Diving into history of TUFI in Papua New Guinea - 7th Apr 2013

This article was written by March 5, 2013, 2:22 pm Roderick Eime

The battered plane had brought them this far, enough to escape enemy territory, but now the flight was over. Riddled with bullet holes, one engine out and no fuel, 26-year-old US Army pilot, Lt William ‘Casey’ Lett from Indiana scanned the coastline for smooth water.

The flight to Lae was, for the crew of B-25 41-12830, “Pistoff”, a nail-biting bomb run on Japanese troops unloading in Lae and they had copped a spray of fire from five defending Zero fighters. On half power, they couldn’t cross back over the towering Owen Stanley Ranges to Moresby and instead headed east along Papua New Guinea’s ragged coastline in search of safe haven.

“We’re going in!” called Lett and the five men held on and drew what could have been their last breath. With wheels up and the remaining prop feathered, they hit the water as delicately as Lett could manage.

Amid a gut-wrenching din of tearing metal and shattering plexiglass, the nose caved in and a huge spray of water engulfed the plane. Apart from bombardier, Gus Rau, who struck his head, all were mercifully uninjured. With water pouring in, the men managed to get to their raft but villagers from nearby Ayuwan were already paddling to their rescue.

Read The Full Article BY: Roderick Eime

 

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Brand New Hobie Wave Catamarans have arrived! - 1st Feb 2013

For the lovers of wind and water sports Tufi Resort has recently acquired 14ft Hobie Wave Catamarans and Viper Windsurfers.

Hobie 14’s are ideal for beginners and adventurers alike. A large, fully battened, boom less mainsail provides plenty of power in the light stuff while the new style dagger free hulls will keep you stable as you sail in the stronger breezes.

Never sailed Hobie’s before? No problem, our staffs are happy to come along to teach you the basics while you explore the fjord and outer harbour area.

Once you feel comfortable or for the more experienced you are able to explore the fjord and outer harbour on your own or with a “crew” member.

Our Viper windsurfers have a large stable board ideal for both beginners and experienced windsurfers, our 5.5sqm sails will have you catching the breeze in no time.

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TUFI Resort Attends ITB Berlin! - 28th Jan 2013

TUFI RESORT: ITB BERLIN 06TH – 10TH MARCH 2013

TUFI Resort will be attending ITB Berlin again 06th – 10th March. Please come in and see Clint in the South Pacific Stand Hall 5.2A/106 All product managers and travel agents are welcome to schedule and appointment here - Click Here

If you need further information on TUFI Resort availability please use the big green Enquiry button at the top of this page. Please visit our TUFI facebook page for the latest photos and videos of what happening out at TUFI. Our manager Wayne loves to post up our latest pictures.

Once again hope to see all of you at ITB in Berlin this year and all the very best for the rest of 2013.

Clint Carroll
Sales & Marketing TUFI Resort
Email: enews@tufiresort.com

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April Diving – TUFI Resort Papua New Guinea - 26th Apr 2012

 

Hammerheads were one of the main things we hoped to see at Tufi and hammerheads we did see. But we quickly discovered that Tufi has much more than hammerheads to offer the visiting diver.

Our week at Tufi Resort was just superb and started the second we arrived at the resort to be greeted by the staff and three very friendly hornbills. The wildlife experiences around the resort were just brilliant and included – parrots, cuscus, butterflies, geckos, insects, frogs, lizards, goannas and numerous bird species. But the real reason we had come to Tufi was to dive its wonderful reefs (and see a hammerhead or two) and we were not disappointed.

We enjoyed spectacular dives at Minor Reef, Bev’s Reef, Overhang, Tony’s Bommie and many other dive sites that were coloured by healthy coral gardens and over flowing with abundant fish. Most of our safety stops dragged on to twenty minutes or longer as we just didn’t want to get out of the water and leave all the fish. Besides the wonderful fish life we also encountered cuttlefish, nudibranchs, turtles and a great range of invertebrate species.

As mentioned the three scalloped hammerhead sharks we saw at Veale Reef were a highlight, but these weren’t the only sharks we saw as grey reef sharks, white-tip reef sharks and black-tip reef sharks were also common. Another special little shark we saw was theMilneBayepaulette shark, which is endemic to the region and one of the prettiest sharks we have encountered.

Tufi offers more than colourful reefs as we discovered each afternoon on the house reef at Tufi Jetty. This muck diving site is a great spot for critters, including pipefish, cardinalfish (including the rare pyjama cardinalfish), moray eels, octopus, cuttlefish, nudibranchs, flatworms, gobies and shrimp gobies, mantis shrimps, clownfish, lionfish, scorpionfish, crocodilefish, upside down jellyfish, sea stars, sea cucumbers, frogfish and even spectacular Mandarinfish. And that’s not all as we discovered on a deep dive off the jetty to see the remains of two PT boats sunk during World War II.

Our wonderful week at Tufi ended all too quickly and getting on the plane to come home was very hard to do. Special thanks to Vicki, Wayne and all the staff, especially the dive crew Glen, Archie, Alex, Wesley and Moses for making our stay so memorable. We know we will be back to experience more of that Tufi magic.

Nigel Marsh and Helen Rose April 2012

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Guest Reviews - 17th Jan 2012

I have visited Tufi Resort several times and all I can say is “It keeps getting better!” The beauty and peacefulness of Oro Province is unmatched.  Along with the incredible food, service and accommodations of the resort, the culture is fantastic. I have filmed the village experiences, shared many touching moments and learned a vast amount about life in Oro. The material went into a lecture series and media piece to talk about the connections between people and nature.  I had the opportunity to share one of the 5 minute media pieces with two of the village chiefs, Luke and William. Their reaction to seeing themselves and family was quite emotional and you could see the pride in their faces.  This is one of the best parts of being a photographer for me.  Tourism is good for cultural preservation, according to Luke.  The children of the village are much more engaged in their heritage than 10 years ago. ..read the rest of this post »

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