Must-See Tourist Attractions in the Solomon Islands

Published on January 28, 2026 and written by Cyril Jarnias

An under‑known Pacific archipelago, the Solomon Islands are home to some of the world’s most spectacular landscapes, exceptional biodiversity, and a history shaped by both Melanesian traditions and the battles of World War II. Between vast lagoons, tropical rainforests, active volcanoes, and war wrecks carpeting the seabed, the destination offers a range of rare tourist sites, far from mass tourism.

Guadalcanal and Honiara: Between War Memory and Lush Nature

The capital of the country, Honiara is often travelers’ gateway as it adjoins Henderson International Airport, built on the former strategic airfield of the Guadalcanal campaign. The island itself was one of the fiercest battlefields in the Pacific during World War II. Today, the hills, beaches, and villages still bear traces of these battles, while also offering superb hiking, waterfalls, and dive sites.

Honiara, Urban Showcase of the Solomon Islands

At first glance, Honiara resembles a bustling small Pacific town, wedged between the sea and a steep mountain range. But behind the traffic and markets lie several places to visit that help understand the country.

The Honiara Central Market, located between Mendana Avenue and the Point Cruz waterfront, is a must‑see. Here you’ll find tropical fruits, fish, vegetables, and also handicrafts: woven mats, shell jewelry, baskets, or small carvings. It’s the ideal place to get a feel for daily life and observe the importance of the wantok kinship system in exchanges.

A few streets away, the National Museum and Cultural Centre brings together exhibitions on island cultures, linguistic diversity (over 60 local languages), the missionary period, and the Pacific War. Admission is free (donations encouraged), making it an excellent starting point for understanding the codes of kastom, the custom that still structures village life.

Some key points of the capital and its surroundings can be summarized as follows:

The Guadalcanal Battlefields: An Open‑Air Museum

The Guadalcanal campaign, between 1942 and 1943, was a turning point in the Pacific War. For the first time, Japanese forces there lost territory to the Americans. Nearly 38,000 lives were sacrificed on land, sea, and in the air, and the remnants of this conflict still dot the island.

The Skyline Ridge overlooks Honiara and houses the American War Memorial, also called the Guadalcanal American Memorial. Stone walls there recount the major phases of the battle, while a stunning panorama opens onto Iron Bottom Sound, that stretch of water turned into a graveyard for over 50 ships and countless aircraft. Nearby is the Coast Watchers Memorial, a tribute to the local spotters and scouts who relayed crucial information to Allied forces.

The Bloody Ridge, also known as Edson’s Ridge, is another essential site. This rise, now a national park, was the scene of particularly deadly night assaults. An interpretation center and small museum put into perspective the key role of this position in defending Henderson Field.

On Mount Austen, the war gives way to a viewpoint over the Honiara plain, but the place also holds a Japanese memorial, dedicated to the soldiers who fell in the area. The trenches, shelters, and observation caves scattered across the heights are reminders that the hill was a strategic lookout.

Several operators, like Guadalcanal Travel Solomons (GTS) or local agencies listed by Tourism Solomons, offer tours of the Eastern and Western fronts, often for half a day or a full day, combining landing beaches, memorials, and small private museums.

War Museums and Open‑Air Relics

Beyond the memorials, the island holds true collections of war artifacts, sometimes in the open. The Vilu War Museum, located about twenty kilometers from Honiara, displays Japanese guns, wrecks of American and Australian planes, and commemorative plaques. Here, you can see a restored Japanese seaplane sitting in the vegetation, as well as anti‑aircraft batteries and heavy artillery pieces.

Further east, the Betikama Museum is part of a large area where remains of American aircraft and various equipment are exhibited. At Tetere Beach, about 40 kilometers from the capital, around thirty amphibious vehicles, abandoned at the end of the conflict, lie in the vegetation or near the shore. A small World War II museum, the Tetere Beach WWII Museum, helps place these vehicles in their historical context.

