I must be honest here. Before starting my most recent trip traveling through the Pacific as a solo female traveler, my knowledge about the Solomon Islands was basically non-existent. Where are the Solomon Islands and what is there to do there were just a few of the questions floating around in my mind. All I really knew was that the island country was close to PNG and that one of my friends had gone there in the 2000s to help erect cell phone towers (and I am thankful that she did as I am currently writing this while hot-spotting my laptop to my phone!). That was pretty much it. So when it came to planning this section of my four-country dash through the southern Pacific, I knew I had to do some serious research to get prepared. 

Did I do it? Absolutely not. I would like to say that it was because I was simply too busy travelling and having an amazing time. This is partly true. The other part is that at this point in my journey, I was tired. Tired of researching destination after destination with no end in sight and tired of paying a bunch of money to do things I didn’t really care that much about doing simply to check them off a list. 

So, I ended up arriving at Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands, with absolutely nothing planned or booked besides a hotel reservation at the Chester Rest House (which I highly recommend!) for the next four nights. I had attempted to contact people at Savo Island and Roderick Bay about visiting but hadn’t heard anything back. I had basically given up hope on visiting either of those nearby islands and had already decided against going to Gizo because it would have cost at least $500 just to get there. 

The prospect of spending six days in Honiara definitely didn’t excite me when I boarded my flight from Papua New Guinea there and I became even more despondent when I actually saw how small and dusty Honiara is. It is certainly one of the smallest capital cities I have ever visited and probably has the least amount to do as well. I spent my first day there wandering around and had a beer at the iconic Great Solomon Hotel. I also made a quick trip to a doctor so he could check some unfortunate sea lice burns that I had all over my body from snorkeling in Rabaul. Needless to say, by the end of the day, I was more than a little cranky. 

However, my mood soon changed when I got a message back from the owner of Savo Island Guest House confirming that he was going from Honiara to Savo the next day and that there was space for me on the boat. 

Savo Island

We left for Savo Island three hours later than expected. By the time we had finished the hour-and-a-half-long journey, I was soaking wet thanks to the huge waves that constantly splashed us. I was also feeling a little worse for wear so I decided to take a little break before starting the upcoming volcano trek. I was a little dismayed to find out that the lunch that I had pre-ordered wasn’t going to materialize knowing that I had a few hours of walking ahead of me.

So basically, I was hungry, wet, and nauseous as we climbed back into the boat to get dropped off at the starting point. We started the walk up to the volcano and I was really second-guessing whether or not I should be doing it. After walking uphill on a sandy slope, we suddenly veered off to the left and began following a trail that ran alongside a geothermal stream. The stream got hotter and hotter as we walked uphill, climbing over tree roots, and pulling ourselves up rickety ladders. We crisscrossed the stream multiple times, leaving me with very squishy (and slightly burnt feet). It felt like a fantastic little adventure and I loved it!  Suddenly, we got to a spot where everything looked, well, even more geothermal and my guide informed me that we had reached the furthest point. It had taken us around 1 hour and 20 minutes to get there and I wish we could have kept going longer!

We walked back down to the beach and waited for Bernard to come and pick us up. On the way back to the lodge, we stopped to hang out with the pod of dolphins right off the coastline near the lodge.  As soon as the dolphins heard the boat engines revving, they began showing off their acrobatic skills, jumping and leaping through the water. It was a fantastic sight and the best detour I could have asked for.

Once we got back to the lodge, I got cleaned up, had dinner, and then went outside to view one of the most amazing night skies I had ever seen. The stars looked like they were so close that I could reach out and touch them. It was the perfect end to a day that turned out way better than it started!

The next morning, I hopped back in the boat for the trip back to Honiara. This trip took much longer than the way there as we had to stop and run a handful of errands. It ended up taking nearly three hours, much of which was spent going against large waves, so once again, I climbed out of the boat feeling a little green in the gills and wondering how the hell I was going to get started on my next little sightseeing adventure – a World War II day in Guadalcanal!

