Kiriwina Island, PNG - Cruise Ship Destination

Second port was Kiriwina, a tender port. The largest of the Trobriand Islands, Kiriwina has an area of over 290 square kilometres and is a raised atoll.

The main town is Losuia, situated mid way down the island. 

The cruise ships tender to the top of the island in a more remote area.

During WWII allied forces landed there and constructed an airfield and supported the raids on Rabaul. The Trobriand Islands were known as the 'islands of love' and were made famous by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski, who researched the people and their customs.

Like much of PNG, there are tribal uprisings and conflicts, the most recent being October 2022, when 30 people were killed. Cruise ships will not go to ports when there is any chance of civil unrest or natural disasters.

We were surprised at Kiriwini. A beautiful beach, but the atmosphere was spoilt by the many locals that continually came up to us to sell something, from goods to live birds - "5 kina to let the bird go" to cooked fish. It started as we got off the tenders.

Once on the beach we were faced with a sign to come and see human bones! Others on the ship went down there and were charged to see the bones once there.

All along the beach, in each direction were market stalls, with wooden souvenirs and local handicrafts. We were surprised to see a couple of souvenirs made in China, and also how uniform many of the stalls were - selling the same items that all looked identical. As we walked along the stalls we passed a school where children were singing and dancing. We only went down one way, and I stopped halfway to go to the beach to wait for the boys, while the boys walked the whole way down. It was very hot.

I had wanted to sit on the beach also but locals came right up to me, wanting to take me on a tour of their village for a price. I know they are only trying to make a living, but it made me feel very uncomfortable.

The same with the boys. They sat on the beach and a local came and sat right next to them and wanted to show them around. He wouldn't go away, so the boys packed up and went back to the ship.

If you walk along the markets to the left as you get off the jetty onto the beach, right at the end there is a what appears as a private beach. It is a good 10-15 minute walk and is behind a fence where locals do not approach you. There is no resort there, it is simply a section of beach that locals charge $5AUS for so you to enjoy the beach without locals approaching you.

As I said a lovely beach and glad we got to experience it, ......... but we probably won't get off the ship next time.

Petalli Travellers Video - Kiriwina PNG