Sepik River Tours
The Sepik River stretches from Telefomin in Sandaun Province to its outlet into the Bismarck Sea at Kopar village. There are many villages and hamlets in this culturally and environmentally rich area. Apart from the crocodiles, the largest local animal is the wild pig - which is tamed and kept in the villages for use at cultural gatherings and compensation ceremonies. There are many other natural animal inhabitants, such as, lizards, bandicoots, the odd secretive snake, and above all birds. Many of the village songs and dances centre on indigenous animals and birds - the largest of which is the angry-looking flightless cassowary, a relative of the emu and the second heaviest bird on the planet.
The Middle Sepik is the last remaining area where the crocodile skin cutting initiation is still practiced. The villages in this region are more accessible and not so far apart in terms of travel time than on the more remote Upper Sepik. These villages have stood firm against the invasion of Christianity. They still retain their Haus Tambarans (spirit houses) and practice their traditional customs including the initiation and scarification of young “crocodile men”. The villages are home to famous artists and their sought-after birds’ head carvings.
The Upper Sepik villages are widely spread out with many taking a full day by motor canoe to reach. Therefore, a lot more fuel is required and consideration must be given for canoe time for the comfort of visitors (long days in canoes under the fierce sun can be a bit of an ordeal).
In the Lower Sepik region the river is wide, with only wild sugar cane growing along the banks, and not so pretty or interesting. The highest cost components are the 4WD vehicle transfers to and from the river and the very high cost of fuel, sadly, both are beyond our control.
All this means that most of our tours focus on the Middle Sepik, Chambri Lakes, and the easternmost part of the Upper Sepik, up to Wagu, Meno, Tongijamb, though longer tours can also go down to Korosomeri River to Tuingimbit and the Blackwater lakes. The most impressive spirit houses are in the Middle Sepik, my personal favourite being Wabom in the Chambri Lakes.
The Middle Sepik is the last remaining area where the crocodile skin cutting initiation is still practiced. The villages in this region are more accessible and not so far apart in terms of travel time than on the more remote Upper Sepik. These villages have stood firm against the invasion of Christianity. They still retain their Haus Tambarans (spirit houses) and practice their traditional customs including the initiation and scarification of young “crocodile men”. The villages are home to famous artists and their sought-after birds’ head carvings.
The Upper Sepik villages are widely spread out with many taking a full day by motor canoe to reach. Therefore, a lot more fuel is required and consideration must be given for canoe time for the comfort of visitors (long days in canoes under the fierce sun can be a bit of an ordeal).
In the Lower Sepik region the river is wide, with only wild sugar cane growing along the banks, and not so pretty or interesting. The highest cost components are the 4WD vehicle transfers to and from the river and the very high cost of fuel, sadly, both are beyond our control.
All this means that most of our tours focus on the Middle Sepik, Chambri Lakes, and the easternmost part of the Upper Sepik, up to Wagu, Meno, Tongijamb, though longer tours can also go down to Korosomeri River to Tuingimbit and the Blackwater lakes. The most impressive spirit houses are in the Middle Sepik, my personal favourite being Wabom in the Chambri Lakes.
All the villages included in our expeditions are carefully chosen to offer a wide variety of distinctive cultural styles; including their extensive carved artifacts, both displayed and for sale, providing our visitors with interesting cultural contrasts and experiences. Witnessing daily activities, like the carving of artifacts, making a Morata house roof out of sago palms, the long, daily, task of sago production (sago is a staple Sepik starchy food which requires lengthy processing), fishing and so on, is encouraged.
All trips start and end with a night at the In Wewak Boutique Hotel. It is only a few years old, very well managed and maintained, with good security – it has high standards throughout. The pool is cooling, the rooms are all clean, airy and comfortable and the food and ambience is pleasant.
All trips start and end with a night at the In Wewak Boutique Hotel. It is only a few years old, very well managed and maintained, with good security – it has high standards throughout. The pool is cooling, the rooms are all clean, airy and comfortable and the food and ambience is pleasant.
Whilst on the tours, guests are accommodated in village guesthouses where facilities are very basic: a mattress, clean bedding, and mosquito nets. Toilet facilities are simple - a hole in the ground serves as the toilet inside a bamboo cubicle – but these toilets are reserved for guests and not used by the whole village. A couple of villages have sit down toilets, but they are still long-drops. Washing/showers is either in the Sepik River (villager style), or two buckets of water and scoop in a bamboo private cubicle under the skies.
All rates below currently valid until 30th January 2026, in US dollars, based on two people sharing a double room, but are subject top fuel price fluctuations. The exclude return domestic flights between Port Moresby and Wewak. Flights range from $390 to $485 return per person. However, if continuing to Mt Hagen, there is a direct flight from Wewak to Mt Hagen on several days of the week, and some days of the week there are direct flights to Goroka too, meaning there is no need to return to Port Moresby.
