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  • Set Date Tours
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    • Tufi >
      • At Tufi Dive Resort
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      • Tufi village guesthouse stays
      • Tufi birding and wildlife
      • Tufi Fishing
      • Tufi Gallery
      • Tufi Videos
      • Loloata and Tufi Dive Trip 2025
    • Walindi >
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      • Walindi Diving
      • Walindi tours and walks
      • Walindi Birds
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    • Lissenung >
      • Lissenung Island life
      • Lissenung Island accommodation
      • Lissenung Diving
      • ​B-25 wreck search and exploratory dive trip
      • Lissenung Surfing
      • Fishing at Lissenung
      • Lissenung Tours
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      • Spirit of Niugini
  • Festivals
    • Goroka Festival and Sing-Sing Tours
    • Mount Hagen Festival Tours
    • National Mask Festival Tour
    • Highlands Tribes Tour
    • Sepik Crocodile Festival
  • Sepik
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    • Goroka and the Eastern Highlands
    • Tufi village guesthouse stays
    • The Mt Wilhelm Trek
    • The Kokoda Trail
    • Culture Gallery
  • Wilderness Lodges
    • Ambua Lodge – Southern Highlands
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RABAUL

RABAUL

Rabaul, the capital of East New Britain province, was built up from a mangrove swamp by the Germans, called Simpsonhafen at the time, who introduced coconut plantations as a major cash crop and export. It came under British Empire rule in 1919, when it became the capital of the Australian Mandated Territory of New Guinea until 1937, when it was first destroyed by the nearby volcano, Mt Tavurvur.
In 1942 it fell into Japanese hands, becoming the main base of the Japanese Imperial Navy in the South Pacific theatre until 1945. Despite the town of Rabaul being destroyed in 1994 by a volcanic eruption, there are very interesting underground bunkers and tunnels to be visited. As a result of the volcanic explosion, 80% of the buildings in Rabaul collapsed under the weight of the ash, and the provincial capital was moved 20 kilometres away to Kokopo. Kokopo is now a busy, clean town, with a lovely, lively market. Kokopo is the most civilised small town in the country for foreign visitors, and an easy way to start your PNG journey. 

Every July the national mask festival occurs here. Check it out here
Check out accommodation here
Check out the diving here
Check out the land tours here
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