Best of the Solomons — A 10-Night Liveaboard Expedition

27 September 2029 · Departing Honiara, Solomon Islands · Presented by Inside Scuba & Seaira Dives

The Solomon Islands are one of the most extraordinary diving destinations on the planet — and one of the most undervisited. That's precisely why we're going. Inside Scuba and Seaira Dives have joined forces to bring you a ten-night underwater photography workshop aboard the Solomons Master, combining world-class diving with daily photography instruction, image reviews, and post-processing support.

This is an Inside Scuba and Seaira Dives exclusive charter. We have taken all 16 spaces on the vessel, which means this trip runs entirely on our terms — our group, our pace, our experience. The Best of the Solomons itinerary takes in the Central Province and stretches into the Western Province, covering the Russell Islands, the legendary Marovo Lagoon, the Florida (Nggela) Islands, and the waters around Guadalcanal. Up to 32 dives are scheduled across the trip, with up to 4 dives on most days.

Whether you shoot wide-angle reef scenes, WWII wreck interiors, or macro critters in the muck, the Solomons serves up extraordinary subjects at every turn — and our workshop leaders will be with you every step of the way, from the dive deck to the camera room to the evening image review.

The Photography Workshop

Each day on board is structured to make the most of your time both in the water and out of it. Dives are chosen with photography firmly in mind — giving you the light, the subjects, and the conditions to push your images further. Between dives, our workshop leaders will be on hand throughout the day to look at your shots, talk through your technique, and help you develop your creative ideas.

Each evening we'll hold a lecture covering a new technique or skill, followed by a live image review where guests contribute a selection of images from the day. These sessions are open, friendly, and genuinely useful — images are discussed and edited live on screen, so the whole group learns together. Topics across the trip will include:

• Composition and subject selection for reef, wreck, and macro scenes

• Wide-angle lighting — strobes, ambient light, and mixed techniques

• Shooting in caverns and chasms — managing backscatter and dramatic light shafts

• Wreck photography — exposure, depth of field, and environmental storytelling

• Macro techniques for critters, nudibranchs, and small subjects

• Slow shutter and creative use of motion

• Bringing it all together — developing your own creative vision

Each afternoon, following the third dive, our workshop leaders will run an open Lightroom and Photoshop clinic — drop in with your images, ask questions, and get hands-on help with your editing workflow. Whether you're just finding your feet in post-processing or looking to refine an established approach, there'll be something here for you.

What You'll Dive

We will select dive sites based on conditions, marine life, and tides — but here's a taste of what the itinerary makes possible across the four main diving regions:

Russell Islands

White Beach, Mbanika Island A WWII artificial reef unlike anything else on earth. When the Americans left, they dumped everything into the sea — trucks, jeeps, bulldozers, tractors, Coca-Cola bottles — and the marine life moved right in. Pygmy seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish, crocodile fish, and nudibranchs fill the shallows between 5 and 30 metres (16–100ft).

Rainbow Reef, Folau Island A saddle-shaped open-ocean seamount smothered in sea fans, soft corals, and sponges. Exceptional visibility and the kind of pelagic action — sharks, mobula rays, schooling barracuda — that makes it genuinely hard to know where to look.

Leru Cut One of the most iconic dives in the Solomons. A 100-metre (330ft) chasm cuts deep into Leru Island, with light playing off the walls above and below the surface. You surface in the jungle, listening to frogs call, before descending back into a one-of-a-kind cavern. Outside the cut, a fabulous wall teeming with fish life.

Mane Island — Mirror Pond Famous for its swim-throughs and Bat Cave, where you descend into the cavern and surface in the mangrove forest. Or simply drift along a beautiful wall hunting for pygmy seahorses.

Barracuda Point, Mborokua Island Weather-dependent and worth every wait. Enormous schools of jacks and chevron barracuda are the headline act, but be prepared for almost anything — mobula rays, sperm whales, or even orcas.

Marovo Lagoon

Mbulo Island Six unique dive sites surrounding a single island, including long swim-throughs in volcanic lava tubes that offer extraordinary photographic opportunities. We usually offer an afternoon of open-deck diving here, giving you the flexibility to explore at your own pace.

Cathedral, Mbulo Island A series of cracks, crevices, and caverns that transform in bright sunlight into a dancing light show. Four unique caverns, each with a different character — keep moving to catch them all before your air runs out.

Kicha Island Vibrantly coloured coral gardens, remarkable visibility, and impressive pelagic action. Reef sharks, bumphead parrotfish, batfish, and barracuda in the blue, with butterfly fish and groupers darting through the coral below.

Kavachi Corner A sheer deep wall off the tip of Kicha Island — and as you round the corner, a deep BOOM resounds from Kavachi Volcano, 15km (9 miles) away, one of the most active underwater volcanoes on the planet. Grey reef sharks, rainbow runners, and bumphead parrotfish provide the marine life; Kavachi provides the soundtrack.

Florida (Nggela) Islands

Maravagi, Mangalonga Island The Solomons' answer to muck diving. Coral bommies, patches of rubble, seagrass beds, and boat wreckage — all teeming with nudibranchs, sapsucker sea slugs, cuttlefish, seahorses, tiny crabs, and the occasional pugnose pipefish. The nearby Devil's Highway offers potential manta ray sightings when conditions are right.

