Skull Island

On a coral islet in Vonavona Lagoon, a casket shrine of coral stone holds the skulls of chiefs and warriors - the region's tangible link to the headhunting era that shaped Western Province history until the early twentieth century, when mission influence ended the raids and the shrines became memorials. Visits run by boat from Munda with the custom keepers' arrangement: the keeper tells the history - clan power, tabu, the raiding economy and its end - beside the skull cradle and its clamshell-ring valuables, and the lagoon setting, all turquoise shallows and palm islets, holds the past lightly. It is a short visit of unusual weight, done properly or not at all.

The main sights

• The skull shrine - the coral casket and its chiefly relics.
• The keeper's telling - headhunting-era history from its custodians.
• The clamshell valuables - shell-ring wealth beside the skulls.
• Vonavona Lagoon - the turquoise maze around the islet.

When to go

May to November for calm lagoon crossings; the visit itself is brief - fold it into a Munda lagoon day with snorkelling stops. Arrange through lodges or boatmen who work with the keepers.

Practical notes

This is a sacred site under custom ownership: fees, permissions and the keeper's presence are non-negotiable, photography follows explicit permission, and irreverence is the one unforgivable tourist move. Approach as you would any ancestral shrine - the history is dark, the ground is holy to its clans.

Nearby

Munda's reefs, Lubaria's war sites and the Vonavona-Roviana lagoons.