Things to do in Honiara
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Honiara
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, the visiting window, with calmer seas, safer river crossings and better dive visibility, driest in July and August.
Wet season with heavy downpours, swollen rivers and washed out roads, inside the November to May tropical cyclone season.
Shoulder sweet spot, rains easing before July crowds and Independence Day pressure on rooms.
What's on
- Independence Day 7 July
The national day marking independence in 1978, with flag raising, parades and cultural performance in a packed capital, book rooms well ahead.
- Guadalcanal commemorations 7 August
Annual ceremony at the American Memorial on the anniversary of the 1942 landings, the most meaningful date for a history trip.
- Easter Easter weekend, dates vary
A major observance in a deeply Christian country, with Honiara events in festival listings and much of the country slowing down.
Best things to do in Honiara
Guadalcanal American Memorial
Hilltop memorial whose walls point at the battle sites they describe, and the best orientation for all of Guadalcanal.
Vilu War Museum
A family run open air collection of recovered aircraft and artillery in gardens west of Honiara, explained by its owners.
Bloody Ridge
The grassy ridge south of the airfield where the battle for Henderson Field turned, now the first national park.
Solomon Islands National Museum
A small free museum on Mendana Avenue that gives Solomon Islands cultures the context the market and carvings need.
Honiara Central Market
The living heart of the city, a covered waterfront market for produce, fish, flowers and cooked food from many islands.
Japanese War Memorial
The Japanese memorial on Mount Austen, the necessary counterweight to the American Memorial, with views over east Honiara.
Solomon Scouts & Coastwatchers Memorial
A short free stop honouring the islander scouts and coastwatchers who shaped the campaign at enormous personal risk.
Holy Cross Cathedral
Honiara cathedral under a huge wooden ceiling, and on Sundays a genuine window into contemporary Solomon Islands life.
Where to stay in Honiara
Mendana Avenue / Point Cruz waterfront
first visit, divers and anyone without a car
The central harbour strip where the serious hotels, the dive centre and most reviewed restaurants cluster, and the most walkable base by day.
Town Ground
resort downtime and sunsets over the sound
A quieter waterfront pocket west of the centre built around one resort, walkable by day and a short taxi to dinner by night.
Chinatown
saving money in a quiet political period
A functioning commercial district east across the Mataniko with the hillside budget hotel, but repeatedly targeted in past riots, so monitor news.
Think twice about
- White River, Lungga Bridge, Sun Valley, Mataniko Bridge, Burns Creek and Henderson airport area at night
Take particular care here: foreign nationals are often targets of violent attacks including robbery and roadblocks.
- Informal settlement areas around Honiara
Take particular care here, with incidents including sexual assault, robbery, vehicle hijacking and rock throwing.
- Hell's Point and the ridges behind Honiara
High risk for unexploded WWII ordnance. Do not walk there unguided and never touch metal objects.
- Chinatown and Parliament area during sittings, elections or protests
Chinatown was torched in riots in 2006 and 2021 and attacked in 2019. Avoid protest days, obey lockdowns and monitor local media.
Best restaurants in Honiara
Haydn's Steakhouse
The capital formal splurge at Coral Sea Resort, modern Australian and European cooking with steaks as the headline.
Club Havanah
A French restaurant of real class at the Honiara Hotel, open Wednesday to Saturday evenings, reservations recommended.
Breakwater Cafe
The expatriate heart of Honiara, the city best coffee and weekend brunch by the yacht club, closing mid afternoon.
Hakubai Japanese Restaurant
The serious Japanese table in the Kitano Mendana, where fresh local tuna is the point of eating sushi in the Solomons.
Tenkai Sushi Cafe
A tucked away air conditioned sushi cafe near the main hotels, praised for fresh sashimi and modest pricing.
The Boardwalk
Coral Sea looser waterfront restaurant for South East Asian street food style plates at sunset with a drink.
GG's Restaurant
A central independent European and Asian restaurant used for working lunches and quiet dinners near the main hotels.
Mambo Juice!
