Diving Papua New Guinea: Tufi – Diving Cape Nelson Fiords

Map of Cape Nelson and its fiords

The fiords of Cape Nelson are very much its visually defining feature and are unique to this part of Papua New Guinea.

In total, there are several large fiords on the cape, with Amuian Bay to the south of Tufi fiord being the largest.

Tufi fiord and Maclaren Harbour to the north are about the same size and roughly ¾ of the size of Amuian Bay.

All the fiords are quite spectacular above water and it’s an inspiring experience motoring up in to them and one can only wonder at the forces that created them!

The fiords are over 90m deep and, apart from the Tufi fiord & parts of Maclaren fiord, are virtually unexplored underwater.

Diving in the fiords is an unusual experience…

There are a variety of things to see and the best way I can describe the general ambiance is that it’s a little bit like fresh water lake diving…

Diving Papua New Guinea: Cape Nelson Fiords – Hubert’s Point

My personal favorite fiord dive site, besides Tufi Wharf & House Reef is Hubert’s Point, which is located further up into Tufi fiord but over on the southern side and can be seen across the water from the resort’s observation deck at the resort.

What makes Hubert’s Point so nice is the superb sponge garden found down at around 20m, which creates a wonderful splash of color against the fairly dark waters of the fiord at that depth.

Unfortunately I was only able to dive the site once due to a difference of opinion between the resort and the traditional owners of the land on the headland…

Hubert’s Point Image Gallery

Diving Papua New Guinea: Cape Nelson Fiords – Maclaren Harbour

There are two good sites in Maclaren Harbour, the first being Don’s Reef (no… not this Don…) which is a pleasant, if not spectacular dive with an interesting assortment of hard corals & colorful sponges:

Don’s Reef Image Gallery

The second site is called Maclaren’s and is a pleasant dive where you will find an assortment pf macro subjects:

Maclaren’s Image Gallery

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