New Ireland & Kavieng · Papua New Guinea · Channel & pass · Wall
Albatross Passage
Eagle rays and grey reef sharks crowding the channel as the tide floods in
Area photo: Micha Baum · CC BY-SA 4.0
Albatross Passage is a narrow tidal channel near Kavieng where the incoming tide pulls in eagle rays, three kinds of reef shark, big tuna, jacks and barracuda. Alongside the open-water action runs a wall grown over with fan coral, black coral and sponges, so a single dive switches between pelagics in the blue and small creatures on the reef face.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows New Ireland & Kavieng and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The dive is planned around the incoming tide, when the narrow passage fills with fish. Between 12 and 30 m, eagle rays and whitetip, blacktip and grey reef sharks patrol the channel with big tuna, schooling jacks and barracuda, and mobula rays sometimes pass through.
Turning away from the channel brings the wall into view, overgrown with fan coral, black coral and sponges. Its surface hides nudibranchs, leaf scorpionfish and pygmy seahorses, a slower close-focus contrast to the pelagic traffic out in the passage.
Marine life and season
- Eagle rays
- Reef sharks
- Tuna
- Trevally & jacks
- Barracuda
- Mobula rays
- Nudibranchs
- Pygmy seahorses
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair |
Season follows New Ireland & Kavieng: The New Hanover trips run from May to October; rain from late December to March and North Pacific swell from November to April mark the rest of the year.
Dive videos
PAPUA NEW GUINEA Albatross Passage · Stuart Ireland on YouTube
Questions divers ask
When is Albatross Passage best dived?+
On the incoming tide, when the narrow passage fills with fish and the sharks, eagle rays and tuna gather in the channel.
Sources
- Dive Sites | Lissenung Island Resort — Lissenung Island Resort
More dive sites in New Ireland & Kavieng
Wall
A coral slope that suddenly turns into a sheer drop out of sight
Wreck
A wartime Japanese floatplane ringed by schooling batfish and snapper
Pinnacle
An isolated ocean ridge whose point pulls in barracuda and jacks
Coral garden
Frogfish, seahorses and the odd mimic octopus on the sandy slope west of the island
A Second World War bomber that ditched after a raid on Kavieng
Similar dives elsewhere
Occasional scalloped hammerheads on the deep edges of a tidal channel
Hook in on the channel edge and let the current run
The channel through the centre of Chole Bay, dived as a drift
Channel & pass
Magic Passage
Madang & the North Coast · Papua New Guinea
A wall of big-eye trevally closing around divers on the turning tide