Muschu Island

The perfect finish to our month in PNG last Summer was a weekend at Muschu Island, just off Wewak on the north coast. Our friends in Wewak had heard that there was a guest house there, and surf, so they arranged the whole thing and the four of us went out there for a night.

The guest house at Auong Bay on the north east corner of the island is owned by George Majet, a local man living on his family's traditional land who has been running his own guest house there for years. George met us with his boat at the little bay next to Wewak post office, along with his sweet little daughter Lea, and after picking up some supplies we headed out. The island is about a one hour trip from Wewak, and it felt great to be out on the water again. As we got close some dolphins shot up and rode the bow wave of our boat for a few minutes before disappearing into the blue again.

Auong Bay is absolutely beautiful - it's hard to imagine anything closer to the ideal tropical paradise. Gentle waves lap the white sand of the beach, where trees lean out over the water so you can swim in the shade during the hot afternoons. There's a reef with tonnes of fish and a giant clam just a few metres off shore. At the Eastern side of the bay there's a reef break that goes left and right, and on the western corner there's a left hander that breaks in big swells. The swell in PNG runs from Dec - March, so we were there just at the beginning of the season. There was a sweet little break working, but the locals say it gets huge in January.

Our Wewak friends had brought along a couple of boards, so two of us started paddling out to the break soon after arriving. A few local boys joined us - one on a surfboard given by a previous visitor, the other two on boards that they'd carved out of drift wood. They were so keen, and completely mad, pulling into waves that we wouldn't touch, and absolutely loving it.


We spent the rest of the weekend reading, lying in the shade, swimming and snorkelling. The girls went along to a local church service on Sunday morning which they loved, and came back with some new friends who spent the rest of the morning with us. Josephine, George's wife, cooked all our meals for us - for dinner on Saturday night we ate a mackerel that George had caught that day. We slept in a local style hut on mattresses with all linen and mosquito nets provided and ready for us when we arrived.

It's hard to explain just how beautiful the whole experience was. And there was so much more we could have done if we'd stayed longer - George loves to take his visitors fishing or diving (he has his own gear and knows all the local spots), and he often takes people to the next island, Kairuru, where the sea has broken into a volcanic cone creating an amazing lake with beautiful waterfalls and hot springs nearby. Both islands have world war II relics that people can trek around to see. One of the best parts of it was knowing that our money was going to a local family who care about their environment and about their community. George is really keen to build up his business in a sustainable way that will benefit everyone on the island.

There are some business people who have shown interest in developing George's business, building hotels with bars and that sort of thing, and we were uncertain about how much of this development would be of long term benefit to the locals. Unfortunately, George has no training at all in how run a business, so he doesn't really know how he can promote and develop his business without going into partnership with someone who might not share his priorities.


We loved this place, and these people, so much. George and Josephine and their kids were perfect hosts, and we would recommend the trip to anybody, whether you are into surfing, diving, fishing, exploring, eco- & ethno-friendly travel or just chilling on the beach. I promised George that I would put the word out about his place, and do what I can to drum up business for him.

Auong Bay Leisure Lodge
George Majet - proprietor
PO Box 1238
Wewak ESP
Papua New Guinea
ph: (675) 652 7643
email: george.majet@yahoo.com.au

The rates were really good for PNG - around 10 - 20 kina per person per night, plus a bit extra for food and for the boat trip out from Wewak.

To get there you need to fly to Wewak from Port Moresby, or it's possible to come across the border with Indonesia and travel by air or sea from Vanimo.

George can also be found by simply showing up at the little bay next to the post office in Wewak where he might be taking islanders back and forth and drumming up business.