Beauna Vista Island, Central Province

There isn’t much information on cruising the Solomon Islands so we are generally figuring it out as we go. The more popular cruising destinations have guide books dedicated to sailing and maybe there is something out there for the Solomons but I haven’t found it. The next closest group of islands to Honiara is Central Province or Florida Islands. We heard some bad things about the main harbour, theft from boats and generally unfriendly people, also other areas where the people try and charge outrageous fees for anchoring. Henk told us he had a mooring at Nugu Beach Resort on Beauna Vista Island that we were welcome to hang out on and that the people there would welcome us and we wouldn’t have any problems. This seemed to be the obvious choice then for our next destination.

Beauna Vista Island was only a 32nm sail away but seeing as there had generally been very light or no wind I decided we would sail through the night and try to arrive around noon the next day. Arriving during the day with the sun overhead is essential as many areas in the Solomons are not properly charted or the charts are out and you have to navigate through the reefs by sight anyway. After a bit of searching we found Henk’s mooring in a sleepy little bay in front of a small resort with traditional bungalows, a small bar and communal eating area.

The resort was run by the people in the nearby Soso Village as a way of making some money, I think they catered to people who lived in Honiara and wanted to get away for the weekend and probably didn’t have any advertising internationally let alone locally. As they had no guests it wasn’t open. The locals welcomed us and invited us to come ashore, hang out, check out the village and relax. For the most part they were quiet and reserved. We had a great time snorkelling around the reefs; saw some giant clams for the first time as well as a couple seahorses. Some of the kids took us for a walk through the village and showed us their school, church and the huts they lived in. Allan, who seemed to be the chief, took us for a walk through the bush up to a settlement in the hills where a few more people lived.

On our last weekend there some guests arrived from Honiara so we were able to have a cold beer at the bar on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, from the boat, we watched and heard the pig that was to be the dinner get strangled by tourniquet and later that evening, unexpectedly, treated to fresh fire roasted pig and rice, it was delicious.