Travel Guide Île De Samarai

It is hard to imagine that this small island that we are walking around in an hour was less than years old, the second largest commercial port in the country and the capital of the province. Located at the exit of Alotau Bay, in the Chinese Strait, it was at the time of the English administration a compulsory stop for all merchant ships sailing between Australia and South-East Asia. As the national capital, it was "discovered" by Captain John Moresby in 1873, and the London Missionary Society settled on the island as early as 1878. In 1888, Samarai was declared part of the British protectorate with the privilege of becoming the capital of the district. A first store for the passage boats was opened in 1884 and, from the beginning of the th century, trade became flourishing. Now the island was urbanised, the dried marshes and even a tram! The very cosmopolitan population, although apartheid struck indigenous people, had a pretty city, several pubs, a bishop, shops, a hospital, and electricity from 1927. However, Samarai, whose importance declined in the 1920 s, was evacuated in January 1942 to the Japanese advance in the Pacific, and then destroyed completely so that existing infrastructure does not benefit the Japanese. Finally, the Americans occupied it again in 1943, installing a naval base. After the war, the island never regained its influence and splendour, and in 1968 the provincial capital was transferred to Alotau. Although the island has been declared «National Historic Heritage» since 2006, it is now living in great isolation and nothing is being done to promote tourism. Yet his visit is necessary, to contemplate the last vestiges of his past splendour and a nature that repeats his rights, although the island is still inhabited. It is also a very famous dive and diving site. We can come to Samarai by boat VMS (30 kinas) from Alotau, but his visit is included in most of the tours proposed in town.