I first went there in 1978 on a trip to the island of Wuvulu, where my local guide was an amazing man named Bob Halstead. It was the beginning of a long collaboration which culminated in Bob building his own dive cruiser. I booked groups of eager divers onto Bob's boat and eventually two more vessels over a glorious decade, the three vessels allowed us to cover the entire country and all of its best dive sites, and many clients came back annually for years...
From Eastern Fields in the South to Milne Bay in the East to Kimbe Bay in the center to Rabaul and Kavieng in the North, we dove everywhere. It was one of the great pageants of my experience—supremely active sharks everywhere, exotic species, sheer walls. Everything a diver could wish for seemed to be in Papua New Guinea somewhere.
One key aspect of the long dominance of Papua New Guinea for serious divers is the small population in the country, the corresponding lack of pressure on the marine life and therefore the sustainability of its spectacular reefs.
Series of stories on the diving at Eastern fields. click here and here.
For a story on diving the North Coast of New Guinea, click here.
And for a YouTube show on the highlights of the country.