Alotau

Alotau is the capital of Milne Bay at the eastern tip of the mainland and the base for what many divers consider the best water in Papua New Guinea, a province of six hundred islands where reefs, walls and muck sites sit close together. Milne Bay was the site of the first land defeat of Japanese forces in the Pacific, and wrecks lie in the harbour. The November canoe festival brings decorated war canoes and kundu drums from across the province. Liveaboards run from the wharf to the outer atolls. Most people arrive by air and stay on a boat rather than in town.