- EM17 - TUFI WEEKENDER PACKAGE FOR INDEPENDENT TRAVELLERS
3 nights ex-Port Moresby (2 nights Tufi Dive Resort, 1 night village guest house)
Friday afternoon departures only.
The Tufi district of Oro Province is famous for its Nordic-type fjords. The breathtaking topography is dominated by some 25 fjords which penetrate deep into the coastal landscape. Many of the fjords feature sheer basalt cliffs. There are numerous white sandy beaches perfect for swimming, and pristine fringing reefs offer excellent snorkelling. The water clarity is stunning and scuba diving is a major attraction for visitors to the area. The world’s largest butterfly, the Queen Alexandra Birdwing, can be found in most sweet potato gardens in the Tufi area.
The people of the Tufi area have a rich cultural heritage that is nurtured and treasured. One of the most memorable experiences for visitors is witnessing a sing-sing featuring bare-chested dancers with intricate facial tattoos, adorned with traditional tapa (bark) cloth and spectacular coloured feather headdresses.
Village people in the Tufi district are experienced at hosting visitors in village guest houses for hiking, fishing and skindiving experiences. Hiking of moderate difficulty can be enjoyed in the Tufi area at a leisurely pace.
Typical daily activities at village guest houses in the Tufi area include swimming, snorkelling, line fishing or spear-fishing, exploring the fjords and mangrove labyrinths by paddling outrigger canoes, or relaxing in the shade on the beach. A map of the Tufi area can be found on our website Tufi page.
Tufi Dive Resort is a small, boutique dive resort that offers a range of aquatic activities including scuba diving (if you have your scuba ticket), snorkelling, fishing and kayaking, as well as hiking, village tours and bird-watching.
This 3 night itinerary can commence any Friday afternoon subject to availability of accommodation at Tufi Dive Resort. Extension till Wednesday is occasionally possible if there is a charter flight with seats available.
Tour cost includes all airfares, accommodation, meals, transfers, guides and village-based activities (except where stated). BYO snorkelling gear. Additional activities at Tufi Dive Resort (diving, organised fishing trips, organised village trips etc) are pay-as-you-go.
PACKAGE COST (price per person):
Group of 1 |
Group of 2 |
Group of 3 |
Group of 4+ |
PGK 3743 |
PGK 2807 |
PGK 2733 |
PGK 2625 |
USD$ 1385 |
USD$ 1039 |
USD$ 1011 |
USD$ 971 |
AUD$ 1609 |
AUD$ 1207 |
AUD$ 1175 |
AUD$ 1129 |
Upgrade to deluxe bungalow at Tufi Dive Resort – add 5% of package price person.
Downgrade to backpacker dorm at Tufi Dive Resort – deduct 5% of package price per person.
Single supplement – applies to both resort and village guest house: add 5% of package price person (after upgrade/downgrade, if applicable).
PACKAGE INCLUSIONS (STANDARD 3 NIGHT PACKAGE):
Airfares Port Moresby-Tufi-Port Moresby
Two nights standard accommodation and main meals at Tufi Dive Resort (twin share basis) (includes extra breakfast for Monday morning arrivals)
One night village guest house accommodation including local-style food, guide, access to beaches and reefs, use of outrigger canoe, village sing-sing performance if available
Return water transfers between Tufi and the village guest house using either paddle canoe or motor boat depending on distance, weather, time factor etc (Ecotourism Melanesia’s discretion)
Tropical first aid kit (on request – loan basis)
EXCLUSIONS:
Additional motorised dinghy hire for excursions
Activities ex-Tufi Dive Resort
Snacks and bar drinks at Tufi Dive Resort
Excess baggage charges
Optional extension if Wednesday charter flight available: 2 extra nights Monday, Tuesday fly out Wednesday morning. Includes 1 extra night at village guest house, 1 extra night Tufi Dive Resort. Extra cost PGK715 AUD$335 USD$265 per person.
Extended itinerary: Friday, Saturday nights at Tufi Dive Resort. Sunday, Monday nights at village. Tuesday night back at Tufi Dive Resort.
