D
Deleted member 29185
Guest
Well technically not fjords, but instead they are rias. Regardless, they are picturesque and I'd much rather be sitting as I am now, typing this piece on a deck with a fabulous view in shorts and t-shirt with a G&T rather than shivering in the colder climate fjords. I'm here at Tufi with my wife and daughter, to soak up some relaxation and check out the Tufi snorkelling reefs.
Tufi is known mainly as a dive destination with a swag of reefs 5-10 nm offshore that rise up from a depth of 600m (approx.2000') to just a few metres below the surface and often sport a visibility of 30+ metres making for some unreal diving set amongst war time wrecks and an abundance of marine life including schooling barracuda and even the rare white hammerhead shark. We're not divers however, but I'm told there are equally excellent snorkelling reefs here as well, including the many local fringing reefs so we're here to find out for ourselves (and AFFers).
But firstly, getting here. Air Niugini does not currently service Tufi so the remaining choices are PNG Air, being the only regular commercial service, or charter (Tropic Air is commonly used). The services are three times a week from POM Monday, Wednesday and Friday) with one of those services (Monday) going via Girua Airport (Popondetta).
The flight in is certainly memorable. The violent volcanic history of this area makes for some truly spectacular coastline vistas from the air.
Fairly quickly the first good signs of pristine fringing reefs can be seen. It has been suggested to me that inside the fjords make for excellent snorkelling, as well as the outer reefs.
Flight time from POM is roughly 45 minutes however we flew in from Girua, which was only about 25 minutes. The runway is a fairly basic affair. 950m in length and many locals are seen walking up and down it so a quick fly over gives the idea and they all move to the sides allowing us an uneventful landing.
As it turns out, we're the only guests at Tufi Resort this week, so we were met on arrival by the resort managers, Roya and Brian and our luggage was collected by the efficient resort staff and separately transferred to our room.
The arrivals and departures lounge does not have a long walk between, in fact there is no walk between (one and the same!!) and has that oft emulated "laid-back" island feel, but this one is indeed the genuine article ... love the Tufi International quip!
Fairly hectic traffic along Airport Drive, for the exhausting run into Tufi village ... all of 2 minutes! It was hardly worth getting into the "Troopy"! If the pilot had turned to starboard rather than to port, we would have almost stepped off the plane into the resort entrance!
The barbed wire at the top of the fence is not required. Tufi is a friendly village where we've found the local residents to be warm and welcoming, more than happy to stop for a quick chat and always with a big smile across a happy face.
The resort is smaller than I had imagined, but is very nicely done given the remoteness. In all, there are 26 rooms, consisting of 10 Deluxe Bungalows (1 Queen + 1 Single) with sea views, 6 Deluxe Rooms (1 Queen) also with sea views and 10 Standard Rooms (1 Queen) however the standards don't have sea views.
The main house accommodates many of the communal facilities like reception, a small gift shop, inside dining, TV area (no TV's in the rooms) and a library.
The decorations are distinctly PNG and surrounding the main house is an attractive and inviting deck.
Tufi is known mainly as a dive destination with a swag of reefs 5-10 nm offshore that rise up from a depth of 600m (approx.2000') to just a few metres below the surface and often sport a visibility of 30+ metres making for some unreal diving set amongst war time wrecks and an abundance of marine life including schooling barracuda and even the rare white hammerhead shark. We're not divers however, but I'm told there are equally excellent snorkelling reefs here as well, including the many local fringing reefs so we're here to find out for ourselves (and AFFers).
But firstly, getting here. Air Niugini does not currently service Tufi so the remaining choices are PNG Air, being the only regular commercial service, or charter (Tropic Air is commonly used). The services are three times a week from POM Monday, Wednesday and Friday) with one of those services (Monday) going via Girua Airport (Popondetta).
The flight in is certainly memorable. The violent volcanic history of this area makes for some truly spectacular coastline vistas from the air.
Fairly quickly the first good signs of pristine fringing reefs can be seen. It has been suggested to me that inside the fjords make for excellent snorkelling, as well as the outer reefs.
Flight time from POM is roughly 45 minutes however we flew in from Girua, which was only about 25 minutes. The runway is a fairly basic affair. 950m in length and many locals are seen walking up and down it so a quick fly over gives the idea and they all move to the sides allowing us an uneventful landing.
As it turns out, we're the only guests at Tufi Resort this week, so we were met on arrival by the resort managers, Roya and Brian and our luggage was collected by the efficient resort staff and separately transferred to our room.
The arrivals and departures lounge does not have a long walk between, in fact there is no walk between (one and the same!!) and has that oft emulated "laid-back" island feel, but this one is indeed the genuine article ... love the Tufi International quip!
Fairly hectic traffic along Airport Drive, for the exhausting run into Tufi village ... all of 2 minutes! It was hardly worth getting into the "Troopy"! If the pilot had turned to starboard rather than to port, we would have almost stepped off the plane into the resort entrance!
The barbed wire at the top of the fence is not required. Tufi is a friendly village where we've found the local residents to be warm and welcoming, more than happy to stop for a quick chat and always with a big smile across a happy face.
The resort is smaller than I had imagined, but is very nicely done given the remoteness. In all, there are 26 rooms, consisting of 10 Deluxe Bungalows (1 Queen + 1 Single) with sea views, 6 Deluxe Rooms (1 Queen) also with sea views and 10 Standard Rooms (1 Queen) however the standards don't have sea views.
The main house accommodates many of the communal facilities like reception, a small gift shop, inside dining, TV area (no TV's in the rooms) and a library.
The decorations are distinctly PNG and surrounding the main house is an attractive and inviting deck.
Bit of a blue as the reef was better as well. Oh well, tomorrow is booked for the outer reef (Cyclone Reef) so all going well weather wise, hopefully it will be even better. The fringing reefs, done yesterday and today compare well with the GBR (North). Opal Reef off Pt Douglas is still our favourite, but these ones so far have an excellent array of different corals with massive brain corals and great drop-offs which are turquoise blue rather than the usual black! The fish have been small varieties so hopefully tomorrow will see the bigger ones (preferably the non-biting type) 
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