In November 2006 I was fortunate enough to take a four week trip to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. While my main reason for going was to dive some of the World War II wrecks lying in "Iron Bottom Sound," my friends and I would also spend some time diving the fabulous reefs of the Solomons. All together there were six of us: Karen Flynn, Charles "Yoda" Richardson, Matt Walters, Mike Boyle, Wynn McCloskey and myself. The first nine days were spent diving out of Tulagi with Neil Yates, owner and operator of "Tulagi Dive"--surely one of the best "technical" dive shops I've seen anywhere in the Pacific. Here we dived some fantastic WWII shipwrecks, including what has to be the crown jewel of wreck diving in the Solomons, the destroyer USS Aaron Ward. Following this adventure, Matt and I took a quick land tour of Guadalcanal Island before boarding the Spirit of Solomons liveaboard to get an extended tour of the fantastic reef diving available in the area. Meanwhile, Karen and Yoda began their own extended "island hopping wreck tour" up the Solomons chain.

The reefs and marine life in the Solomons are simply fabulous. "Variety" might be a good word to describe the diving in this South Pacific island chain, for the dive sites cover a vast gamut of experiences, ranging from high current animal encounters to quiet coral gardens, from steep walls covered in prolific life to reefs teeming with schooling jacks and barracuda.