The rivers and hills themselves hold their share of discoveries. Around the Lunga River or Koli Point, caves, trenches, and machine‑gun nests remain. As Honiara is literally built on the former battlefield, it’s not uncommon to come across an old American tank, a rusty jeep, or a plane carcass engulfed by the jungle along a trail.

Beaches, Waterfalls, and Hiking on Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal’s image is not limited to its battlefields. The north coast boasts superb sandy beaches, sometimes white, sometimes black, lined with coconut palms and coral reefs.

Inland, waterfalls are another essential facet of the island. The Mataniko Falls (or Matanikau Falls) are reached by a one to two‑hour walk from a village behind China Town. The river cuts its way between rocky walls, feeding caves and natural pools where you can swim. The place was also the scene of dramatic episodes during the war, with some soldiers finding refuge or being trapped there.

Even wilder, Tenaru Falls is earned after a several‑hour hike through the forest from the island’s interior, often starting from Parangiju Mountain Lodge. The waterfall, about sixty meters high, emerges from a dark gorge to plunge into an emerald pool, offering one of Guadalcanal’s iconic images. Weather, flooding, and the private nature of the land make accompaniment by a local guide essential.

The main natural sites accessible from Honiara can be summarized as follows:

The Western Province: Lagoons, Wrecks, and Cultural Sanctuaries

To the west of Guadalcanal, the Western Province concentrates some of the country’s most famous marine landscapes. Giant lagoons, jungle‑covered islets, stilt villages, skull sanctuaries, and war wrecks form a mosaic of sites that attract divers, history enthusiasts, and travelers curious about ancient cultures.

Marovo Lagoon: The World’s Largest Saltwater Lagoon

Marovo Lagoon is often described as the jewel of the Solomon Islands. Located between the islands of Vangunu and Nggatokae, in the heart of the New Georgia Islands, this double‑barrier lagoon covers about 700 km² and is about 140 kilometers long, making it the world’s largest enclosed saltwater lagoon. The site is on UNESCO’s tentative list as part of the Marovo‑Tetepare complex, due to its extraordinary biodiversity.

The reefs surrounding the lagoon feature some of the country’s highest live coral coverage, with studies indicating nearly 49% coverage at some exposed sites, an exceptional rate for the region. Over 900 species of tropical fish and more than 1,000 other marine species have been recorded here, including manta rays, reef sharks, turtles, dugongs, spinner dolphins, and different cetacean species like orcas and pilot whales. Visibility often exceeds 30 meters and can reach 50 meters, in waters ranging from 26 to 30°C year‑round.

Possible experiences in the lagoon include reef diving and World War II wreck diving, notably submerged aircraft and spectacular drop‑offs covered in giant sea fans, as well as excursions in traditional canoes, kayaking between islets, hiking to waterfalls, or discovering villages where residents willingly share their skills (leaf weaving, preparing local dishes, basket making).

A few islands and access points structure the discovery of Marovo:

Accommodations range from family‑run stilt lodges (Marovo Sea Lodge, Pepele Lodge, Kopikorapa Eco Holiday Destination) to more structured dive resorts (Uepi Island Resort). Catamaran cruises or dive boats like MV Bilikiki and some sailboats allow for wider exploration.

Skull Island: Skull Sanctuary and Memory of Headhunting

Within the Vonavona Lagoon, adjacent to Marovo, is one of the Solomon Islands’ most impressive cultural places: Skull Island, known locally as Nusa Kunda. It is a tiny tree‑covered islet, arranged as an open‑air sanctuary. On a platform of stones or coral, about fifty human skulls are displayed, sometimes protected by thatch shelters or carved wooden boxes.

Access to Skull Island is not free: it is by boat, usually from Munda or from nearby accommodations like Zipolo Habu Resort on Lola Island, and requires permission from a local chief. A customary fee (kastom fee), on the order of a few tens of Solomon Islands dollars, is paid to the community, and an entry ritual is sometimes performed by the guide to ask the spirits’ permission.