Guadalcanal

As a history buff with an even bigger history buff for a father, I heard the word Guadalcanal many times when I was young. I knew that it was an important military site but wasn’t sure why. Although my knowledge grew slightly as I got older and began to travel through the Pacific, my knowledge of this theatre of World War II was sketchy at best. So when I was both PNG and the Solomon Islands, I decided to use it as an opportunity to learn as much as I could about these infamous battles. 

I rented a car for a half day and headed out to the World War II Museum. The museum, if you can call it that, is located on the eastern end of the island and is more like an airplane graveyard in the jungle than your run-of-the-mill military museum. The place was full of World War II-era planes, tanks, and bombs in various stages of disrepair. Some were completely intact while others had been blown to pieces. For me, the whole place felt unbearably sad, especially when the tour guide pointed out the bullet holes. I made a point to ask him whether or not the pilots had died, knowing that they were probably young men in their 20s who had barely had a chance to start living their own lives. 9 times out of 10, the men had gone down with the plane. In some places, they even found the skeletons of men neatly strapped in by their seatbelts. 

It was a sobering place and it really brought home the horrors of World War II throughout the world, not just in Europe and East Asia which I had studied the most about.  It was also a very stark reminder that we should be doing everything in our power to reduce the chances of another great war happening. Based on the 2024 US election results, this doesn’t seem likely. 

I made my way back to Honiara, stopping at one of the beaches along the way. The beach was famous for snorkeling as you could swim by a ruined Japanese ship. I had a few mixed feelings about snorkeling at a place where dozens of men had lost their lives and wasn’t actually sure I would be brave enough to do it. Luckily, Mother Nature made that decision for me and as it turned out, the water was way too rough to go in. Instead, I took a few photos and then headed back to Honiara for an early night’s sleep as I had to prepare for another adventure the following day! (Oh and work, I also had to work….)

Roderick Bay

The next morning, I set off for Roderick Bay. This was a slightly unexpected trip as I had been trying to contact the owner for weeks with little response. I finally managed to get ahold of him and made a reservation that included the round-trip boat transfer from Honiara. This is usually really expensive to do on your own but another guest was already going so I was able to join his trip. I was so lucky that it ended up working out because Roderick Bay was amazing!

It took about two hours to get there and I then spent the next few days snorkeling, paddle boarding, wandering around the forest, and drinking beer with the owner and my fellow guest. He was a big-shot travel writer so they laid out the red carpet for him complete with cultural performances, village tours, and more. Because I had befriended him earlier, I got to join for free. It was a lovely few days and I was equal parts fascinated by the wonderful snorkeling and the crystal clear water and the massive sunken cruise ship that lies just off the beach.  This expedition-like ship (similar to the ones that go to Antarctica) had apparently hit some coral and got some massive holes in the bottom. They ended up grounding the ship in hopes of salvaging it later on but due to political instability in the Solomon Islands, this ended up not being possible.

The cruise ship has been completely stripped of any furnishings and is now simply a place for aquatic life to flourish. While I was way too chicken to swim inside of the ship, I did paddle board around it many times and got some great photos.

Honiara

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and after two nights at Roderick Bay, I regretfully made my way back to Honiara. There, I explored a little bit more of the island, including a poignant World War II memorial perched high on the hills above the city. From there, you could see the entire Rust Bottom Sound. I had just watched The Pacific miniseries where they depicted the epic battles that took place there. I could almost imagine what it must have been like for the people living there as well as the soldiers and marines stranded there. 

On my last day, I visited the tiny national museum and learned a bit more about the history of the Solomon Islands. While I was there, a school group was inside one of the rooms. While the teacher tried to keep the kids focused on the exhibits, most of them were too busy staring at me to concentrate. The teacher was telling them about the mixed heritage of the Solomon Islands and kept reminding the kids that no matter what your skin color or hair color is, everyone is beautiful. That seemed like the perfect way to end my trip in these lovely islands and I later headed to the airport with a warm heart.