ITINERARY:
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Scuba diving
Day hiking
A warm welcome with a traditional dance
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DAY 2: Saturday TUFI DIVE RESORT / VILLAGE GUEST HOUSE
0700 Breakfast
0830 Full day scuba diving or snorkelling with Tufi Dive Resort. If you are a diver, you should be able to fit in two boat dives today.
Tufi Dive Resort is a small, boutique dive resort that offers a range of activities including scuba diving (if you have your scuba ticket), snorkelling, fishing and kayaking. Scheduled morning and afternoon boat dive trips operate every day, snorkellers can also tag along to some of the dive sites which also have suitable snorkelling. There is also a very good house reef just near the wharf, suitable for both diving and snorkelling. If you are not an aquatic person, you may prefer to take a stroll around the Tufi government “station”, meeting the locals and soaking up the laid back rural town atmosphere. There are about 50 houses, a couple of little shops and a few provincial government offices. Only the resort has electricity. You can also spend the day hiking around the spur (rim) of the main Tufi Fjord, passing through local villages, or just relaxing at the resort which has a fully stocked bar and plenty of comfortable chairs with panoramic views and wickedly refreshing sea breezes. There is also a small freshwater swimming pool and a great library of books and videos.
1630 Tufi Dive Resort staff will transfer you by motor boat to your village guest house. (NB if you are not a diver and you wish to skip the option of spending the day at Tufi Dive Resort, we can arrange for you to be transferred straight to Siu village after breakfast instead.)
Your village guest house hosts will have a warm welcome ready for you. Orientate yourself to your surroundings before sunset because there will be no electricity at the village guest house and all lighting will be by kerosene lamps and flashflights – and of course the bonfire that you will sit by during the evening while enjoying a chat with your hosts.
Overnight Village Guest House (twin share room, includes meals).
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Sitting and enjoying at Tufi baech
A view of Tufi fjords from Tufi Dive Resort
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DAY 3: Sunday VILLAGE GUEST HOUSE / TUFI DIVE RESORT
Spend the full day at the village guest house enjoying the range of activities available, which will surely include sitting and walking on the beach. Note that there is NO BEACH in front of Tufi Dive Resort (it is situated on a cliff overlooking the fjords with great views, and a nice reef down below, but no beach).
If you are a churchgoer, or even if you are not, the locals will be delighted to welcome you at their little church service this Sunday morning. Most villages have a little Anglican church and there are also a few little Catholic and United Church congregations.
Late in the afternoon, transfer back to Tufi Diver Resort. This may be by paddle canoe or motorised dinghy depending on which guest house you are staying at (ie how far), what the weather is like, and how much luggage you have.
Overnight Tufi Dive Resort (standard bungalow, twin share basis, includes main meals)
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Tufi Dive Resort
Kofure Village Guest House
Bauwame village guest house
Tainabuna village guset house
A view of Garewa beach from Garewa beach hut
Jebo village home stay
Siu village guest house
Relaxing at Kofure village guest house
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NOTES ON VILLAGE GUEST HOUSES AROUND TUFI
There are a number of village guest houses that we book for our EM17 packages. In terms of scenery, access to good snorkelling, type of food served, and standard of accommodation they are all much the same. However there are slight variations in their setup and locations which may make one location more suitable than another for your particular group size and interests. Accordingly you are welcome to specify one of the following guest houses or otherwise we will allocate your booking in turn so as to balance the number of bookings allocated to each guest house over time.
Kofure Village Guest House – only 30 minutes paddling time from Tufi airfield, this is the closest guest house. Has a small beach in front of guest house, nice lawns, great reefs, beautiful mangrove labyrinths, small family village behind guest house, this is Tufi’s first-established guest house and has enough rooms to cater for school groups, football teams etc. Has running water and some electricity. Can be hot here if no sea breeze.
