Isabel, or Santa Isabel, was the first point of contact by Europeans when Mendana chanced upon it in the mid sixteenth century. It is home to a very friendly and peace-loving Melanesian people, divided into about six language groups. There is very little development on the island and no roads beyond a short stretch in the Provincial Capital Buala, and the town of Kaevanga on the south coast. Villages are all traditional, with beautifully kept leaf houses and gardens.
The village of Kia in the north is of especial interest, as it is built mainly on stilts over the clear lagoon waters. All transport is by canoe, outboard or dugout. The island, the Solomons Islands' longest, is a high, rugged one with a sharp spine of almost impenetrable mountains (there are some inland villages in the flatter parts of the south east). It is surrounded by a fringing reef and has some of the most pristine and luxuriously rich waters and coral reefs anywhere on earth.
The waters teem with fish, turtles and megapodes breed on the sand beaches, the coconut plantations throng with parrots, eagles and frigate birds soar the trade winds as they blow up the coast. At night the lagoon waters sparkle with phosphorescence. There are crocodiles in the many deep rivers.
In the far north are the Arnarvon Islands, protected as a conservation area noted for a breeding area of rare green and leatherback turtles. To the south west, the island of San Jorge is known as a place of the dead, where spirits reside, and strange phenomena are observed by overnight visitors.
Isabel Province is one of the least visited provinces. It is serviced by Solomon Islands which flies to Buala (Fera) and Suavanao in the north. Most villages have rest houses where the culturally sensitive visitor will be most well looked after. The only transport around the island is by outboard canoe, or on the Provincial ship, the M.V. Isabella, which makes a weekly run up alternative sides on the island. This is not a cruise ship but a very interesting experience as it puts in to every village along the coast to take on passengers and exchange cargo.
Arnavon Island Marine Reserve
"Small fishing boats are equipped with gear to allow for capture of fish found within deep waters, and are rented out to local fishermen through project fishery centers (the boats pictured here are of the Wagina Village Fishery Center). Once the fishermen return from their trip, these same centers then purchase the caught fish to help pay off the costs of renting the boat, fishing gear, bait, and fuel. Even after these costs are accounted for, the fishermen go home with notable earnings in their pocket. The assumption is that through this sustainable fishing enterprise, local cash needs are being reduced and therefore reducing the harvest pressure on remaining marine resources in the project area, including the fish and turtles of the now protected Arnavon Islands.
"Both reef and deep-water fishes are sold to domestic and international distributors at the fish market in the Solomon Islands' capitol city, Honiara. Deep-water fish caught by the participating village residents are packed in ice and then shipped out from the Arnavon Islands project area by boat to Honiara, where they are then quickly sold to a seafood company.
"The Arnavons Island Project has been consistently working towards ensuring a sustainable future so that the generations to come can also enjoy the wealth of marine resources which these islands are home to.