. So it was a treat to see the Captain nudge the Solomon Master into several tight spots, he was also very approachable, which I appreciated. The cabin/salon crew were equally impressive as the deck crew and dive crew. My wife has a Culinary Arts Degree and does private catering, so food preparation and service is a focus in our home. The food was excellent; well prepared, served on time and at the correct temperature. It was obvious that the Chef was a professional, yet the food had a very pleasant home cooking feel to it which I found very inviting. My cabin bed was made every day and they offered daily laundry service. I really appreciated these touches. Oh…and the coffee. I absolutely loved their local style of strong coffee. As for the diving we did a mixture of WWII wrecks, walls (BIG) and reefs. The wrecks were a notch below the quality of Truk. There were fewer available and some of them have been salvaged. The standout was the Hirokawa Maru a troop transport ship that was run aground after a allied air attack. The local term for this wreck is “B-1”. The vessel sits on its side and although broken up is massive and offers a lot of structural texture and the shallow sections are plastered with marine life. We dove this wreck several times and I could have dove it again as it stands up to repeated visits. The other wreck I enjoyed was the HMNZS Corvette MOA. This wreck was deep (35M+), dark and still displayed its war-fighting appliances; a 4” gun and intact depth charge racks. The standouts of the week for me were the big walls; absolutely mind blowing. The reefs in the Solomons are pristine; sea fans the size of ping-pong tables, hard corals like you’re watching a Nemo movie, soft corals that rival Fiji. It's hard to grasp that a place like the Solomons still exist in this world. Many of the local villagers are still living a subsistence lifestyle. Because there is little, large-scale agriculture and village populations are small, there is no polluted runoff to kill the reefs. There seems to be little commercial harvesting of the corals as well. Several times locals paddled out to the dive boat in dugout canoes to sell locally grown produce. If they had small children along, we'd hand out school supplies as recommended by www.packforapurpose.org. Reaching the Solomons is relatively easy. From LAX I took an overnight direct flight to Nadi, Fiji and then a three-hour connecting flight from Nadi to Honiara. The vessel arranged private transport from the airport to the Coral Sea Resort where we spent the day in the open-air lounge waiting for embarkation time. In the afternoon vans called for us and transported us to the wharf where we loaded the vessel. Our introduction to the vessel and crew included a Muster Exercise where we donned our PFD’s and assembled on the upper rear deck. The vessels safety systems were explained, and the alarm bell was tested. The Salomon Master is a steel hulled vessel with a combustible interior finish. So the hull of the vessel cannot burn, but everything inside it can. It was equipped with a smoke detection system, fire extinguishers and had connections for manual fire attack lines, but I didn’t see any fire attack hoses. My cabin was on the main deck level which had a clear path to the dining solon going aft and a usable escape hatch to the bow deck going forward; so two clear usable exit paths. I got up several times in the middle of the night and there was always a nightwatch crew member posted in the salon. There was no automatic fire suppression system in the living spaces, and when the vessel was constructed they were likely not required. There were three battery charging stations two in the salon, one in the lounge. I did not see a fire extinguishing appliance specific to lithium fires. This was of no concern to me, as the key in fighting a lithium fire is to basically drown the exposures (surrounding surfaces) and let the lithium burn itself out. We were instructed to leave no unattended devices charging in our cabins. For WWII history buffs, Guadalcanal is a fascinating destination in its own right. After the dive cruise was completed, I spent an additional day in Honiara touring the WWII memorials and walking two of the actual battle sites where the Marines fought off their Japanese attackers. All in all it was a amazing trip and I plan to return to do the Honiara to Munda Route in the future. Video and Photos here: [flic.kr link]
Websites	MV Solomon Master Coral Sea Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	California Coast, FL, Great Lakes, Truk Lagoon, Caribbean, Solomon Islands
Closest Airport	Honiara	Getting There	LAX to Nadi Fiji, Nadi to Honiara. (Note: the Fiji Airways overnighter is very efficient and affordable. Its overnight both ways which I find reduces jet-leg)
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-86°F / 28-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive within your certifications, plan your dive, dive your plan.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The dive deck has a large rinse tank and there are two combination camera prep/charging stations in the dining salon and one in the lounge. If all (16) guests have a large format rig it's going to be crowded. This is a spacious vessel though so I think additional accommodations could be made for a large group of UWP.

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of MV Solomon Master/Coral Sea Resort in Solomon Islands/Guadalcanal, Florida Islands,

MV Solomon Master/Coral Sea Resort: "Solomon Master Redux", Sep, 2024,

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 Solomon Master/Coral Sea Resort in
Solomon Islands/Guadalcanal, Florida Islands,