It took a little effort to get to the boat. Leaving Sydney we flew to Brisbane to get a connecting flight to Port Moresby where a final flight would take us to Kavieng. Once there, the crew of the PNG Explorer would greet us. Then we would head out to the islands and surf our fill over the next week.

As it turned out, there were a few crinkles in the connections. A three hour delay in Brisbane meant we missed our connecting flight from Port Moresby to Kavieng and we spent the night in the PNG Hilton. Well, we spent the night in a room near the airport that had air-conditioning, cold drinks and a shower.

The next morning, back at Port Moresby airport, we heard the announcement that the flight was delayed again we breathed a sigh, got comfortable and watched the PNG tourism clip endlessly loop on the T.V. Each time it flashed a few seconds of surfing the three of us got a little more excited and a little more frustrated. Eventually we boarded, still with plenty of daylight, we figured we would at least scratch in a late evening surf.

The tropical heat in Kavieng hit us like a plank and I was itching to get in the water. On reaching the terminal we saw the sign.: “No Baggage was on this flight – it will be here tonight”. At that point Darty, the surf guide from PNG Explorer showed up, laughed and said “Welcome to PNG”. Darty threw out a few options and we settled on taking the tender to meet the Explorer about an hour away, he would lend us boards and a pair of boardies to surf in and send one of the crew back to get our baggage in the morning. I must admit that the thought of trusting someone to deliver my camera cases to a boat floating around a few islands off the coast of PNG left me with a few doubts. Then Darty dropped the bombshell: “If we leave now you guys will get a late surf in” – Decision made, we went, as fast as that tender would take us and that saltwater spray and ocean breeze washed away the taste of airports and delayed flights.

When we reached the Explorer the three of our group that had made it to the boat on time were out in the line-up with the captain. We wasted no time in joining them. That surf was nothing special, the onshore had ruffled the surface and the swell was no more than shoulder high, but trust me when I tell you after diving into the 31 degree water and paddling into a few peelers, the hassle of getting there had been forgotten and the trip had begun.

I stroked over to the rest of the guys and said hello, met Andrew, the captain, shook my head and smiled at him. We shared a laugh and I could not have been happier to be there.

The group was a mixed bunch for this trip, made up of my mate Andy, a marketing manager from New Zealand, Simon, an English born IT guru working in Sydney, Rob, another Brit who made his living defending King and Country in the Royal Army, Matt, a finance trader who lives and surfs in Hong Kong, Mark, a horse breeder who grew up on the Northern Beaches and myself, there to photograph, write and hopefully slide into a few cheeky waves as well. The group dynamics ended up being first class and we shared a ton of great waves and an equal amount of laughs each day.

PNG may not have been on your list of places to get to for a surf charter. Trust me when I tell you this, it should be. The place is scenically breathtaking. The area forms part of the ‘coral triangle’ meaning the aquatic life and reefs are some of the best in the world and to add the cherry, the waves are mind blowingly, stupidly, amazingly perfect as well!

Andrew Rigby has been exploring the PNG area and running charters for several years now, working on different boats and now on his own newly refitted charter vessel. Andrew may only be in his early thirties but his knowledge of this area is extensive and his enthusiasm to surf, dive, fish and share his knowledge of the area is amazing. The boat is designed to go to sea and hunt out new surf breaks and that’s exactly what they do with it. Inside comfortable couches, large cabins, air-conditioning and everything else you could hope for to ensure your comfort has been thought of. Add to that a phenomenal crew and Andrew’s sister, Christie, heading up the galley team to see us eat better than any five star resort!

After the dramas of getting there we were all pretty pumped to hook into some decent waves. The first evening session would prove to be merely a taster of what was on offer. When we loaded our boards into the tender before dawn the next day you could tell something was on the boil by the way Darty was looking, pointing and laughing at a break they call ‘The Slab’. Darty is an unassuming bloke, Aussie to his core with a wicked sense of humor, and he literally foams at the mouth when there are hollow waves on offer…and he was frothing!

