The twin-otter plane flew over the resort, dipping its wing low over crystal clear waters dotted with a plethora of reefs. Volcanic fiords finger their way out into the aqua blue waters of the Solomon Sea.

Perched atop a cliff top, watching over the stunning scenery far below, is Tufi Dive Resort, one of Papua New Guinea's best kept secrets.

Our first dive began at what is affectionately named House Reef. Amid the rubble and debris of the last century, an odd assortment of critters has made their home. This is the most easily accessible muck dive in the country.

Manta shrimp poke their heads tentatively from behind the rocks. Eels of every variety can be found, hiding in holes or creeping along the silty bottom. A colourful mixed bag of nudibranchs will keep muck divers delighted for hours.

Anemone fish, pipefish, sea horses, gobies and fish of every colour and variation swim and play in the murky shallows. Down deeper, at around 40 metres, are the remnants of two WWII PT boats. The 50 calibre machine gun and two live torpedos are still pretty much intact. Divers will also find an old Land Rover, parked upright in about 30 metres of water.

At night, the wharf tenants change over and the House Reef comes alive yet again. Lobsters and crabs walk freely along the ground while octopus dart through the waters in a bold, night time dance of ever changing colour.

During the Mandarin Fish mating season, you will have a perfect, front row seat straight off the wharf.

"It was fantastic seeing the Mandarin Fish mating, although I couldn’t help feeling like a voyeur, peeking in on something private,"

said Patricia, a guest from the UK.

On the outer reef of Tufi is a collection of stunning reef dives.

At Veales Reef, the weird and wonderful hammerhead sharks put on an impressive performance in perfect visibility. Veales is home to large schools of white-tip and black-tip reef sharks, huge pelagic fish and colourful reef fish swimming amongst the beautiful coral formations. If you are lucky you may see the turtles as they glide gracefully past.

Cyclone Island was formed during a cyclone in 1972. It has a number of good sheltered dive sites that are perfect for snorkellers. Here divers can find the rare Rhinopias fish or search for the kaleidoscope of nudibranchs that make their home amongst the corals of the reef. Cyclone Reef also has a stunning wall, where divers can hang suspended above the ocean floor 1km below. Hammerhead sharks have also been known to visit Cyclone Reef.

Mulloway’s is undoubtedly Tufi’s best dive site. Due to strong ocean currents, Mulloway’s comes alive with a wide variety of pelagic fish, reef sharks, hammerheads and rays that feed on the rich plankton.

"I couldn’t believe my eyes,"

said one of the visitors from the US.

"Just below us was a large shark totally covered in sucker fish. I've never seen anything like it."

Papua New Guinea’s most spectacular WWII wrecks - the S Jacob is easily accessible from Tufi Dive Resort. The Jacob was a Dutch merchant ship which was sunk by the Japanese during the war. It now lies upright sloping from 45 metres to 60 metres and is accessible only by experienced deep divers.

The Blackjack is another popular wreck dive accessible from Tufi, and the two wrecks are often done together.

Tufi is on the Southeast coast of Papua New Guinea, below Lae but just above Alotau and east of Port Moresby. It is only accessible by sea and air. Rebecca was diving at the Tufi Dive Resort: PO Box 1845, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Tel: 675 329 6000, Fax: 675 329 6001, E-mail: info@tufidive.com

The photos accompanying this article are copyright Rod Byfield.

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