This sacred nature requires a respectful attitude: it is recommended to follow the guide’s instructions, ask before taking photographs, and move calmly. The visit is generally short – about 20 minutes – but leaves a lasting impression on visitors, as the place condenses both the violence of regional history and the strength of ancestral beliefs.

Munda, Gizo, and the Wrecks of the Western Province

On New Georgia Island, the small town of Munda is another central point for exploring the Western Province. It has an airfield and accommodations like the Agnes Gateway Hotel, which serves as a base for historical excursions and dive trips. The region was occupied by the Japanese before becoming a major Allied camp. The old Munda airfield was, at one time, the longest runway in the Southern Hemisphere.

For divers, the Western Province is a virtually endless playground. Around Munda and Gizo, wrecks of ships like the Kashi Maru or the Toa Maru lie at accessible depths, often covered in hard and soft corals, frequented by abundant marine life. Sites like “Grand Central Station” near Gizo offer “intersections” for large pelagic species: schools of trevally, barracuda, dogtooth tuna, or humphead parrotfish.

The province also concentrates several iconic islands, from Kennedy Island – where John F. Kennedy was rescued after his PT‑109 patrol boat sank – to Tetepare Island, the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific, now a conservation lab managed by the Tetepare Descendants’ Association. This group oversees a marine protected area, no‑take zones stretching 13 kilometers, and a simple eco‑lodge allowing stays in the heart of primary forest, among turtles, dugongs, and endemic birds.

Malaita and Langa Langa Lagoon: Cradle of Shell Money

East of Guadalcanal, the island of Malaita is known for its strong cultural identity. It is the birthplace of shell money, still used today for some symbolic transactions, notably bride price, compensation payments, and reconciliation ceremonies. The Langa Langa Lagoon, on the island’s west coast, is at the heart of this tradition.

The Artificial Islands of Langa Langa

The Langa Langa Lagoon is home to a series of artificial islands built about 150 years ago by the ancestors of the Langalanga people. Lacking safe arable land on the coast – due to conflicts or natural risks – these communities built their villages on coral mounds, creating raised platforms where houses and community structures stand. Some of these islands, like Laulasi, are open to visitors and offer cultural demonstrations and homestay accommodations.

The Langalanga have specialized in making shell money, called tafuliae or bata. According to oral tradition, this knowledge was transmitted by a woman from Bougainville, who passed through Guadalcanal and Small Malaita before settling in the lagoon. Production relies on four types of shells: romu (red‑lipped oyster), ke’e (white shell), kurila (black mussel), and kakadu (white mangrove disk). Men dive to harvest the shells and polish them, while women break, pierce, and prepare the beads.

A complete tafuliae consists of ten strands of small red, white, and black beads, sometimes finished with red cloth ends. Their length varies from six to nine feet and their value remains significant in Malaitan society. Today, these beads are also used to make necklaces, bracelets, or earrings for the tourist market, but they retain a strong ritual dimension during weddings or customary compensation payments.

Markets and Living Culture in Auki

Auki, the capital of Malaita, serves as the entry point to reach the Langa Langa Lagoon (allow about an hour by boat). Its market is one of the archipelago’s richest in local products: tubers, fruits, fish, shellfish, but also shell money and handicrafts. You can observe, firsthand, exchanges between different Malaitan communities, and sometimes spot the famous tafuliae necklaces circulating as a means of payment in certain transactions.

The surroundings of Malaita also harbor other lagoons like Lau Lagoon, where over 60 artificial islands and stilt houses extend the tradition of life on the water. The province is also renowned for its sets of panpipes, particularly among the ‘Are’are people, whose music, both complex and hypnotic, often accompanies ceremonies.

The War Islands: Tulagi, Iron Bottom Sound, and WWII Wrecks

North of Guadalcanal, the stretch of water called Iron Bottom Sound – literally “the sound with an iron bottom” – gets its name from the dozens of warships and aircraft lying there. It separates the main island from Savo and the Florida Islands (Nggela), where the former capital, Tulagi, was located. For history and diving enthusiasts, it is one of the Solomon Islands’ most fascinating sectors.

