| Phil Highland |
Hello Kristine, just got back, we had a great time. The weather was beautiful and we had a ball snorkeling and fishing. Food was great. Highlights were seeing my wife fight and catch a huge barracuda and the trip to the village.
Thank you
Phil Highland
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| Naomi and Andrew McCarthy |
Hi Nick, Peter and Margy and crew sorry for taking so long to get back to you. As you know when you run a small business and take some time off it takes you some time to catch up again, enough of the excuses.
Firstly from Naomi and I, thank you again for the opportunity to share your Solomon Island paradise, it was an experience we will never forget.
From the moment we met John at Honiara I knew we were in good hands, his calm manner and knowlege of the islands put us at ease immediately and helped us settle in to the hotel. While I was a bit worried about the impending cyclone and the works being undertaken under our hotel room at the King Solomon, the phone call the next morning early from John to pick us up for the airport set us back on the path and we were on our way to Papatura.
The plane flight out was another great experience with the pilot actually flying low over the surf breaks to show us what an amazing place it is.
When we landed at Survana international and were greeted by Peter, Simon and Levi we knew our adventure had begun and time as we knew it had stopped.
What can we say, Margy, Peter and the crew at the resort were totally in tune with the requirements of the guests, the food was brilliant and healthy, the soft drinks and beer were cold, the accommodation was clean modern and comfortable. The other guests were soul mates in surfing. Naomi fell in love with Kuma the dog and visa versa I think.
Now to the main event.
We experienced great reef surf between 4 and 6 foot a short boat ride from "home" with no more than 5-6 people out. Also fishing adventures unheard of now in our local waters and a great feeling of being alone, the only people who surf or maybe fish regularly with modern gear within 100 kms.
The crocodile, reef sharks and whale sharks only made the adventure more exciting with Simon and Trevor yelling "sark" on the odd occasion a fin was sighted. I believe they were being protective of Naomi.
For experienced surfers any sightings were more fun than danger, especially the killer whale sighting by Naomi who saw them a day before any one else. I put that down to youthfull eyesight as nobody believed her until the following day when we all sighted them.
I must admit it does take a little time, even for those used to these sea creatures, to acclimatize to surfing in what seems in the middle of the ocean.
Highlights
- The people we shared the resort with, including staff and guests
- Surfing 5 ft reef with 3 other people
- Margy's and the girls cooking and good humour
- Simons laugh/ smile
- Trevors smile/ sark call
- Mark and Kens laugh
- Killer whale sighting
- The village visit
- The rainforest walk at night.(Including crocodile noises)
- Naomi Catching big GT (Fish)
- Me catching and losing 3 ft Dolphin fish
- The great beer fridge fire.
- Pete's water catchment walk.
- The Fish Attracting Device adventure with Simon, Naomi, Ken,Mark and me.
- Diving the plane wreck
- Kuma the dog and Naomi.
Thanks again for your from us all at the Gold coast, we hope to see you soon
Cheers
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| Shane Rowley |
Papatura was a hot
Great waves
Great hospitality
Got to go back soon
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| Chris Henry |
Sorry for being tardy getting back to you, but I’ve been back to work and trying to adjust from Pacific time!
We did get some good waves, just about every day, but I really would have liked a kick in the swell at some stage. Obviously the guys the previous week had plenty, but we had a fairly sustained time without any real swell.
I do realise that is the Pacific and that you can't dial up the swell.
Your folks are doing a great job and I really admire their aims, manner and concern for both the environment and locals. We did feel very well looked after and were quite impressed with the meals considering the logistics of supply, storage etc. Those little surprise treats after lunch were something I would not normally eat but seemed to help me into my nanna nap, and preparation for the afternoon surf.
I had spent the month trying to decide whether to take my new 8'3" SUP in preference to my mal (and 6 six). I ended up with the mal - so was stoked to see your SUPs on arrival.
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| Christopher Lindsay |
Papatura Island Retreat may be one of the last unspoiled paradises on the planet.
My wife and I spent 11 nights there in August and were sorry to leave. I am planning on a return trip with a mate next year to again investigate the fishing.
The highlights of the trip for me were the snorkelling (which my wife also loved) and the fishing. Initially I didn’t intend to do much fishing and only took a few lures, but the results of the first two fishing trips were so spectacular I did two more.
The first trip produced a Spanish mackerel, a giant trevally, a tailor-like fish that the locals couldn’t identify and a red snapper. The second resulted in a 4”4’ 26lb barracuda! The last trip scored a large bonito and a mahi-mahi.
The snorkelling was just as good. At the end of the beach in front of the retreat (about 20 metres from our hut) is a strip of reef that just abounds in fish. On the other side of the island is Dolphin Bay where (apart from the dolphins) is a coral grove where the snorkelling is even better. You can also snorkel over a sunken Japanese fighter plane shot down in WWII.
Both snorkelling and fishing are done by hiring a boat (along with driver and deckhand Dave) at $A25 an hour plus petrol.
The beach in front is always in dappled shade during the day (perfect for people with sensitive skin) because of overhanging trees, but just 30 metres to the left the beach swings around into full sunshine.
The beach is the best I have come across in the Pacific Islands, with very little broken coral (which is regularly swept up) and from the low water mark is all fine sand. I swam laps in front of the retreat every high tide.
The huts are quite comfortable, with a mosquito net and a fan. There is an LED light to read by, but if two people are trying to read it would be better to take some kind of battery powered reading lamp each.
Breakfast is fresh fruit, cereal and toast, lunch is usually soup, tortillas or pasta - something light (and Dave’s soups are absolutely first class). Dinner is fish, chops, sausages – a whole variety of things, mostly cooked by co-owner Margaret. Quality varies from good to excellent, and if you catch the fish yourself it can’t get any fresher.
At the end of a hard day nothing not much you can get a (surprisingly good) SI beer and co-owner Peter has a perfectly acceptable (but limited) supply of wine.
If you are looking for a quiet holiday in a spectacular location Papatura is a sure bet. As well, I am told that at certain times of the year the surfing is excellent.
Anyone looking for further information about our experiences there can contact me on christopher.lindsay@nswbc.com.au
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