Practical Information for visiting Solomon Islands

The currency is the Solomon Islands dollar (SBD).

Bring cash. ATMs exist in Honiara, Gizo, Munda and Auki and can be out of service or out of money. Cards are accepted at a handful of Honiara hotels and the larger dive resorts, and essentially nowhere else. Village guesthouses, boats, markets and guides are all cash.

Draw what you need in Honiara before flying to the provinces, and take more than you expect — there is no way to top up on most islands.

Australian dollars are sometimes accepted in Honiara but at a poor rate.

Custom fees for visiting a village, a reef, a waterfall or a war relic are normal and legitimate; carry small notes for them.

Tipping is not traditional and not expected.

Connectivity is limited. Coverage for mobile networks from Our Telekom and bmobile reaches Honiara, the provincial centres and some coastal areas, with 4G in the capital, but large parts of the country have no signal at all.

An undersea cable has improved speeds in Honiara considerably; elsewhere connections remain slow and satellite-based.

Local SIMs are cheap and available in Honiara with a passport.

Wi-Fi exists at Honiara hotels and some dive resorts, often charged and usually slow. Village lodges generally have none.

Power on the outer islands is generator or solar, commonly for a few hours in the evening only. Bring several power banks, and tell people at home that you will be out of contact.

Violent crime against visitors is uncommon, but the country has real fragility and the practical risks are higher than in most Pacific destinations.

• Check your government’s current advice. Civil unrest has occurred, with serious rioting in Honiara in 2006 and 2021 including arson in the Chinese-owned business district. Trouble can flare quickly around political events.
• Boat travel is the most likely thing to hurt you. Banana boats are frequently overloaded, lifejackets are often absent, and crossings are made in open sea. Refuse a trip you are not comfortable with.
• Unexploded ordnance from the 1942 to 1943 campaign is still found regularly on Guadalcanal and in the west, and it still kills people. Never pick anything up, and stay on established paths at battle sites.
• Saltwater crocodiles are present in rivers, mangroves and some coastal waters. Take local advice before entering any water.
• Earthquakes and tsunami: know the high ground where you are staying.
• Honiara after dark: do not walk alone.

Medical facilities are very limited. The National Referral Hospital in Honiara is the only substantial facility, provincial clinics are basic, and anything serious means evacuation to Australia, which is expensive and takes time. Insurance with medical evacuation cover is genuinely essential here, not a formality.

Malaria is the major health risk and the Solomon Islands have among the highest rates in the Pacific. Take prophylaxis without exception, use repellent, cover up at dusk and sleep under a treated net. Dengue also occurs.

Vaccinations: routine cover plus hepatitis A and B, typhoid and rabies for longer stays. Yellow fever proof is required if arriving from an endemic country.

Diving: there is no recompression chamber in the country. The nearest are in Australia or Papua New Guinea, hours away by air. Dive very conservatively and check your insurance covers evacuation for decompression illness.

Water: treat all water as unsafe unless bottled or boiled.

Coral cuts infect fast in this climate; clean them immediately and thoroughly.

Ask permission for everything. Land, reef, beaches, waterfalls and war relics are under customary ownership. Do not walk, swim, dive or photograph on someone’s land or reef without arranging it through a guide or your host, and expect to pay a modest custom fee.

Dress modestly. This is a conservative Christian country. Women should cover shoulders and, importantly, thighs — a wrap or lavalava over swimwear is expected away from a resort beach, and shorts above the knee are not appropriate in villages. Men should wear shirts in villages and town.

Sunday is widely observed; many businesses close and some communities ask that no work or swimming happen at all. Respect it.

Greet people and take time over it; abruptness reads badly.

Ask before photographing people, and accept a refusal.

Take nothing from wrecks, crash sites or battlefields — many are war graves, and removal is illegal.

Drug offences carry serious penalties.

Emergency numbers: 999 for police, 911 for ambulance and fire in Honiara. Outside the capital, formal emergency services are effectively absent and your host, guide or lodge is the actual first response.

Medical. The National Referral Hospital in Honiara is the only facility of any size. Provincial hospitals at Gizo and Auki handle basic cases. Serious illness or injury requires air evacuation to Australia — arrange insurance that covers it before travelling, and confirm the provider operates here.

Diving: with no chamber in the country, an incident means a long evacuation. Build very conservative profiles and long surface intervals.

Tsunami: after any strong earthquake, move to high ground immediately without waiting for an official warning — the warning may not come in time or at all.

Consular help: a limited number of missions are in Honiara; several countries cover the Solomons from Port Moresby or Canberra.

Leave an itinerary with someone at home and agree a check-in schedule.