Tufi Dive Resort

The flight to Tufi was easy, I pretty much slept the entire way, which was actually kind of a shame; I’ve read a lot of on traveling there and supposedly getting to see the landscape via plane is really a treat.  Unfortunately, I’m one of those people that believe airlines put some sort of sleeping gas in the air conditioning ducts, because I will often pass out on a plane before we even take off.  Anyway, we landed in Tufi with a bit of a thud, as the “tarmac” is more like a soggy “sandmac”.  Right when I disembarked, a nice Australian couple, Debbie and Wayne, met us to drive us over to the resort.  As we drove away from the airport Debbie and Wayne waved to all the people leaving from the resort, and I found myself thinking that they must have really gotten along with those particular people staying there.  Anyway, about 90 seconds later, we pulled into the Tufi Dive Resort. 

There is really nothing around, no stores, restaurants, roads, grocery stores, nothing.  We followed our hosts into the resort and to the balconied dining area overlooking the ocean and fjord on the backside of the resort.  It was a really amazing view with cliffs in the distance beyond the water and lush green tropical fruit-yielding trees naturally cropping up along the plateaus.  They handed out the itinerary for diving/snorkeling for the next two days, and then the local village overnight stays that I had booked as well for the last three nights.  I chatted with them a bit about running the resort etc; apparently, they were from Cairns (pronounced “cans”), in Australia, and came to visit the resort the year before.  A few months after they left, they had a mutual friend who also visited, on their recommendation, who notified them that the management wanted to take a few months and sail off traveling themselves, and were looking for someone to run the resort while they were gone.  That’s how they found themselves living in Tufi, Papua New Guinea, running a resort!  Such a cool story!  I keep hoping that will happen to me somewhere!  Anyway, after the rundown, they showed me to the breakfast area where I chowed down on warm muffins, pancakes with REAL MAPLE SYRUP!!  Fruits, nuts and lots of other yummy breakfast foods.  After breakfast, we were showed to our room.  It was easily the nicest place I’ve stayed at on this trip.  There was a balcony overlooking the ocean,

FREE SHAMPOO, CONDITIONER, AND SOAP!!!  Hallelujah, haha.  A plush bed with big fluffy pillows, a nice shower where I didn’t have to wear flip flops, and tons of towels to use to my heart’s content!  I know you’re are all reading this thinking, those are pretty basic hotel amenities, but a) not for me and b) you have to imagine in with the VIEW…or else it’s a just a bamboo house with a lot of rooms.  Oh, yeah, it was made out of wood and bamboo with woven and dyed sego palm leaves, so HA!  Anyway, that was pretty great to see.  Also, it was personalized; my name was on the front door! 

I think the first things I did was take a long, hot shower and lie down in the bed for a while!  After a sufficient rest, I went out for lunch (in the resort, it wasn’t very big) and walked around a bit down to the dock area where you could dive or snorkel.  A lot of the locals “commuted” to the resort in their outrigger canoes to sell food or work, or just sit by the water all day, which means they took the trunk of a tree and hollowed it out, squished into it with one leg on top of the other, and paddled from their home village over to the resort area on the ocean’s waters.  The outrigger canoes were so thin, but they did place a wooden stabilizer than extended off to one side and usually a sail made of something makeshift.  They were pretty neat to see. 

