Western Province

Western Province is the most accessible and most visited part of the Solomon Islands, occupying the chain of islands running northwest from New Georgia to the border with Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Gizo, a small town built on a low-lying island in Gizo Harbour and accessible by light aircraft from Honiara or by ship. The province sits deep in the Coral Triangle and carries some of the highest marine biodiversity on Earth. The WWII history is extensive: the New Georgia, Kolombangara, and Vella Lavella campaigns in 1943 left a floor of wrecks, planes, and shore installations that are now among the Pacific's better-documented dive sites. Roviana Lagoon, sheltered behind Munda and New Georgia, is a traditional centre of Melanesian culture, historically linked to inter-island raiding. The skull islands (Nusa Roviana) are former shrine islands where warrior trophies were kept; they remain culturally significant. Tidal regime is Pacific semidiurnal, spring range 0.8 to 1.2 m. Predictions come from Open-Meteo Marine (gridded model, ±45 min / ±0.2–0.3 m).