Things to Do in Gizo

Diving the Toa Maru Wreck

The 140-meter Japanese freighter went down in 1943, and she now lies on her starboard side between roughly 12 and 37 meters of water, encrusted in soft coral and patrolled by lionfish and sweetlips. You can swim straight through cargo holds still packed with motorcycles, sake bottles, and the occasional tank tread, which gives the dive a strange, museum-underwater quality. Think frozen in time. Visibility tends to be excellent, often pushing 30 meters when the wind cooperates.

Kennedy Island Day Trip

This tiny, palm-fringed islet (officially Plum Pudding Island, locally called Kasolo) is where Lieutenant Kennedy and his crew swam after a Japanese destroyer rammed PT-109. The whole circuit takes ten minutes. You can snorkel right off the beach over coral heads thick with parrotfish, and eat lunch under a tree that may or may not have shaded JFK himself. The history sits lightly on the place.

Saeragi Beach and the Northern Reef

A 20-minute boat ride north of town brings you to Saeragi, a stretch of blinding white sand backed by coconut palms where the local village has set up a few thatched shelters. The reef just offshore drops into deep blue water, and the snorkeling tends to be quieter and more colorful than spots closer to Gizo. Weekdays are quiet. You'll likely have the place mostly to yourself.

Climbing Gizo Hill at Sunset

The footpath up the ridge behind town takes maybe 30 sweaty minutes through gardens of taro and cassava, with kids calling out greetings as you pass. The view from the top stretches across the entire lagoon. Kolombangara's volcanic cone rises east. Ranongga humps the western horizon, and the scattered islands of the Vona Vona group lie below like a green-and-blue jigsaw.

Gizo Market Morning

The waterfront market is busiest from about 6:30 to 10 am on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when canoes from outlying islands pull up loaded with fresh tuna, mud crabs, slipper lobster, and pyramids of betel nut. The air smells of cut watermelon. Salt hangs over everything. Women in floral lavalavas haggle quietly over yams. You can pick up grilled fish wrapped in banana leaf for breakfast.

The main waterfront strip. Convenient for dive shops, the market, and evening walks. Rooms range from basic to a few mid-range guesthouses with sea views.

Mbabanga Island (Fatboys area): over-water bungalows on stilts in shallow turquoise water, about 15 minutes by boat from town. Splurge territory. Memorable.

The hill above town. A couple of small lodges with breezier nights and harbor panoramas. Short walk down to the action.

Saeragi village area. Homestay-style accommodation with local families, the most authentic option and budget-friendly.

Kolombangara sits across the channel. Pick it if you want jungle and waterfalls rather than reef. Eco-lodges dot the slopes of the dormant volcano.

Near Nusatupe airstrip. A handful of simple rooms aimed at next-morning fliers. Useful if you have a dawn departure.