As I walked around the dock area, I would smile to people and say hello, and received the most jarring petrifying smile in return.  In about 0.5 seconds, I noticed that when people smiled their mouths were blood red and their teeth were shiny and completely black/very deep dark red.  It looked like they had just finished tearing the head off of a small animal with their bare teeth!  I quickly learned after asking around at the resort, that all the locals eat something called betel nut.  Alone it looks like a harmless green nut, about the size of a walnut.  It can be eaten as is, pulled off the tree, but the locals will mix it with lye, which produces its red color and completely rots the teeth, because if its acidity.  The betel nut contains psychoactive properties, giving the eater a bit of a high.  Both men and women munch on the mix throughout the day.  In that sense, it’s not super surprising there isn’t a lot of infrastructure around.  Anyway, after a bit of a wander, I went back to the resort, and Wayne approached asking if I’d like an upgraded room!!  Um, yes please!  I hadn’t unpacked too much, so it was easy to move everything 25 feet down to a different room.  This room was much larger, with a four poster bed, draped with mosquito netting, and a larger, more private balcony with a hammock, table and chairs, and a bigger bathroom!  Wahoo!!!  About eight other people started trickling in, having returned from a dive trip early in the morning.  Most people lounged around in the pool chatting, until dinner.  They were all traveling together with a dive company run out of Brisbane, Australia.  Most were from Brisbane, with a few from Cairns.  As the sun went down, I took a ton of pictures of the sunset over the fjord, and got ready for dinner in the large open dining area overlooking the water.  We all ate together at communal tables, so it was easy to get to know everybody.  We were the only people there not involved with the dive trip from Brisbane.  Everybody was really nice, and some had traveled and dived all over the world!  After dinner, everybody was pretty pooped, so we all went to bed in preparation for an early morning.
The next day, everyone rose and made their way to the breakfast area for a big hearty breakfast.  At about seven, we started making our way down to the docks for a day on the water.  I was the only professional snorkeler in the group…it’s really hard to get the technique down, so most would have had a hard time keep up. ;)  Our first reef stop of the day was Cyclone.  We all disembarked with our respective guides.  Everyone had been talking excitedly about the different sharks they hoped to see, specifically a hammerhead, which if you don’t know (as I didn’t until I started snorkeling a lot while traveling) is one of the most aggressive sharks around.  As I was prepping, I mentioned to my guide that I was actually petrified of sharks and would not see it as a great experience to run around looking for them.  All the local guys on the boat, kind of giggled, making me think we wouldn’t actually see anything scary.  We hopped in the water, and immediately started to see the kingdom of sea life below the water.  The reef was a bit farther from the surface that I normally like, but I was still able to see a lot of fish none-the-less.  Then I got a tap on the shoulder, and my guide pointed into the distance, where I could just make out a white-tipped shark.  Oh good Lord, did I absolutely PANIC!!  I freaked out.  The boat was pretty far at that point, but I made a bee line for it.  Realizing it was too far for me to beat the shark, I turned around and basically swam in circles, in an attempt to create enough centrifugal force to actually life myself up out of the water, which did not work as I had hoped.  My guide came over and tried to calm me, while I tried to calm my breathing and keep myself from crying, because I wouldn’t be able to see the shark!  After a bit, the shark started swimming away, and I hesitantly continued on, constantly on the lookout for sharks.  I still enjoyed the swim, but was also still freaked out.  My favorite part was actually toward the end of the swim, as the reef came closer to the surface and I was able to interact more with the coral and sea life. 

After the swim, I got back on the boat, and we all have some lunch and hot coffee to get warm.  We then drove to the next reef, Mullaway’s.  I preferred this reef, because everything was much closer to the surface.  Divers always say they prefer diving for many reasons, one being they feel like they are more connected with the fish.  I like reefs closer to the surface for the same reason; I’m able to actually “duck dive” and swim through the coral and the fish, rather than just observing from the surface.  I saw a lot more fish, so bright and colorful, turtles, and yes a few more sharks, which I did not like at all. 

