East New Britain

East New Britain Province occupies the northeastern end of New Britain Island, the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Rabaul, at the northeastern tip, sits inside Simpson Harbour — a drowned volcanic caldera roughly 8 km across, ringed by volcanic cones including the still-active Tavurvur and Vulcan. The harbour is one of the finest natural anchorages in the Pacific, used by the German colonial administration, by the Imperial Japanese Navy as its major South Pacific base from 1942, and now by fishing and cargo boats. The 1994 eruption of Tavurvur and Vulcan buried most of Rabaul town under volcanic ash and forced permanent relocation of the town centre to nearby Kokopo, but the harbour and the volcano slopes remain a primary tourist draw. The WWII presence is extensive: the Tunnel Hill Japanese bunker complex, dug into the volcano, holds submarines pens; the harbour floor contains multiple Japanese and Allied wrecks in accessible depths. Tavurvur continues to vent steam and occasional ash, with full eruptions possible — local knowledge and park authority guidance applies before climbing. Pacific semidiurnal, spring range 1.5 to 2.0 m. Predictions come from Open-Meteo Marine (gridded model, ±45 min / ±0.2–0.3 m).