The warm, fertile waters that surge through the many passages and channels in the barrier reef around Madang make the ideal environment for a vast range of marine life. Marine Biologists from all over the world make pilgrimages to the Madang waters to study their wonders. For sheer colour and diversity of life, the seas around Madang have no rival.

Although you can enjoy world-class diving only minutes from the Madang Resort, the best spots are a little more remote and require more effort to get to. Undoubtedly, the most exciting destination is Bagbag Island, lying 32 nautical miles off the coast. This small island has several excellent harbours that were put to good use by the Japanese Navy during WW2. These were the only foreign people to inhabit the island in any numbers and today there are only the delightful village people to greet you. Approximately 10km in length and 25km wide, the island was one of many peaks of a long mountain range pushed up from the sea floor by cataclysmic volcanic forces thousands of years ago - the peaks surround an extinct volcano.

The island's close neighbour, Karkar, is still an active volcano. The other peaks remain underwater, sheer pinnacles that spear from thousands of feet to within 15 feet of the surface - being so far from the mainland there are no estuaries too muddy or soil the crystal clear waters.