Tulagi and the Florida Islands

Tulagi was, before Honiara, the administrative center of the British Protectorate. During the war, the island and the small neighboring islands, like Gavutu and Tanambogo, were the scene of fierce fighting. Today, calm has returned, but traces of the conflict are everywhere: fortified caves, bunker ruins, commemorative crosses, and aircraft wrecks.

Iron Bottom Sound: Underwater Graveyard

Iron Bottom Sound concentrates an impressive number of wrecks, estimated at over 200 ships and nearly 700 aircraft for the entire campaign. Some iconic sites are accessible only to experienced divers, due to depth, while others are suitable for snorkeling.

Among the notable wrecks are the American destroyer USS Aaron Ward, resting at about 230 feet, still standing, its guns in position, or ships like LST342, Japanese freighters, and tankers. Kawanishi seaplanes, American F4F Wildcat fighters, SBD Dauntless dive bombers, or Corsair fighters dot the seabed in a wider radius around Guadalcanal.

White Beach and Underwater War Dumps

In other areas of the archipelago, the Americans intentionally dumped enormous quantities of matériel into the sea at the end of the war. White Beach, a historical site more than a classic beach, thus holds a “graveyard” of trucks, bulldozers, ammunition crates, and other equipment, now sitting on the seabed. These dumps form surreal underwater landscapes, particularly appreciated by divers seeking atmospheric photography.

Generally, the Solomon Islands have more than 400 identified dive sites, a large proportion of which are related to World War II. Liveaboards like Bilikiki Cruises or Solomons Master sail between Guadalcanal, Florida Islands, Russell Islands, Mary Island, Marovo, and Gizo, offering several dives daily, day and night, with clear water (often over 30 m visibility) and temperatures ranging between 26 and 31°C.

Exceptional Natural Sites: Rennell, Tetepare, Arnavon, and the Mountains

Beyond the famous lagoons and battlefields, the Solomon Islands harbor a mosaic of terrestrial and marine reserves where biodiversity reaches remarkable levels. Conservation programs and areas managed by local communities pave the way for ecotourism that is still under the radar, but full of promise.

Rennell and Lake Tegano: The Country’s Only UNESCO Site

Rennell Island, in Rennell and Bellona Province, is the world’s largest raised coral atoll. Its eastern part, East Rennell, is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the center of the island lies Lake Tegano (or Te Nggano), a former lagoon now the largest lake on a Pacific island. Bordered by limestone cliffs, dense forests, and small islands, the site is known for its endemic birds and austere landscapes.

The lake holds relics from World War II, like remains of Catalina flying boats, Allied seaplanes used for patrols. Visitors can paddle in canoes, observe birds, camp in villages, and discover the intimate relationship between the inhabitants and their lake environment.

Tetepare: The Great Uninhabited Island

Tetepare, already mentioned as part of the Marovo‑Tetepare complex, is the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific, with about 46 square miles of primal forests, mangroves, and deserted beaches. Abandoned about 150 years ago for reasons still debated, the island is today occupied only by rangers from the Tetepare Descendants’ Association (TDA) and a few eco‑lodge facilities.

Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area: Turtle Sanctuary

Between the islands of Santa Isabel and Choiseul lie the Arnavon Islands, at the heart of the Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area, created in 1995. This marine area of about 169 km² harbors the largest colony of hawksbill turtles in the South Pacific. The nesting season, which peaks between June and August, offers the chance to observe females coming to nest on the sandy beaches, as well as the emergence of hatchlings.

Kolombangara and the Interior Mountains

On the island of Kolombangara, a volcano of almost perfect conical shape, the Kolombangara Forest Reserve covers about 28% of the surface, forming the country’s largest protected forest area. Summits like Mount Veve (1,779 m) or Mount Rano (1,698 m) harbor montane forests and endemic birdlife, which is why lodges like Imbu Rano host birdwatchers and hikers.

