Guadalcanal

The largest island in the Solomons is Guadalcanal. The main port of entry into the Solomon Islands is at Henderson Airport which is approximately 10 minutes drive from the capital of Honiara. The town is situated on the northern coastline and includes a small, picturesque seaport at Point Cruz.

It is not all wreck diving, because there are some beautiful reefs around Tasivarongo Point just past Bonegi Beach and at other locations along the coast. The dive operator in Honiara is Geoff Allen who has taken over Coastwatchers at the Honiara Hotel. He can be contacted by phone on 677 73672, or send an email to this website and it will be forwarded to him.

Since the Allies had control of Henderson airfield in the latter part of 1942, re-supply of the surviving Japanese troops on Guadalcanal by surface vessel had become difficult and several vessels including the Hirokawa Maru, the Kinugawa Maru, the Kyushu Maru, and the Azumasan Maru were lost. The Imperial Japanese Navy ordered the submarine force to organize a supply system for the IJA garrison on Guadalcanal. By January 1943, the Japanese forces on Guadalcanal only had control of the northwest corner of the island, a fairly mountainous area around Cape Esperance, with the US forces moving along the north coast towards them. 

The older I-class submarines were used to carry supplies from Rabaul and land them at night in Kamimbo Bay. The IJN Submarine I-1 ran aground on the reef off Tambea in January 1943 after a battle with two New Zealand corvettes. Another IJN Submarine, the I-3, was raked by .50 calibre machine-gun fire and torpedoed by two PT boats about three miles north of Cape Esperance.

A list of possible wreck dive sites includes the following:

• Hirokawa Maru

• Kinugawa Maru

• Azumasan Maru

• IJN Submarine I-1

• USS John Penn

The Japanese transports Hirokawa Maru and Kinugawa Maru were sunk in November 1942 quite close to the beach near Bonegi Creek, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Honiara.  Another transport, Azumasan Maru, lies a little further west near Tasivarongo Point.  The big Japanese cruiser submarine I-1 lies on the outside of the reef off Tambea which is a small village about 25 miles (40 km) west of Honiara. The American troopship USS John Penn lies on its starboard side off Lungga Point, east of Honiara, at 180 feet (56 m).  The cruiser USS Atlanta lies off Honiara at 430 feet (130 m) well beyond the range of recreational divers.