Bauwame Village Guest House – sturdy guest house on a windy hill with 270 degree panoramic views of the Tufi coastline and Amuian Fjord, about 45 minutes paddling from Tufi Dive Resort wharf. No beach in front of guest house but very good snorkelling reef, big fjord to explore, tiny offshore island a short paddle away has beach and palm trees. Small village behind guest house, opportunity to enjoy a sing-sing. 24-hour wind makes it a cool spot. Be prepared to huff and puff for 10 minutes to get up the hill to the guest house.
Tainabuna Village Guest House – about 1 hour paddling time from Tufi Dive Resort, located right on a private shady beach with overhanging trees, quiet shallow inlet great for learning how to paddle a canoe. Guest house is quiet and private: has multiple rooms but usually no other guests staying apart from you. No nearby village - owner’s house 5 mins paddle away - so not much opportunity to interact with locals except at the nearby spring where people come to collect drinking water.
Garewa Beach Hut – small beach hut suitable for up to 4 people, quiet and private, no village nearby only the caretaker’s house a discreet distance away. Separate dining hut where meals are served.
Jebo Village Guest House – located in a large village, plenty of interaction with locals (play volleyball, enjoy a sing-sing), stunning beach just 5 mins walk away, good reef, scenic hiking, bird of paradise nesting spot 1 hour walk from guest house. Butterflies galore.
Siu Village Guest House – accommodation in bungalows located on a point overlooking the sea but have to paddle or walk 10 mins to get to nearest beach and snorkelling. Scenic inland hikes. Nice village with several guest houses, friendly people.
(NB Garewa, Jebo and Siu are all too far to paddle (at least for these weekender packages) and require motor boat transfer each way. This is include in your package but don’t book one of these guest houses if you are interested in demonstrating your new-found outrigger canoe paddling skills for the transfer back to Tufi on Sunday afternoon.)
At each of these village guest houses, accommodation is in local-style huts or bungalows, or private rooms within a large local-style house. None of these guest houses are built with modern building materials or roofing iron – everything is local-style. Bedding is provided in the form of a mattress with clean sheets and pillow, and a mosquito net. In general, guest house rooms have either a single bed or twin beds. A few have double beds.
Toilets are located in pit latrine outhouses. Bathing takes places either in a nearby stream or in an outdoor bathroom which may have running water from a rainwater tank or may have a 44-gallon drum that is topped up manually by the guesthouse caretaker and you can use a small dish or bowl to scoop water from this drum over yourself.
Meals are local-style and feature seafood, chicken and sometimes pork with generous helpings of fresh local vegetables and fruit. In the evening they usually prepare a “mumu” dinner of freshly caught fish or lobster and other seafoods wrapped in banana leaves with ginger root and coconut milk and baked under hot stones with vegetables.
Breakfast is usually village scones or pancakes with billy tea. Lunch is usually local greens and sweet potato or yam cooked in coconut milk with some fresh fish or lobster, with fruit on the side.
If you are staying in a guest house with a village attached, a traditional sing-sing performance will take place on the night you arrive, to welcome you. This will be a vibrant display of colourful feathers and tapa cloth accompanied by harmonious singing and the beating of hand drums covered with lizard skin. A gratuity for the village people in appreciate of the sing-sing welcome is already included in your package. Usually the gratuity we give is donated to the village church, school or women’s group.
As part of your package, each day the village guest house operator will provide for you:
- 3 main meals
- supplies of tea and coffee with a thermos of hot water on standby
- supplies of cool drinking water and fresh coconut juice
- supplies of bananas, pawpaw, pineapple etc for between meal snacks
- an outrigger canoe for you to paddle yourself around, with or without a guide to assist with paddling
- access to beach for walking and swimming, and reef for snorkelling
- a guide available for hiking, walking around the village etc
- opportunities to accompany village people on routine activities like fishing, gardening etc if you would like to do so.
If you request additional organised activities, such as a fishing expedition that requires a motor boat, a village culture demonstration such as sago making or facial tattooing, you may be asked to pay an extra fee for this because it may require the involvement of people outside the village guest house owner’s family, who will expect a gratuity for their time.
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