More broadly, the archipelago counts at least 199 bird species, of which nearly 70 are endemic or near‑endemic, as well as a host of rare mammals, reptiles, and plants. Hiking trails also exist on Guadalcanal (up to Mount Popomanaseu, the country’s highest peak), Santa Isabel, or Makira, but often require several days of walking and good local logistics.

Santa Isabel, Makira, and the Most Remote Islands: Living Traditions and Festivals

Some islands in the Solomons remain far from the classic tourist circuits and require more time and effort to reach. In return, they offer cultural experiences of rare intensity, where the visitor is often one of the only foreigners present.

Santa Isabel: Stilt Villages and Panpipe Concerts

Santa Isabel is the longest island in the archipelago, about 200 km long. It is known for its still very vibrant village culture: stilt houses along lagoons, traditional dances, panpipe music, and skull shrines, witnesses of former headhunting practices. Inhabitants sometimes speak up to eight different languages on the island.

Makira-Ulawa: Crocodiles, Sharks, and the Spear Festival

The province of Makira‑Ulawa, long isolated, holds singular traditions. On Santa Catalina Island, the Wagosia Festival stages an impressive purification ritual: groups of men confront each other with spears on the beach, then walk through a blazing fire before sharing a large community meal. The number of visitors is deliberately kept low to preserve the ceremony’s integrity.

Other surprising practices survive in some villages of Makira and Ulawa, like “crocodile wrestling,” an art of capturing reptiles in the mangroves, or the existence of a “shark hole” beneath the altar of a church in Suholo, a place where worshippers come to observe sharks surfacing in the darkness.

Makira is also known for the quality of its cocoa beans, at the origin of artisanal chocolates booming in the archipelago.

When to Go and How to Discover These Sites?

The Solomon Islands have a warm and humid tropical climate year‑round, with temperatures averaging between 70–72°F at night and 86–90°F during the day. The sea remains warm, generally above 79°F. However, there are drier and wetter periods.

For diving, conditions remain good year‑round, but many operators recommend the period from April to November. For observing hawksbill turtles at the Arnavon Islands, the window from June to August is considered optimal. Hiking at altitude, on the other hand, is more comfortable during the drier months.

Tourism Still Under the Radar, but on the Rise

With just under 30,000 annual visitors before the pandemic, the Solomon Islands remain off the mass tourism path. The accommodation offer consists mainly of eco‑lodges, family pensions, beach bungalows, and a few city hotels. Infrastructure is sometimes basic, internet connection spotty, but that is precisely what gives the destination its charm for many travelers.

For the visitor, this implies respecting a few simple principles: use local guides to access certain sites (battlefields, waterfalls, customary villages), accept the possible payment of small customary fees, favor accommodations and operators involved in environmental protection, and inquire about local customs before photographing people, sacred objects, or ceremonies.

From Guadalcanal to Marovo, from Malaita to Rennell, the Solomon Islands thus offer a constellation of tourist sites that rival more famous Pacific destinations. What sets them apart, however, is the feeling of being constantly at the very beginning of a tourism history still being written, in direct contact with the inhabitants, in landscapes where nature and memory seem, everywhere, to reclaim their rights.

Cyril Jarnias

Cyril Jarnias is an independent expert in international wealth management with over 20 years of experience. As an expatriate himself, he is dedicated to helping individuals and business leaders build, protect, and pass on their wealth with complete peace of mind.

On his website, cyriljarnias.com, he shares his expertise on international real estate, offshore company formation, and expatriation.

Thanks to his expertise, he offers sound advice to optimize his clients' wealth management. Cyril Jarnias is also recognized for his appearances in many prestigious media outlets such as BFM Business, les Français de l’étranger, Le Figaro, Les Echos, and Mieux vivre votre argent, where he shares his knowledge and know-how in wealth management.

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