Golden Princess at Kiriwana PNG ,10 May

Golden Princess's bridge cam is giving us a good view of the landing pier for the tenders at Kiriwana Island today. Looks like it must be very deep water up close to the beach for the ship to be so close to the shore.

We were there for my husbands birthday on the 19/2/17 and had a beautiful freshly cooked lobster just to the left of the jetty. My husband went fishing with one of the locals. This was our 2nd time and will definately go again. All of the PNG ports are amazing.

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Wow that is close.

Looking pretty good. We will be there in November this year.

We were there two years ago on the Sun Princess. We anchored in 70m and the ship used the thrusters all day to hold the ship safely off the reef.

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Just back from a PNG cruise on the Sun Princess. The ship does seem to be very close to shore at Kiriwina and it probably is in terms of depth of the water. If you're going swimming be aware that it's only shallow for a couple of meters before dropping very quickly. The locals were paddling their canoes within a metre of us swimming and we were only about three metres from shore. The undertow coming out of the water is very strong and you definitely need reef shoes but the fresh lobster is only $AUS10

Do the islanders accept $AU?? Thanks for any responses.

Do the islanders accept $AU?? Thanks for any responses.

At Kirawina yes. Australian dollars are more than welcome everywhere in PNG in multiples of $5. Don't give them coins. The locals have a lot of trouble trying to change them into kina so stick with Australian $5 notes. Take heaps with you. Everything is $5, $10 or $15. eg a stubbie holder made in China is $5 and so is a beer, but a fresh cooked lobster served on a bana leaf with local lime is $10.

The Lobster man will take you out to the reef to fish or snorkel for $25 an hour, if you like to fish take your own gear and if your feeling generous give him to you when you leave.

We also bought a nicely carved walking stick for $50. Some of the others we looked at were up to $350. It pays to ask others what they paid for things and the price goes down later in the day.

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At Kirawina yes. Australian dollars are more than welcome everywhere in PNG in multiples of $5. Don't give them coins. The locals have a lot of trouble trying to change them into kina so stick with Australian $5 notes. Take heaps with you. Everything is $5, $10 or $15. eg a stubbie holder made in China is $5 and so is a beer, but a fresh cooked lobster served on a bana leaf with local lime is $10.

How great to read your response. Good to know, I will start saving up the $5 notes.

It's a little bit of extra effort, but if you can do try to take Kina for use of the 3 Islands.

The Islanders suffer by getting a poor exchange rate for the AUD they earn.

At the end of the day they will often ask those in the tender queue if they have any Kina left to exchange for the AUD.

There are 3 main sources.

1. Bank / money exchange in Aussie;

2. Money changer who comes onboard in Alotau;

3. Westpac in Alotau if you are there first and during opening hours.

Thanks Opua Kiwi, will do. They are so poor, don't want to make it harder for them.

Great pic David, Cannot wait to get to PNG and explore these ports.

Also we were on the Aria and the self service kiosk near reception dispensed Kina.

If you go to Kitava there is a money changer there as well. The stall selling beers and soft drinks. We were chatting to him and he had spent some time in Aussie.

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Thank you all. Great info about Kina usage.

It's a little bit of extra effort, but if you can do try to take Kina for use of the 3 Islands.

The Islanders suffer by getting a poor exchange rate for the AUD they earn.

At the end of the day they will often ask those in the tender queue if they have any Kina left to exchange for the AUD.

 

There are 3 main sources.

1. Bank / money exchange in Aussie;

2. Money changer who comes onboard in Alotau;

3. Westpac in Alotau if you are there first and during opening hours.

There's a lot of truth in this but the prices they charge are very, very high so I reckon provided you don't try to give them coins they break even. It's the coins they try to exchange with you at the end of the day and it's heartbreaking when you're all out of Kina and all out of Aussie notes. The most important message here is don't even take coins with you.

We were at Kirriwina last week on Golden Princess. Please please please DO NOT use $AU. There is no money exchange on this island. In order for the locals here to change your $AU they have to give it to a man who takes it via canoe to a larger village and exchanges it for less than face value, he takes a cut then pays the locals a lot less than what they're entitled to. Yes, they will take your $AU as they don't want to loose a sale but they will beg other tourists to change it. We were harassed a lot by kids wanting us to change their $AU into Kina while we were there, to the point it was unpleasant and we got back on the ship. One kid even asked to buy our sons hat or shirt for the $AU he had that he couldn't use. Please please get Kina. These people have so little, please don't let them get cheated with the system they need to use to exchange your useless $AU.

Anybody had trouble with filling in the form to show what you are taking ashore in PNG and give to the schools? Apparently you need to declare all the donated items. Looking forward to hear about this procedure. Thanks in advance.

We were on the cruise, and trust me, you think it looks close in the bridge-cam, it looked much closer in person.

We were on the cruise, and trust me, you think it looks close in the bridge-cam, it looked much closer in person.

Sun Princess is there today ..also up close,

at least its a short tender ride.