Loloata Island Resort The Best of Bootless Bay Scuba divers from all over the world have discovered Loloata, where the incredible reefs of Bootless Bay are only minutes from the dock on a first class dive boat with an experienced crew. Dik Knight established Loloata Island Resort back in the early 1970's and has been hosting adventurous divers ever since. Underwater photographers will be especially thrilled with the myriad opportunities to capture images of rare and unusual species of fish, corals and invertebrates here on some of New Guinea's finest reefs. The rooms are located directly on the water, or just up the hill with a spectacular view of the bay. The restaurant, gift shop and dive shop are centrally located and nothing is more than few steps away.

"One Hill" island is only minutes from many great dive sites, including: Loloata Island Jetty: Distance from Loloata - on site Best Diving Depths - 0 to 10 meters Best Time / Tide - early morning or night dive. High tide. Dwarf lionfish and red (black) firefish, ringed pipefish, colourful patterned black sea urchins, razorfish, mantis shrimp, double ended pipefish, emperor shrimp, banded sea krait, harlequin ghost pipefish. Easy dive. A 20 Havoc (WWII Wreck): Distance from Loloata - 1 nautical mile (from Jetty) Best Diving Depths - 5 meters (reef) 18 meters (airplane wreck) Best Time / Tide - morning or high tide. Fully intact WWII American A 20 Havoc bomber on sand bottom. Pretty hard coral garden in the safety stop zones. Lion Island: Distance from Loloata - 0.8 nautical mile Best Diving Depths - 3 to 25 meters Best Time / Tide - Any. Several dive sites in a small area. Reef, sand, seagrass, "muck" dives and scuttled wrecks. The weird and wonderful abound here. Inhabitants that belong to another world and another dimension. These dives are mandatory for serious macho photographers. North Patch: Distance from Loloata - 1.5 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 6 to 12 meters Best Time / Tide - High tide. Lovely hard coral garden. many varieties of not so common hard corals growing in fine formations on this small reef. Often visited by large Spanish Mackerel. South Patch: Distance from Loloata - 2.5 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 4 to 15 meters Best Time / Tide - High tide. Often effected by currents during spring tides. Pillars of hard corals, often with undercuts and small caves underneath lots of colour. Good amount of resident reef fish. Lilians Patch: Distance from Loloata - 2.7 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 6 to 20 meters Best Time / Tide - Can be effected by spring tides. Pretty stands of various hard corals and corkscrew sea whips. Colourful soft corals and fan corals. Scorpionfish, stonefish and Rhinopias (Merletts Scorpionfish) can be found. Quayles Reef: Distance from Loloata - 3.2 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 4 to 12 meters Best Time / Tide - Any. Colour! Every conceivable colour splashed across the reef. Resident Rhinopias (Merletts Scorpionfish) and Harlequin ghost pipefish. The Tunnel: Distance from Loloata - 2.9 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 5 to 15 meters Best Time / Tide - Any. Strong winds and high seas make this site inaccessible. Small tunnel swim through in 12 meters, usually packed with fish. Sloping wall with seawhips, gorgonian fans and soft corals. Pacific Gas (Wreck): Distance from Loloata - 3.1 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 16 to 30 meters Wreck lays with her mast in 9 meters and her rudder in 45 meters. Best Time / Tide - Location is exposed so weather conditions must be right. Caution with moderate currents diving spring tides. Scuttled in 1986 for sport divers. Ship is 65.1 meters long. Tremendous quantities of fish surrounding the wreck. magnificent corals particularly on the mast. Resident lionfish, leaf scorpionfish and ghost pipefish. One of the two sites where the red lined anthias is found. MV Pal 2 (Wreck): Distance from Loloata - 3.4 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 15 to 23 meters. Wreck lays with her masts in 15 meters and her keel in 27 meters. Best Time / Tide - Any. Very protected site in most weather conditions. Scuttled in 1982 for sport divers, 25 meter steel prawn trawler. Masts are thick with black corals, soft corals and tubastraea trees. Good quantities of fish life on and around the wreck Red lined anthias and Harliquin ghost pipefish found here. The End Bommie: Distance from Loloata - 3.5 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 6 to 20 meters Best Time / Tide - Out going tide for fishlike Rhinopias (Merletts scorpionfish) and crocodile flathead are often found here. Walls covered with gorgonian fans, pink seawhips, tubastraea and soft coral trees. Falling tide brings vast quantities of fish life to feed in the current. Pygmy seahorses are not uncommon. The Big Drop: Distance from Loloata - 3 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - From 10 meters down Best Time / Tide - Any. Caution must be taken to avoid currents during spring tides. Sheer wall, large gorgonian fans in deeper water, chance of seeing sharks and rays. Abundant fish life, including pygmy seahorses. Suzies Bommie: Distance from Loloata - 3.3 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 12 to 30 meters Best Time / Tide - Exposed location. Caution must be observed with weather and currents. Pristine bommie situated on white sand. Plethora of corals and fish life. Superlatives cannot describe this dive site. Good site for pygmy seahorses. Baldwins Bommie: Distance from Loloata - 3.5 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 15 to 35 meters Best Time / Tide - Any. Caution with strong winds and high seas. Something for all lens sizes, from extreme wide angle right down to extreme macro. Chance of encountering sharks and rays. Hard and soft corals abound. Large schools of fish with right current.

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Loloata Island Resort Web Site

Niugini Adventure

Photos on this page are by Neville Coleman.

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