Things to Do in Western Province

Skull Island ancestor shrines

A tiny speck of coral rubble near Munda holds weather-beaten skull racks that lean like broken teeth. Sago-palm bindings are blackened by centuries of salt spray. You'll smell musty copra smoke used to ward off spirits. Crushed shell crunches underfoot while the guide explains which skull belonged to the last warrior to fall. The air hangs heavy between reverence and unease.

Kennedy Island swim and BBQ

The sand is powder-fine and blindingly white. It crunches like sugar underfoot while you wade into bath-warm water that tastes faintly of coconut. PT-109's survivor spent two days here. You can still see the gouge in the coral where his crew carved 'HELP' before the coconut telegraph worked. Grilled parrotfish arrives on palm fronds. Its skin is blistered and smoky from the driftwood fire.

Uarambo wreck dive

A Japanese seaplane tender lies on her side in 28 m of gin-clear water. Deck plates are peeled open like sardine tins. Lionfish hover where anti-aircraft guns once swung. Silence is broken only by your bubbles rising past coral-encrusted railings. Shafts of sunlight knife through the hull. They light up brass shells that still smell faintly of cordite when you disturb the silt.

New Georgia bush walk to waterfall

The trail starts behind a village where dogs bark at butterflies. The path smells of crushed wild ginger. Thirty minutes in, the jungle closes overhead like a green tunnel. It echoes with unseen hornbills. You feel the temperature drop just before you hear the roar. A 40 m cascade slams into a black pool that tastes of iron and moss. Vines dangle like ropes. They tempt the reckless to swing.

Nusatuva sandbank picnic

A crescent of sand exists only at low tide. It is ringed by neon-blue starfish and is so narrow you can stand in lagoon and ocean simultaneously. You'll hear nothing but the hiss of your own footprints. Sea cucumbers pop when the sun hits them. The grilled lobster, bought that morning from a passing canoe, arrives wrapped in banana leaf. Sweet flesh is tinged with smoke from coconut husk.

Gizo waterfront lodges have corrugated-iron balconies over the lagoon. Geckos chirp like faulty smoke alarms.

Njari Island eco-bungalows are solar-powered fales reached by 15-min boat. Reef is at your door.

Munda guesthouses are concrete blocks near the airstrip. Roosters serve as alarm clocks. Cold-water showers wake you faster.

Uepi Island resort has overwater decks where you can feed parrotfish from toothbrush at dawn.

Seghe plantation stay occupies a 1940s copra manager's house. Wrap-around verandah smells of old timber and frangipani.

Kolombangara homestays offer village huts with woven walls. Kerosene lanterns flicker. Shared drop toilet overlooks the volcano.