Catalina Airplane, Tulagi Island A PBY-5A 'Black Cat' seaplane that went down in 1943, sitting upright on the seabed at 34 metres (112ft) as if someone just badly parked her on the ocean floor. The radar antenna is still visible under the wing, the cockpit is intact, and the waist gunner's machine gun rests on the seabed alongside the wreck.

Twin Tunnels, Soghonangola Island A unique seamount with a reef top at 12–16 metres (40–52ft) hosting at least 8 varieties of anemonefish. Two massive lava tubes descend into a wide-mouthed cavern that opens onto a dramatic current-facing wall at 36 metres (118ft), where schools of pelagic fish hunt shimmering baitfish.

Mavis Seaplanes, Tanambogho Island Two Japanese Mavis seaplane wrecks — M5 and M6 — sitting in 30–34 metres (100–112ft). M5 rests upright, largely intact, cockpit preserved. M6 jack-knifed when it sank, bent almost completely in half, with the cockpit open enough for divers to venture inside and see the remaining pilot's controls. Both are big enough to fill an entire no-decompression dive.

Guadalcanal

Bonegi I, II & III Three Japanese ships beached and sunk during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, located close to shore west of Honiara. Bonegi I (Hirokawa Maru, 156m / 512ft long) is accessible from just 3 metres (10ft) to nearly 60 metres (197ft). Bonegi II's engine block still protrudes above the water's surface. All three are now carpeted in coral growth and teeming with marine life. Combined with a land-based tour of the outdoor WWII museum nearby, this is history you can touch.

Island Visits

This is more than a diving and underwater photography trip. During the itinerary we'll stop at some of the smaller islands to step ashore and experience Solomon Islands life as it's actually lived. We typically visit Peava Village or Mbili Village in Marovo Lagoon, where guests can experience the villagers' traditional way of life, watch ceremonial dance performances, and visit the local elementary school. The children love to play football and are always delighted to receive gifts of school supplies — see the Pack for a Purpose section below for ideas of what to bring

Cabin Options & Pricing

We have 16 spaces in total across three cabin categories. All prices are per person and include all meals, all scheduled dives, tanks and weights, and complimentary transfers on embarkation and disembarkation days.

Please note: Marine Kastom Fees and local taxes of USD $300 per person are payable on board only and are not included in the above prices.

Payment Schedule

Payments are made directly to Master Liveaboards in three stages:

• 5% — deposit on booking

• 45% — 12 months before departure (September 2028)

• 50% — 6 months before departure (March 2029)

What's Included & What's Not

Included:

• 10 nights aboard Solomons Master

• All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) plus snacks

• All scheduled diving — up to 32 dives

• Tanks, weights, and dive guides

• All workshop lectures and daily image reviews

• Daily Lightroom and Photoshop clinic

• Complimentary transfers to/from Honiara Airport or local hotels on embarkation and disembarkation days

Not Included:

• Marine Kastom Fees & local taxes — USD $300 per person, payable on board

• Nitrox — available on board, highly recommended

• Equipment hire — available on board if required

• Dive insurance — mandatory for all participants; must cover scuba diving to 30m+ (100ft+), emergency evacuation, and recompression chamber treatment

• Flights and ground transport to/from Honiara

• Alcoholic beverages

• Gratuities for the crew (appreciated but not mandatory)

Know Before You Go

Experience Level The Solomon Islands can be a challenging diving destination. Due to depths and strong currents in some areas, we recommend all guests hold an Advanced Open Water certification (or equivalent) with a mandatory minimum of 40 logged dives. This itinerary is not suitable for entry-level divers. Guests who do not hold Advanced Open Water but have the required logged dives can complete the course on board, but must register with PADI and complete all e-learning modules before embarkation.

Dive Insurance Mandatory for all divers, covering scuba diving to depths of 30m+ (100ft+), emergency evacuation, and recompression chamber treatment. Please ensure you have this arranged before you travel.

Flight Planning Please allow a minimum of 24 hours between your final dive and your flight home. Disembarkation is at 09:00 on Day 11 — plan your outbound flights accordingly.

Safety Briefings All dive and safety briefings are conducted in English. If you or any member of your group does not fully understand English, please let us know before you travel.

Pack for a Purpose

During our village visits in Marovo Lagoon, the local children love to receive gifts of school supplies. If you have space in your bag, consider packing a few of these items — a small gesture with a lasting impact: pencils and pens, notebooks, crayons and markers, rulers, erasers, stickers, footballs, and colouring books.

Full details and more ideas at the Master Liveaboards Pack for a Purpose blog.

Ready to Book?

Spaces are limited to 16. To secure your cabin, contact the Master Liveaboards reservations team directly at [email protected] Please quote all three references below when you get in touch:

• Trip Date: 27 September 2029

• Option Number: 73333

• CC: [email protected]

If you have any questions about the dive sites, experience requirements, or whether this trip is right for you, the Master Liveaboards team are happy to help — and so are we. Drop us a line at [email protected].

Itinerary and pricing subject to Master Liveaboards terms and conditions. Specific dive sites are not guaranteed and may vary based on weather, tides, and sea conditions. Marine Kastom Fees (USD $300 pp) payable on board only.