The Tufi Fjords

On Cape Nelson's volcanic coast, the sea reaches inland through rias the locals and everyone else call fjords: drowned valleys walled in rainforest, orchids on the cliff lips, and water so sheltered the reflections barely break when an outrigger crosses - which is constantly, because the fjords are the villages' roads. Tufi's small resort and the surrounding village guesthouses split the trade: divers work the house reefs and offshore walls where fans grow oversized, kayakers and boat-hoppers thread the inlets, and cultural days visit tapa-cloth makers - Oro's signature craft - and the facial-tattoo traditions the region keeps.

Highlights

• The fjord walls - rainforest cliffs mirrored in still inlets.
• Outrigger life - the villages commuting their water-roads.
• The reef walls - fans and reef fish on the offshore drops.
• Tapa cloth villages - Oro's painted barkcloth tradition.

When to go

May to November is the drier trade season with the calmest diving; the fjords shelter paddling year round. Flights are small and weather-flexible - build slack around them.

Before you go

Everything runs on the flight schedule and the lodge-or-village-stay arrangements - independent turning-up is not the model; book ahead and let hosts orchestrate. Facilities are remote-coast simple away from the resort. Village visits follow custom: fees, permissions and gifts as your hosts advise. PNG travel planning generally rewards patience and pads.

Nearby

The Kokoda Track's coastal end and Oro's tapa villages.