Why Visit Savo Island

If you're in Honiara and you only have a short time to visit the Solomon Islands, or want a remote adventure, Savo is the place for you. Big benefits of Savo Island are: 

• Only 2 hours from Honiara via banana boat (1.5 hours if seas are calm)

• Stay at Savo Sunset Lodge, a family run lodge owned by Bernard and Nesta (after they inherited it from their parents). The family is from Savo Island. The accommodation is simple and basic, but the accessibility of the island is incredible

• Very responsive on Facebook - Bernard gets limited reception on his phone from the top floor of the kitchen house. He goes up there at least every day to check for bookings. 

• Plenty of options for things to do. I stayed 3 days and wished I stayed more

• No cars - there's one walking track going around the island that leads you directly to the Megapodes, volcano, and villages. It's very easy to get around!

• If you have arrived in Honiara and you haven't organised any transport yet, don't worry. Go to the Solomon Islands Visitors' Bureau and tell them where you want to go. All banana boats from outer islands dock at the Point Cruz Yacht Club, so you can also go there and ask the staff if they've seen anyone going to Savo or Roderick Bay. Bring a book and be patient, as you may be waiting a few hours, but you'll get where you need to go!

Contact Details Savo Sunset Lodge

Location: Savo Island
Phone: (677) 7468705
Email: sunsetlodgesavo@gmail.com
Facebook:  Savo Sunset Lodge

Prices and Activities

Logistics:

• Accommodation Per Night - SBD$350 / AU$65

• Breakfast - SBD$60 / AU$11

• Lunch - SBD$60 / AU$11

• Dinner - SBD$60 / AU$11

• Boat transfer from Honiara to Savo Island - SBD$150 / AU$28 (I waited 8 hours, but made friends on the boat and am glad I did it this way!)

Activities:

• Volcano and hot spring river hike - SBD$150 / AU$28 (This money went direct to the my guide's family to pay for school fees)

Pictures - What to Expect

Here are some pictures from my stay at Savo Sunset. 

This is Bernard and his lovely wife Nesta. They run the lodge themselves and have hearts of gold. Nesta and I did some sewing together, and Bernard and I talked a lot about business. They were some of the nicest people I've met in the Pacific and I cannot recommend staying here enough. 

The gentleman in the orange shirt is John. He was on the banana boat coming over to Savo with me and was great fun to chat to, he spoke a decent amount of English. He told me to come find his village "the one with the church". After an hour of walking through the villages, I eventually found him and met his family. They showed me around his village, inside their house, introduced me to their kids, and offered me some delicious red fruits. One of his daughters is learning English, and we've kept in touch ever since to practice her English. 

Left: The "road" around the Island. There's no vehicles on the island, just travel by foot. It's straight forward to get around as the footpath sticks to the coast line so you can't get lost. Savo Sunset Lodge is on the west of the island (facing the incredible sunsets). Go north to visit the megapode farms, and south to visit Dolphin point and the volcano. 

Middle: The Savo Volcano, is very hot. The Solomon Islands are incredibly humid. The path up the volcano follows a river through the mountain. You climb along the river, which starts cool, then becomes a tepid warm. Closer to the top the water starts to boil, and you don't want to slip into it! Make sure to bring enough water - I had a 16 year old boy as my guide, and we picked up another local teenager who was eager to join us for the walk. Between us, we had just my 1.5L bottle of water. We made there and back (justs), but we were so dehydrated that it was hard to walk and we were all struggling hard! Bring water and closed shoes!

Right: John (from the banana boat) invited me into his house and this is the room he shares with his wife and kids. Life is very basic out here, and the people are ready to share anything and everything with you. Please remember this and be patient if people are late, boats get delayed, or the comfort levels are less than you expected! You would be horrified how and rude mean some foreigners are to the beautiful local communities!

Left: megapode eggs - you can visit the megapode laying grounds in the early morning (go before dawn) and see the rare megapodes lay their eggs. Locals then collect the eggs to sell them in Honiara. There are no sustainable farming practices (eggs can go for a couple of dollars each, and otherwise there are limited sources of cash-income on the island), so there are concerns that the megapodes will go extinct. Whilst I wouldn't recommend buying the eggs because of this, it is interesting to see!

Middle: You can also organise a boat trip to go out and see the dolphins around Savo, although if you're lucky they are (sometimes) visible from the shore. 

Third: A rickety bridge on a hike to a waterfall! There's so much to see in Savo!