Max and Cecilie Benjamin
Simply stated, Walindi Plantation Dive Resort is Kimbe Bay as far diving is concerned…
Walindi is owned and operated by Max & Cecilie Benjamin together with their son Cheyne.
Max & Cecilie came to New Britain in the late 1960′s as agronomists, on a short term assignment for the Australian colonial government of the time. They were on their way to a new life in Canada, but all that changed in 1969 when they bought the 800 acre Walindi palm oil plantation on the shores of Kimbe Bay.
They started scuba diving in in 1976 and never having dived anywhere else, assumed that what was under the water in Kimbe Bay was just normal and what you would see anywhere…
It took a family holiday to Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea’s Sinai peninsular in 1978 for them to first understand just how special their backyard was!
The Benjamins started the dive resort in 1983, with one boat and two guest bungalows and over the years it has grown to it’s current capacity of 12 self-contained bungalows, each with its own bathroom and located just back from the beach under the shade of the many palm trees.
There is a central lodge area with a swimming pool & sun deck, dining room, lounge & bar area and the whole resort has a very pleasant laid back feel.
Walindi Plantation Dive Resort’s Main Lodge
Walindi Dive Resort’s Main Lodge
Walindi Resort Dive Boat
Walindi operates three day boats, each of which can accommodate 6-8 divers and 2-3 dives per day, with two dives being the norm and the third available on request.
The dive boats leave at 08.00 in the morning and return mid-afternoon with lunch being taken along and provided on one of the islands in Kimbe Bay and the average time to most dive sites is around 40 minutes, but the more remote sea-mount sites obviously take a bit longer.
Late afternoon and night dives are also available on request, but are usually conducted on the nearby sites like the Hanging Gardens.
Overall everything is very well organized and it is pretty obvious that the resort has been in operation for a long time and all the bugs have been ironed out a long time ago.
One very nice touch that photographers will appreciate, is that you are told the night before at dinner which sites will be dived the next day, along with a brief description of what you are likely to see – no guarantees of course…
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