Solomon Islands
Uepi Island Diving
Rarely will you see such high concentrations of fish, sponges and corals in such a diverse environment, ranging from lagoonal coral gardens to vertical drop-offs of over 600 meters. Our sites feature sharks, all manner of light game fish and an enormous variety of reef fish. Turtles, mantas and eagle rays are fairly common sights, along with the seasonal hammerheads! In addition, most of the dive sites are less than 10 minutes by boat from the Resort...

Because of the location of Uepi Island, viz. a barrier reef on the edge of a large volcanic (extinct) land mass, the clarity of the water is usually extremely good and water temperature is about 26-28 degrees celcius. Wetsuits are not essential, however protection in the form of a lycra skin is advisable to provide protection from marine stings and coral abrasions.

Uepi can offer some of the world's best drop-off diving, with myriads of fans, massive gardens of hard and soft corals, profusions of tropical fish, battalions of pelagics and a lifetime study of invertebrates.

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Dive Sites around Uepi
  • UEPI POINT: Charapoana Passage meets the 'Slot' at Uepi Point. A near vertical slope coated profusely with corals especially gorgonian fans and colourful spiky soft corals. At 30m a peninsular juts out before the wall steeply drops off. This provides the stage for a spectacular procession of pelagics including schooling barracuda and sharks. Overhead, large schools of trevally, jacks and fusiliers feed. Families of garden eels, an array of colourful gobies and a diverse collection of invertebrate life inhabit the sand patches of
  • CHARAPOANA DRIFT: From Uepi Point back to the Dive Shed pier, allow yourself the courtesy of the incoming tide. The 'slot' wall curves to the passage floor at about 50m. Large gorgonians, huge Amphora basket sponges, soft coral trees and small hard corals cram the slope. You'll encounter schools of trevally, rainbowrunners, barracuda and other pelagics like mackerel, tuna and sharks, along with an abundance of reef fish including basslets, angelfish, unicornfish, surgeons, fusiliers and the resident butterfly cods and trigger fish.
  • INSIDE POINT: A steeply sloping wall on the face of one of Marovo's nearby lagoonal reefs. From the near surface to the sandy depths are fields of large green tree corals, gorgonians and comb corals. Turtles, sharks and other pelagics are common.
  • UEPI PIER: From flashing 'scallops' in a cave directly below the pier, to 'shark bommie' in just over 30m, to a 15m wall clustered with fans. Rated as one of the best shore dives yet you'll see a variety of game fish and large cow tail rays resting on the sand, whilst under continual surveillance by the resident grey whalers. The wall is great for a night dive with common sightings of sponge crabs, spindle cowries, basket stars, hawkfish..... the list goes on! Has anybody seen a gorgonian fan larger than 18.5 feet across?
  • THE ELBOW: A sheer wall dropping to well over 600M with two distinct projections festooned with hard and soft corals. The colour of the softs and their associated symbionts will fascinate the night diver. Keep an eye seaward as you are bound to see a variety of creatures swim by, including eagle rays, tuna, barracuda, king trevally, darts and of course sharks - particularly the seasonal hammerheads.
  • ELBOW CAVES: Deep gutters through the reef wall, almost totally enclosed in sections, make this dive memorable. A large school of diamond fish hide the entrance to one cavern often with barracuda flying through for a meal. Between the gutters, the upper wall curves inward forming ledges with abundant fans and dripping webs of sponges. Again, keep one eye seaward for those travelling pelagics, but be sure you don't miss the resting turtle, commonly found here.
  • NORTH LOG and SOUTH LOG: At times the wall seems so steep as to curve inwards. You won't be alone along this wall. Each site has its interest in caverns and ledges. North Log in particular has ledges profuse in coral life and associated aquarium fish including damsels, pullers, Chaetodonts and basslets. A superb night dive on these ledges, their ceilings blanketed in small soft corals. A night dive on South Log is always remembered for its glittering schools of flashlight fish and the innumerable crustaceans.
  • LANGARA GARDENS: Take a tour of the upper reef wall and swim through the many gutters to a lagoonal garden of hard corals. A variety of anemones and associated clown fish, damsels and cleaning shrimps to delight the photographer. Giant Tridacna clams and bullnose rays, along with small reef sharks, cod, trout, flutemouths, down to the smaller coral inhabitants like damsels and pullers, nudibrancs, flatworms, and other invertibrates.
  • MANTA LAGOON: Topography similar to Langara Gardens, although the lagoonal basin is depper and has become a site for seasonal small manta rays. The branching corals of the shallower waters provide a suitable habitat not only for its marine inhabitants, but also the budding marine biologist.
  • LANDORO GARDENS: The top of Uepi's fringing reef wall takes a drastic change. You'll feel like you're flying from peak to peak across Landoro's rolling hill tops, grassed in bushy hard and soft corals. The valleys between are are highways for the larger fish species, like Trevally, darts, snapper, surgeon, and unicornfish, parrots and wrasses. Look for their cleaning stations. The coral life doesn't stop there, tabulate and sheet corals adorn the walls down to 30 meters.
  • MONGGO PASSAGE: (24km) An enormous drop-off, simply breathtaking. Featuring sharks and barracuda, curious and sometimes aggressive because it is a rarely dived site. A beautiful assemblage of gorgonia corals and the dive is completed in a diversely populated shallow garden.
  • USA P38 PLANE WRECK and two USA LANDING BARGES: Wartime relics (no souvenirs)