Dive Review of Solomons Master in
Solomon Islands

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Solomons Master: "Great Diving but not much Macro", Nov, 2023, by Catherine May, ON, CA ( Sr. Reviewer 10 reports with 8 Helpful votes). Report 12723.
No photos available at this time
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	Right from the start, I was very impressed with their focus on safety. Our orientation to the boat included putting on our life jackets & proceeding to the muster station. To top it off, they actually ran fire drill later in the week which included the crew & captain & checking off attendance. This was the first time we ever experienced this. The staterooms & common areas were large with lots of room for storage, although they were a little dated. The food was superb, definitely the best variety & presentation we've seen. All staff were friendly & it was obvious our comfort & enjoyment of the trip were top priority. We had 9 divers split into 2 groups, with 3 divemasters on board. One DM had been on the boat for 4 years with the other 2 having just completed there 1st trip with the group before us. We preferred diving with the DM who had been around longer since she had more experience in terms of what to look for. We were hoping to see pygmy seahorses, frogfish, & macro other than the same nudibranchs we saw over & over again, but did not. We did however have a chance encounter with a whale shark! & saw lots of sharks & large schools of fish. Overall, it was very fishy :) One issue we did encounter was with the tender. Most dives started with a short drive out by tender & a back roll into the water. At the end of the dive, a rope was thrown from the tender with handles spaced along it for divers to hold on to, & then we were towed back through the water. This system worked well in calm water, but it became uncomfortable when the winds picked up & the water was choppy, causing water to wash over us. It became very dangerous our last dive when the chop was so high, it was difficult to safely board the boat. In calm water, the tender would swing by the back of the boat, the divers would let go, & have a short swim to the ladders at the back of the boat. Because the water was too choppy for this approach, the tender went alongside the side of the boat & we were instructed to let go. I was past the dive platform, & swam hard to swim back to the platform. A swell took me up higher than the platform itself, & when I tried to grab the side of it I missed & then was thrown below the platform itself. I truly thought I was going to drown. Somehow the crew managed to grab me & haul me toward the ladder were I climbed up. Another diver was thrown into the ladder & smacked her head. The staff treated the situation very seriously & asked me to be part of debriefing, the end result being my suggestion of using a different method to transport the divers from the tender to the boat. It was the first time we had experienced this form of transport & I'll make sure it's the last. Despite this episode, we did enjoy our dive trip & appreciated the support & friendliness of the crew. Because of the lack of macro life, we're not likely to return, but certainly enjoyed the trip overall.
Websites	Solomons Master
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Komodo, Bali, Palau, Banda Sea, Raja Ampat, Fiji, Hawaii, Maldives, Caribbean, Mexico, USA, Canada
Closest Airport	Honiara	Getting There	From North America, travel through Fiji is necessary. Fiji Airlines charges heavily for baggage on flights to Honiara so watch for baggage limitations & choose what ticket to buy accordingly.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy	Seas	calm, choppy, surge
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	60 minute maximum dives. Must ascend with buddy.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
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		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Rinse tank & lots of charging stations available.

Subscriber's Comments

By report author: Catherine May in ON, CA at Apr 22, 2024 11:22 EST

YouTube video link: 2023: Diving the Solomon Islands: www.youtu.be/BA8UgpR9Img

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Dive Review of Solomons Master in Solomon Islands

Solomons Master: "Great Diving but not much Macro", Nov, 2023,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Solomons Master in
Solomon Islands