Like a well-oiled machine, the whole Mailulu family help to bring the dinghy ashore on Gonubalabala Island
Gonubalabala Island: Everything you need to know
A stay on Gonubalabala (also spelt Gona Bara Bara or Gonabarabara) Island is a quintessential tropical castaway experience, as Chris Shorrock explains.
Gonubalabala Island is a tropical paradise
Gonubalabala is a picture-perfect tropical island paradise; golden sands fringed by palm trees, azure waters hiding coral reefs teeming with colourful tropical fish, and just a handful of locals calling it home with no other tourists in sight.
On Gonubalabala Island you can have the whole beach to yourself
Where is Gonubalabala Island?
Gonubalabala is a pocket-sized island in the Louisiade Archipelago of Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) Milne Bay Province. On the edge of the open ocean, Gonubalabala is close to the resort island of Doini and is one of the southernmost islands in the Louisiade group.
On Google Maps, the island is labelled as Gona Bara Bara Island.
How to get to Gonubalabala Island
Gonubalabala Island can be reached from Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province, by public dinghy. It takes about 2.5 hours, and dinghies depart from Sanderson Bay in Alotau. Being a small island, dinghies to Gonubalabala will often stop at some nearby islands en route.
Nydia Stevens, who runs one of the guesthouses on the island, can arrange passage with one of the local dinghy skippers.
While piracy isn’t unknown, it’s much less common here than further north in Milne Bay. Faster dinghies are less likely to be targeted, so make sure yours is at least 40 horsepower.
Where to stay on Gonubalabala Island
Gonubalabala is home to around twenty people, all members of the Mailulu family. They run two guesthouses on the island, managed separately by two women, both named Nydia. The guesthouses are positioned just back from the beach and surrounded by tropical gardens.
The northwestern tip of the island is a great place to watch the sunset
We stayed at Nydia Stevens’ guesthouse, which had a lovely verandah and could sleep four people. The guesthouse had one double and two single beds, all with mosquito nets.
Facilities included a bucket shower, pit toilet, and a separate kitchen building with a verandah where meals were served.
Meals mainly consisted of what the villagers could grow or catch themselves; eggs, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables. We even got to try their island-grown and recently harvested sago (in the form of sago fish patties – simultaneously gloopy and floury but surprisingly good).
Food on Gonubalabala is always fresh and local
This is off-the-grid living, so be prepared for a few creepy crawlies. There’s solar lighting, and you can charge devices when the generator is turned on (not every night).
What to do on Gonubalabala Island
Relax. This is a small island with a postcard-worthy beach you’ll likely have all to yourself, the perfect place to laze away a few tropical days of castaway bliss.
To cool off between stints on the beach, don a snorkel and mask to explore the colourful reef only a few metres from the shore, with kaleidoscopic corals, anemone fields and shimmering shoals of tropical fish.
For drier activities, take a short walk to the island’s high point for panoramic ocean views or search for wildlife on a dinghy ride around the island (we saw a turtle). Trips to other nearby islands are also possible.
Gonubalabala’s manta ray cleaning station
Gonubalabala Island is best known for its manta ray cleaning station. A short distance off-shore, manta rays congregate around a coral bommie, where smaller fish denude them of parasites and generally give them a good clean.
Snorkelling for manta rays off the coast of Gonubalabala
Nydia’s son, Charlie, took us to the bommie for a snorkel. Unfortunately, we didn’t see much of a bommie or any matas on either of our attempts. The water was deep, so scuba diving may have been a better option. For this, however, we would have needed our own gear as the islanders don’t have any scuba equipment.
Apparently, September to November is the best time to see the manats (we visited in January). Chances also depend on the tides (which weren’t favourable during our visit), so we may have been outliers with our zero manta count.
Inside Nydia Stevens' guesthouse on the island
Peace and solitude on Gonubalabala Island
Before visiting Gonubalabala, we stayed at both Deidei Guesthouse and Sibonai Guesthouse, where we were made to feel part of the family and spent hours chatting with our hosts. So when we reached Gonubalabala and were essentially left to our own devices, it felt somewhat disconcerting.
It’s less of a homestay than other places we stayed in PNG, and the locals are more standoffish. Still, if you’re looking for a tropical island paradise away from it all, Gonubalabala is hard to beat.