West Solomon Islands Travel Guide

Western Province is one of the provinces of the Solomon Islands. It contains many small lagoons and most of the country's tourist trade (outside of Honiara).
The provincial capital is Gizo, a town of around 3000. Most of the troubles that affect the country have had minimal impact in the Western Province, which saw no major violence during the revolution.
Tourism is discouraged throughout the Solomon Islands, but the west is by far the most accommodating area, including multiple hotels and resorts, dive shops, restaurants, and boat tours.
Munda, the largest town on New Georgia island, has a landing strip built during WWII by the US and is listed as an emergency landing runway, capable of handling even jumbo jets.
The diving in the Western Province is pristine as tourists tend to visit nearby Fiji for diving rather than visiting the less developed Solomon Islands. Also, malaria is a concern in the Solomons, which keeps many tourists away. The result is spectacular dive conditions with untouched coral reefs.
The Western Province and nearby Choiseul were significantly affected by the 8.1 magnitude April 2 2007 earthquake, the associated Tsunami and the 100+ significant (in excess of magnitude 4.0) aftershocks. The official death toll was 52 with several thousand persons displaced, most of the displaced are expected to be living in temporary shelters for a minimum of between 6 to 9 months. The island of Ranongga to the west of Gizo was uplifted by around 2.5 - 3 metres resulting in the death of its fringing reef and also opening massive fissures in the island itself. (...) more....

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