‘The Slab’ turned it on all morning – barrels to your heart’s content, just us in the water and more hoots and hollers than a football grand final. I must admit I was a little gutted that my water housing had not shown up yet, but at the same time, lucky that I had a couple of cameras and lenses to shoot with and get the session recorded in pixels. I’m not going to try and tell you how perfect this wave is, it does not belong in words, the photographs tell the whole story.

We scored that wave for three consecutive days. I’ll say that again, every day for three days we scored perfect barrels before breakfast. Mark, Darty and Andrew clocked up more tube time than you could manage with a weeks pass on the London Underground and the other boys nutted up and had a damn good crack at the pitching lip and scored some of the best waves of their lives.

The middle of the day in this part of the world is not a good time to be in the water, with the sun blistering you can almost smell your skin cooking. Instead of frying ourselves each day, we did a little mission to check out one of the local villages, go fishing or just relax on the top deck and gather some strength for the afternoon waves. With winds and tides the way they were ‘The Slab” was not really an option for the late sessions so we surfed a few mellower breaks, walling, glassy waves with the odd cover up on offer over a friendly reef. We surfed until dark each night, which gave me an opportunity to get a bit of night photography in as well, always a bonus for the novelty factor.

The night photography got a few of the boys excited and we got talking of trying it out at The Slab. The only problem was The Slab was generally not working in the evenings. Not deterred, the next day the whole crew was in the water at 4:20am. Still pitch black we gave it a red hot go. On this morning, the swell had backed off a little too much and the waves were not on offer. Just when I was about to pull the pin the sun came up and turned the sky into one of the most spectacular sunrise shows I have ever seen. As if that was not enough and PNG wanted to show me what she really had to offer, a massive rainbow lit up the other side of the bay. I’m telling you again, PNG should be on your list of places to get to!

With this trip being a seven-day charter we started to discuss a few of the other things that the area had on offer. With a rich WWII history in the area, whispers of mini-subs and Japanese aircraft wrecks started to circulate. We decided to make a move and check out a few of these sights on the way back to port over the last few days. We surfed a few more glassy sessions with not another soul around then got the boat steaming towards and island that held a former Leprosy colony in the days before the war. The island’s old colonial buildings are now being utilised for vocational training. The old buildings had seen better days and sifting through some of the structures uncovered some old medicine bottles and a cemetery for those unfortunate souls who died of the condition that had seen them isolated from the rest of the world.

Just off the island was a hidden gem. A WWII Japanese fighter plane that had ditched into the sea had come to rest in approximately 12 meters of water. Perfect for free diving we all jumped in to check it out. The wreck was amazingly intact with the propeller sitting upright, the cockpit still housing ammunition chests and what looked like bombs. We got lucky with the water clarity and all the boys were totally blown away by the experience.

We spent the rest of the last day sinking a few drinks on an uninhabited island surrounded by pristine reef and white sand. A makeshift game of beach cricket degenerated into a coconut-throwing match and we all had a great laugh. The crew put on a final feast as we headed back to Kavieng to pack up our board bags and get moving to the airport – well half of us did, I scored an extra night on the boat and got to see the other side of the surf charter industry. As I sit in the air-conditioned lounge writing this article the crew are cleaning, polishing and preparing the boat for the next charter. I can’t even begin to tell you how tempted I am to stow away and go again!

Andrew Rigby and his crew are doing something pretty special up here in this part of the world. They run a first class operation and are constantly exploring new areas to find waves and share them with their guests. The whole operation is on its own level and I promise you, if you are thinking of a surf charter, you would do well to put this one on your list!

Enjoy your day,
Joel Coleman…

Saltmotion would not get to these exotic destinations and have such success with our trips if it was not for the hard work and expert knowledge of Jamie Grey and his team at ‘The Perfect Wave”  – I can’t thank them enough. They are the best people to talk to if you want to book a charter to PNG on The Explorer… don’t talk about it – do it!

Saltmotion have an amazing list of destinations on offer for 2012. Anyone is welcome to join us as long as you are like-minded and easy going, for information click (here).