Solomon Islands

Where to surf in Solomon Islands

The Solomon’s are the 3rd largest archipelago in the South Pacific, known for their unspoilt beauty and relaxed pace of life. They may not be in the ideal location to get the best Pacific swells, but there are some quality coral reefbreaks throughout the archipelago.

Choiseul

The northern tip of Buka Island has a reefbreak and somewhere to stay at Hanpan. North Choiseul is wrapped in a fractured fringe of coral and some promising passes, again requiring a boat.

Western Province

This is where surfing has expanded, on the back of the diving resorts infrastructure, set up to explore the incredible lagoon – Marovo, which is blessed with 30m visibility and countless WWII underwater relics. Gizo is the capital of the Western Province and the starting point for riding some of the established waves on New Georgia like Skull Island, which is probably the longest righthander in the Solomons when a decent SE-SW pulse arrives from the Solomon Sea.

Isabel

A new resort built on Papatura Island off the NE-exposed coast of Santa Isabel claims access to a dozen breaks in a half hour cruising range with some flexibility when it comes to swell, wind and tide.

Malaita and Makira-Ulawa

Good waves have been ridden by a lucky few who have overcome the challenge of travelling to Malaita and Makira, which faces NE, picking up a variety of swell directions, but the main problem is access in this undeveloped region.

Guadalcanal

Surprisingly, the majority of discoveries have turned up on the SW-facing coasts, when the Coral Sea cyclones kick in. The group’s capital, Honiara, on Guadalcanal is the gateway to the Solomon’s and under the right conditions, there’s surf at Beaufort Bay and Yandina in the Russell Islands.