A U.S. passport is necessary for travel to Papua New Guinea. Also a visa is required which may be obtained in Washington D.C. We recommend obtaining your visa upon arrival in Port Moresby. It is quite easy to do and is purchased while going through customs in Port Moresby. This is how most tourists obtain their visa. The visa must be purchased in PNG currency, the kina and is good for 60 days. You will not be able to use U.S. currency to obtain your visa. You can buy KINA in the following international airports as you depart from the international terminal. The airports are: Sydney, Cairns, Brisbane, Manila, and Singapore. The approximate cost is 20.00 U.S. (25 Kina). The Kina is approximately 3.00 to one U.S. dollar.

There is a U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby: phone 21 1455

While staying in Port Moresby you will be quite safe as long as you stay in one of the recommend hotels and stay with a tour operator or transfer company. There is an evening curfew for Port Moresby residents. You should not walk alone within the city. We have never met with a negative situation, but all our clients are met and escorted with a tour operator or hotel to their destination.

Malaria is a concern in PNG. We highly recommend that you take preventative malaria medication. Please call your physician or the city health department.

If you are unable to get to the highlands or Sepik River area, there are two excellent art stores in Port Moresby where you can buy ethnic art ; PNG Arts and Hanuacraft. There is a museum in Port Moresby well worth seeing, the National Museum and Art Gallery, which displays geography, animal life, culture and history.

Language: There are many dialects of speech in the country which has translated to a form of language called Pidgin, derived from many languages, primarily English. Most of the people in the major hotels will understand English.

Seasons: There are two main seasons, wet and dry. The wet season is from December to March; the dry season is from May to October. The transitional season is in April and May. This can differ on various islands.

Electricity: 240 volts with Australian style sockets of two or three flat pins angled to each other. Many of the dive boats and dive resorts have 120 volts. You can obtain adapters in Port Moresby.

In Port Moresby it is not appropriate for women to wear short shorts in public areas. This is true of other towns in Papua New Guinea, but does not apply to most land based dive resorts or dive boats.

Credit Cards: Most hotels and shops in Port Moresby welcome major credit cards. This is true of most all resorts and dive boats within the country.

For divers who will be stopping over in Australia, an Australian visa is a requirement. Great Destinations can provide that service for you electronically from our office at no charge
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Time Zone: Port Moresby and most of the country is 10 hours ahead of GMT. Los Angeles and San Francisco are 8 hours behind GMT, so on the west coast we are 18 hours behind Papua New Guinea time, and on the east coast we are 15 hours behind Port Moresby.

Phones are available in most hotels and resorts and accept credit cards.

Diving: There is one recompression chamber for all of Papua
New Guinea in Port Moresby. We feel that it is mandatory that all divers purchase DAN insurance. Itis inexpensive and will pay for your evacuation from remote islands.

Insurance: Trip cancellation and travel insurance in highly recommended.
 

Port Moresby, located in the central province, is the capital of Papua New Guinea. This large island shares a common boundary with Irian Jaya which belongs to Indonesia. Port Moresby is where most tourists will enter the country of Papua New Guinea but spend little time. Divers will only use this capital city as a connection for further travel within the country.

Hotels are available at a range of 100.00 to 180.00 per night.

Recommended hotels: Loloata Island Resort, Airways, Travelodge, Islander Travelodge. Prices are on request.

We recommend Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines for divers who are coming through Australia and Singapore Airlines for passengers traveling via Asia. Air Niugini, the national carrier, gives divers and extra allowance and discounted fares within the country. The domestic allowance is 16 kilos plus 1 carry on. Excess baggage is quite inexpensive.