Juices, smoothies and healthy cafe food, the light midday option in Honiara heat near the centre.
Outdoor things to do in Honiara
Bonegi I and II
Two Japanese transport wrecks sunk in 1942 just off the beach, now coral reefs you can dive or snorkel from shore.
Iron Bottom Sound
Advanced wreck diving on the Aaron Ward, the I-1 submarine and the Azumasan Maru, for qualified experienced divers only.
Tulagi
A day trip across the sound to the old capital for shallow wreck diving, reefs, Twin Tunnels and Maravagi Bay macro life.
Savo Island
An active volcano day trip for hot springs, megapode nesting fields and dolphins on the crossing from Honiara.
Tenaru Falls
A tall waterfall into a deep rainforest pool, reached by 4WD and a steep stepped descent, for fit walkers only.
Mataniko Falls
A half day guided hike up a wartime river to falls that tumble into a limestone cave system threaded with swiftlets.
Mbonege Beach
The independent version of Bonegi, a local picnic beach with wreck snorkelling right off the sand and a landowner gate fee.
Honiara Golf Club
The capital local and expat golf institution, modest facilities and an early tee time to beat the equatorial heat.
Best hotels in Honiara
Heritage Park Hotel
The capital best hotel, five acres of beachfront gardens with a pool, spa and three restaurants on Mendana Avenue.
Coral Sea Resort & Casino
The most resort shaped stay in Honiara, waterfront villas and suites at Town Ground looking over Iron Bottom Sound.
Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel
The grande dame of Mendana Avenue with a beachside pool and Hakubai restaurant, best in a main building room.
King Solomon Hotel
The value pick among full service hotels, a pool in tropical gardens a short walk from the National Museum.
Honiara Hotel
The budget intended hillside hotel above Chinatown with a big pool and Club Havanah, booked with eyes open on upkeep.
Is Honiara expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | SBD 700 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | SBD 1,600 a person |
| Splurge | SBD 3,050 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Vilu War Museum: a few days ahead
- Bloody Ridge: a few days ahead
- Japanese War Memorial: a few days ahead
- Bonegi I and II: a few days ahead
- Iron Bottom Sound: weeks ahead
- Tulagi: a few days ahead
- Savo Island: a few days ahead
- Tenaru Falls: a few days ahead
- Book the top hotels weeks ahead, and months ahead around Independence Day on 7 July when the country comes to the capital.
- Book Emperor Divers Honiara days to weeks ahead, technical wreck dives earlier, and liveaboards months ahead.
- Reserve Club Havanah, especially on weekends, and arrange battlefield and waterfall guides through your hotel a day or two ahead.
Is Honiara safe?
- Crime and unrest are the main risks in Honiara, so take increased caution.
- Do not walk around the city after dark, taxi door to door, keep valuables out of sight at the market and on beaches, and use the hotel safe.
- Avoid protests and political gatherings, know whether Parliament is sitting, and obey any lockdown or curfew immediately.
- Malaria and dengue are widespread, medical care is limited, and the only hyperbaric chamber is out of service, so dive conservatively with evacuation insurance.
Honiara travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- City beaches are a working waterfront with rip tides, crocodiles and sharks reported nearby, so swim at Mbonege with local advice or at hotel pools.
- Pay customary land access fees once, agreed through your guide before you set off, rather than in unstructured payments at gates.
- Never buy or remove WWII relics, the sites are war graves and unexploded ordnance is a live hazard.
- Attraction hours in Honiara are aspirational, so have your hotel call the museum and other sights ahead on the day.
Getting around Honiara: public transport and more
- Honiara is one coastal road, Mendana Avenue, and journeys are slow despite short distances, so allow far more time than the map suggests.
- Taxis are unmetered, so agree the fare before you move, and use registered taxis or transport arranged through your hotel.
- Hire a driver through your hotel for Vilu, battlefields and waterfalls, and confirm whether landowner fees and guiding are included.
- For boats to Savo or Tulagi, check life jackets are visible, the boat is not overloaded and the forecast is calm before departure.
Who Honiara suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | OK |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Honiara your trip
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