21st July 2025: Into The Solomon Islands

I have moved on a fair way since the last post with, I guess an increasing desire to get this trip concluded sooner rather than later for no good reason other than I miss Nik and the kids.  It seems in one way like the waste of a good opportunity but this was always just an extended delivery trip and I am nevertheless enjoying seeing these Pacific Islands.  I never had time to carry out the prior research necessary before you cruise in these areas so I was always just going to be briefly visiting.

We left Lugganville and sailed overnight to a place called Sola on the island of Vanua Lava, one of the Banks Islands.  Sola is the most northerly Port of Entry.  We arrived mid morning and anchored in a pretty bay with a small town located behind the beachfront.  There was not much to the town – a few buildings and houses stretching down the coastal road with one or two small shops selling a few essentials.  Once ashore I located the customs office and was horrified to hear that the customs officer required to sign off on departures was in Lugganville.  I thought this was going to lead to a long delay but turns out they could send the departure forms to Lugganville and he would sign off and email back.  After a couple of hours I was authorized to depart and we left late that afternoon heading for Lata, the first Port of Entry for the Solomon Islands on the island of Ndendo about 230NM to the north.

The Solomons is not a popular cruising destination at this point in time although it would appear to be gaining more attention.  Most of the best cruising and hence the best tourist infrastructure is in the Western Provinces.  Due to us coming from Vanuatu we had to first transit through the eastern islands and districts.

The sail over the following two days was rolly and punctuated by frequent showers especially at night but apart from that largely uneventful.  I will be glad to start sailing west once we leave Lata as that will be more with the weather which should reduce the roll we experience significantly.  On the morning of the second day Ndendo was in sight.  There is a narrow reef lined passage on the western side into the large bay where Lata is located.  Looked a lot tighter than it was but constant vigilance is required.  The jetty which the cruising guide suggested we should tie up to was a mess of twisted concrete – clearly our guide was a bit out of date.  Around the jetty anchoring was problematic as the seabed went from very deep to coral reef in a few metres and we had an onshore breeze.  Eventually we set the anchor in about 15m of water with our stern about 20m from the reef.  Not a particularly desirable location but adequate for the limited time we intended to spend here.

Again I went ashore and sought out the entry officials.  Lata is a small town and the infrastructure is pretty poor.  It would appear that this is a step down in terms of poverty from Vanuatu.  One of the first things you noticed was the trash lying around.  There were a lot of people milling around the jetty area mainly associated with the “banana boats” ferrying people and supplies around and a few small market type stalls selling the usual ground provisions and coconuts.  Everybody was very friendly and in no time the boat was surrounded by a group of noisy kids who had swam out from shore all wanting to say hello to the strangers.  One of the first things you notice is that lots of people are chewing betelnut and the ground is frequently marked by the red juice spat out.

I asked directions to customs and immigration and was kindly given a lift up the hill to the customs house.  This was essentially a single storey maybe four room building with very little in the way of furniture apart from a couple of desks and chairs with a single lap top and some other papers lying about.  I filled in a few forms, answered a few questions and then was handed my cruising permit valid for 30 days.  I wandered back to the jetty hoping to find a bank or a forex dude but no such luck.

Vessel Track from Vanuatu to Solomons

Back onboard I decided to push on as the present anchorage was not really tenable.  In the early afternoon we retraced our path through the western pass and set a course west to San Cristobal Island another 220NM plus away aiming for a place called Kirakira.  Another showery passage ensued but this time we were running with the weather and so our roll was reduced considerably.  Two days later we reached Kirakira.  There was no real reason for stopping here apart from to get some local money and to procure some fresh produce. 

All these places are built around the coastline of a bay with the town/village stretching someway inland depending upon how quickly the land rises behind the coast.  Kirakira was no exception.  Ashore there was a reasonable market in operation just behind the beach area where all the “banana boats” were congregated.  Again the town is quite small and run down.  There are a few shops, a school a large overgrown playing field and, of course, a church.  There is a river which runs down one side and empties into the bay – it could be really pretty but again there was a lot of trash lying around.  I located the bank pretty quickly but was told that I could not use a credit card to get funds and they would not be able to exchange foreign currency.  So strike two – still no local money and no fresh food.  There was nothing for it but to push onto Honiara the capital and the gateway to the Western Provinces.

Honiara sits on the island of Guadalcanal a name resplendent with images of the Pacific campaigns of World War Two.  In fact the Solomon Islands were right in forefront of the war with the Japanese. 

Honiara was a good 20hr sail away.  Given the constant sailing for the past six days I decided to stay the night at anchor in Kirakira to get some rest.  At noon the next day we departed amidst frequent heavy rain showers and plotted a course more North than West.  Due to the wind direction I had to head north till the early hours of the morning at which time I gybed round onto the heading for Honiara.  Apart from the rain it was a really enjoyable sail and the morning found us sailing up Iron Bottom Sound slowly approaching Honiara.

Honiara is the capital of the Solomon Islands and is quite a major town for the region.  It spreads out along the coast quite extensively and whilst there is a harbour it is really just a stretch of the coast.  There is no protected bay or cove.  Near the centre of town there is a small indent formed by Point Cruz called Mbokona Bay which houses a couple of small commercial jetties for the Solomons coastal patrol boat and ferries and a beach where the trading banana boats pull up.  Allegedly there was space to anchor within.  We came into Mbokona Bay while there was a swell running which did nothing to add to the appeal of the anchorage.  The bay is lined by reef so manoeuvring was very tight.  There was a mooring right in the middle of the bay which made finding space very difficult.  I had a couple of goes at anchoring but was not satisfied and so kept motoring around. 

Mbokono Bay

After a while as I was setting up for my third attempt I got a VHF call telling me to just go ahead and pick up the mooring which I duly did.  There is a building on the shore called the Point Cruz Yacht Club.  Interesting as there were no yachts around apart from another cruiser.  I think it may be more in the spirit of yachting that in the actual activity.  When I visited later it turned out to be essentially a bar on the shore but it does have a membership requirement.

Anyway one of the blokes there obviously was watching me mess about and decided to come to my aid.  Am thankful that he did.  Tried to find him the next day at the club but never managed to.

As we were coming into Honiara the one thing that you really notice is the amount of trash in the water.  I guess it was a falling tide but its really quite disappointing.  Onshore the city itself was not a whole lot better.  As with many of towns here it consists of a main street parallel with the coast and full of shops and businesses.  Honiara would be the busiest town i have been in since Auckland.  Its very noisy, dusty, run down and chaotic to an outsider.  It is very busy but also has a certain energy about it.  For all its detractions I felt it would be a pretty interesting place to explore at another time.  The central market is huge with lots on interesting fruit, veg and fish for sale.  Very importantly for me there was a bank from which I managed to get some local currency. 

Sunset from Point Cruz

Honiara was always just about getting some money and fresh food.  Once that was complete the next morning we departed for the Florida Islands about 30NM across the sound.  The plan was to relax and enjoy a bit of seclusion for a couple of days before continuing the ever westward journey.

There was one other reason for visiting Honiara and that was to sort out freight for the autopilot unit which was ready for dispatch from Perth.  Have organised for it to be delivered to a place called Gizo which is our exit port from the Solomons.