Things to do in Munda
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Munda
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season: calmer lagoons, clearest diving, most reliable flights. Book June to September well ahead.
Shoulder into wet: humidity builds, cyclone season opens on 1 November, crowds thin.
Wet and cyclone season: heavy rain, rough crossings, disrupted boats and flights, Christmas and New Year closures.
What's on
- Independence Day 7 July
National holiday across Solomon Islands: offices and some businesses closed, a festive town day.
Best things to do in Munda
Peter Joseph WWII Museum
A family built relic collection that orients the whole Munda war story, explained by the owner who found every piece.
Skull Island
A living kastom shrine of chiefs skulls near Lola Island, visited by boat with permission, a guide and a kastom fee.
Airacobra and Dauntless aircraft wrecks
Two 1943 American aircraft wrecks, a P-39 Airacobra and a Dauntless dive bomber, dived as history with Dive Munda.
Cave of the Kastom Shark
A fresh and salt water cave dive from an inland pool out to a reef wall, for experienced confined space divers only.
Shark Point
Dive Munda signature open ocean point: a reef dropping over 600 metres with reef sharks routine and hammerheads possible.
Mushroom Island
An island ringed by channel drop offs where divers take the wall and snorkellers take the coral corner on one boat day.
American Hellcat Fighter Plane
A largely intact Hellcat fighter in about 10 metres of clear lagoon water, clearly visible to snorkellers from above.
Where to stay in Munda
Munda town and Lambete
divers, the airport, the only restaurant, the cheapest beds
Sleep where Dive Munda, the market, the wharf and the Roviana Restaurant are, and boat out each day.
Lola Island and Vonavona Lagoon
fishing, surf, switching off
Twenty minutes by boat from Munda, inside the lagoon, with Skull Island and the surf breaks close.
Rendova Island, Ughele
eco lodge life, village access, the peak
Thirty to forty minutes by boat from Munda to overwater bungalows, a marine protected area and garden food.
Think twice about
- Unlit Lambete waterfront and wharf area after dark
Poor lighting and a quiet town at night. Walk with company, keep valuables out of sight, and arrange a lodge transfer for late arrivals.
- Battlefield bush around Munda Point, off established tracks
Unexploded Second World War ordnance remains in forest and scrub across the New Georgia group. Stay on tracks, go with a local guide, touch nothing metal.
Best restaurants in Munda
Roviana Restaurant
The one real restaurant in Munda town, at Agnes Gateway, strongest on locally caught seafood and cooking your own catch.
Zipolo Habu Resort restaurant
The island dinner on Lola Island, built on fresh local ingredients and lagoon fish, best done by staying at the resort.
Titiru Eco Lodge kitchen
Lodge meals from gardens, the village market and fish bought from dugout canoes, in portions guests call impossible to finish.
Munda Market
The cheapest local eating in town: market produce, fish, fruit and cooked snacks by the jetty, plus fish to self cater.
Outdoor things to do in Munda
Dive Munda
The only dive operation a visitor needs in Munda: wrecks, walls, the cave, training and snorkel trips from one shop.
Zipolo Habu Resort fishing charter
Serious sport fishing by whole boat from Lola Island: reef poppers for giant trevally, trolling and jungle river fishing.
Rendova Harbour and Hopei Island day
A boat day to the 1943 Allied naval and PT boat base harbour that shelled Munda, with villages and barrier islets, plus Hopei Island in Roviana Lagoon just off Munda, a snorkel, swim and barbecue day island.
Haipe Reef
Pristine remote reefs off west Rendova: hard coral tops, bumphead parrotfish, turtles and grey reef sharks deeper.
Rendova Peak
A fit, guided climb from Titiru Eco Lodge through village land to views over the lagoons, guide required the whole way.
Skull Island and Desperates surf breaks
Two right hand reef breaks near Lola Island, long and clean when they work and extremely inconsistent when they do not.
Best hotels in Munda
Agnes Gateway Hotel
The default Munda base: a family lagoon hotel with rooms from dormitory to air conditioned cottages in one property.
Zipolo Habu Resort
Six traditional bungalows on Lola Island with restaurant, bar and the fishing fleet, 20 minutes by boat from Munda.
Titiru Eco Lodge
A family eco lodge on Rendova with overwater bungalows, a marine protected area and garden and canoe bought food.
Qua Roviana Motel
A cheap, friendly town motel minutes from the airport, whose shared kitchen is a budget strategy in a one restaurant town.
Ibibu Transit Lodge
A simple transit lodge near the airport and wharf for a night either side of a flight, with very thin public information.
Is Munda expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | SBD 600 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | SBD 1,400 a person |
| Splurge | SBD 2,600 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Skull Island: a few days ahead
- Airacobra and Dauntless aircraft wrecks: a few days ahead
- Cave of the Kastom Shark: a few days ahead
- Shark Point: a few days ahead
- Mushroom Island: a few days ahead
- American Hellcat Fighter Plane: a few days ahead
- Dive Munda: a few days ahead
- Zipolo Habu Resort fishing charter: weeks ahead
- Book flights, Zipolo Habu, Titiru and Dive Munda weeks ahead for June to September. Leave a full no dive day before flying out.
Is Munda safe?
- Malaria and dengue are present: repellent, nets and urgent care for any fever. Medical care is small hospital and clinic level in Munda, serious cases go to Honiara or by evacuation to Australia, so insurance must cover diving and evacuation. Unexploded ordnance: touch no wartime metal, on land or underwater. Emergency numbers: police 999, ambulance 111.
Munda travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Web pages claiming a road, bus or one hour drive between Munda and Gizo: they are on different islands. Fishing and boat quotes that add fuel afterwards: agree the total before leaving the jetty.
Getting around Munda: public transport and more
- Fly Honiara to Munda Airport with Solomon Airlines on selected days, then walk or transfer in town. Boats are the roads to Lola Island, Rendova and every lagoon site: agree price, fuel, fees and return time before departure. No road or ferry links Munda to Gizo: charter a boat through a lodge or fly via Honiara.
Who Munda suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | OK |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Munda your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store