My favorite fish is the parrot fish, because it’s neon multi-colored!  I actually saw a few in a fish market, and they look completely different and bleak; maybe there’s something about the ocean that enhances their color, or maybe it’s, you know, life that enhances their color.  Anyway, after the swim, we all piled on the boat and made our way back to the Tufi Dive Resort.  On the way, Jared mentioned that his ear was giving him some trouble.  I got a bit of an infection whilst island hopping, so I had ear drops on me, which I was able to loan him (this tidbit will come into play later).  Once we got back to the resort, I took a bit of a nap and read on the hammock, while he went off and did a “muck dive” along the dock.  It sounds kind of gross, but it’s supposedly quite nice, as a lot of fish will congregate around the dock area, and there is a lot to see.  In the late afternoon, a man named William approached tell me that he was a sort of village “liason”, and could guide us through the small village around the resort.  On the spot, I decided to take him up on the offer, and he took about 45 minutes showing us around the area, including the school, clinic, and dentist’s office (whom I personally think should be FIRED given the wretched state of people’s teeth in the area).  He also showed us to people’s houses, including a local woman who made lots of crafts and jewelry; I even got to chat with the school master, who unfortunately kind of seemed to try to hassle money out me, of which I wasn’t a huge fan.  We walked across the actual airport “sandmac” to a few homes, and looped back to the resort.  The whole thing was very short, as there weren’t a lot of people living in the area, but it was still nice to see.  After the tour, I again delved into the pool for some pre-dinner mixing and lounging.  Dinner was great and we were all able to get to know one another better at the communal table. 

The next morning, was another early start for more diving/snorkeling.  After a good breakfast, we all headed down to the dock.  I was crossing my fingers that day for no sharks at the same time as everyone else was crossing their fingers for lots of sharks.  People keep telling me that I just have to put myself in a situation with sharks, so as to see how majestic and BLAH BLAH BLAH!!  I don’t like it!!  I had the one experience in Belize where we snorkeled with sharks.  At the time, my friend Nicole promised not to let go of my hand and I still had a minor panic attack, crying into my snorkel gear.  The day before, I saw sharks and did not like it.  In fact, I found that it actually took away from my experience, as each time I saw them, I freaked out, and was left the rest of the time watching the horizon for sharks instead of just keeping my head down and enjoying the scenery beneath me.  Anyway, the shark thing was not gonna happen for me, which no one seemed to understand.  We made our way out to Safari reef in the morning, which everyone was very excited about as this dive group had actually first discovered this reef several years before.  We all jumped in the water, and immediately I started spotting sharks.  The current there was much stronger than it had been the day before.  I found myself barely paying any attention to the little colorful fish, and focusing more on where the next shark would pop up.  I ended up calling it quits earlier than I had to, because I wasn’t enjoying the swim as much as I’d hoped.  I could have been a bit disappointed, but I wasn’t!  I instead spent a bit of time lying on the top deck of the boat, reading, and enjoying the sun’s rays!  Not long after I started my sunbathing, Jared came out of the water saying that his ear was giving him a lot of trouble and he wasn’t able to pressurize underwater, so he had to give up.  I gave him more of my “ear beer”, and continued with the very important business of tanning!  After a bit, the rest of the group surfaced, and we had our lunch and coffee.  The next reef was Paul’s reef, which I “officially” opted out of, and instead just swam around the boat with my snorkel gear, lounged in the water, and read on top of the boat.  Jared didn’t go in the water either for fear his ear would get damaged.  After some nice leisure swimming, the rest of the group returned.  We all made our way back to the resort for pool time and dinner prep!  That night was actually New Year’s Eve, so we were all pretty hyped, and once we cleaned up, we all made our way to the bar!  Jared wasn’t feeling very well, with his ear, so he opted out of the festivities.  Dinner was a massive buffet of surf and turf, with lobster, fish cutlets, and tenderloin steaks, with lots of veggies and desserts!  Some of people decided the night wouldn’t be complete without a drag show.  Yes, a drag show.  All the men in the group went hunting through the female’s wardrobes in an effort to find the most scandalous outfits.  Jared did come for a bit of dinner, but skipped the rest.  We had a beauty pageant style drag-off full of dancing and general silliness, followed by more booze, singing, and fireworks at midnight! 

The night was low-key but fun, and it was nice to hang out with new friends.  Our next Papua New Guinea step was three nights of cultural experiences in local villages!