Meals at In Wewak Boutique Hotel are not included, there is a wide range on the a la carte menus and the meals included in full board rates are too big for most. All meals, water, tea and coffee on the river are included.
All rates below currently valid until 30th January 2026, in US dollars, based on two people sharing a double room, but are subject top fuel price fluctuations. The exclude return domestic flights between Port Moresby and Wewak. Flights range from $390 to $485 return per person. However, if continuing to Mt Hagen, there is a direct flight from Wewak to Mt Hagen on several days of the week, and some days of the week there are direct flights to Goroka too, meaning there is no need to return to Port Moresby.
Meals at In Wewak Boutique Hotel are not included, there is a wide range on the a la carte menus and the meals included in full board rates are too big for most. All meals, water, tea and coffee on the river are included.
Sepik Crocodile Festival
Sepik Crocodile Festival 3 to 9 August, 2025 $2490 USD including return domestic flights
Start with a flight from Port Moresby to the Sepik and a night in Wewak at the very comfortable In Wewak Boutique Hotel. The next day, with your local guide, you will be driven across the Hunstein range to the mighty Sepik to board your motorised dugout canoe at Pagwi and cruise upstream to Wagu Lagoon, passing villages along the way. Your accommodation for three nights is in Wagu guesthouse, in the Upper Sepik, on foam mattresses with clean linen and mosquito nets. The guesthouse has a generator for battery charging and light at night. On the 5th and 6th, you will attend the Sepik Crocodile Festival, and photograph the varied and fascinating tribal groups from the region. You will also go and look for the Lesser Bird of Paradise on a dawn trip, and visit the villages of Meno and Tongijamb. Wagu Lagoon is an excellent place for bird photography too. On the 7th, you will go into to the Middle Sepik to visit the villages of Palimbei and Kanganamun, the most well-known of the Iatmul language group tribes, who practice the art of extreme scarification, known as the Crocodilemen, where you will spend the night. You will return to Pagwi around lunchtime on the 8th, and then return to Wewak to overnight at In Wewak Boutique Hotel.
There is a single room supplement for the two nights in Wewak of $170
Email us for more information.
Start with a flight from Port Moresby to the Sepik and a night in Wewak at the very comfortable In Wewak Boutique Hotel. The next day, with your local guide, you will be driven across the Hunstein range to the mighty Sepik to board your motorised dugout canoe at Pagwi and cruise upstream to Wagu Lagoon, passing villages along the way. Your accommodation for three nights is in Wagu guesthouse, in the Upper Sepik, on foam mattresses with clean linen and mosquito nets. The guesthouse has a generator for battery charging and light at night. On the 5th and 6th, you will attend the Sepik Crocodile Festival, and photograph the varied and fascinating tribal groups from the region. You will also go and look for the Lesser Bird of Paradise on a dawn trip, and visit the villages of Meno and Tongijamb. Wagu Lagoon is an excellent place for bird photography too. On the 7th, you will go into to the Middle Sepik to visit the villages of Palimbei and Kanganamun, the most well-known of the Iatmul language group tribes, who practice the art of extreme scarification, known as the Crocodilemen, where you will spend the night. You will return to Pagwi around lunchtime on the 8th, and then return to Wewak to overnight at In Wewak Boutique Hotel.
There is a single room supplement for the two nights in Wewak of $170
Email us for more information.
Sepik Adventure Tour September 2025, Middle Sepik
A set date group tour from 23 - 29 September 2025, from $2375 per person including domestic flights.
Designed to fit in with the Highlands Tribes Tour that ends on 23rd September, the Sepik Adventure Tour flies you up to Wewak for a night at In Wewak Boutique hotel where you will meet your guide. The following morning you, are driven through the Prince Alexander range to Pagwi, stopping for lunch at a roadside market along the way.
The Sepik River stretches from Telefomin in Sandaun Province to its outlet into the Bismarck Sea at Kopar village. There are many villages and hamlets in this culturally and environmentally rich area. The largest local animal is the wild pig - which is tamed and kept in the villages for use at cultural gatherings and compensation ceremonies. There are many other natural animal inhabitants, such as snakes, lizards, bandicoots, and above all birds. Many of the village songs and dances centre on indigenous animals and birds - the largest of which is the angry-looking flightless cassowary, a relative of the emu and the second heaviest bird on the planet.
The Middle Sepik is the last remaining area where the crocodile skin cutting initiation is still practiced. The villages in this region are more accessible and not so far apart in terms of travel time than on the more remote Upper Sepik. These villages have stood firm against the invasion of Christianity. They still retain their Haus Tambarans and practice their traditional customs including the initiation and scarification of young “crocodile men”. Also, the villages are home to famous artists and their sought-after birds’ head carvings.
On one day, we will have a “village day” where you can participate in village life. This can be local cooking, vegetable gardening, seeing sago being made and having a go yourself, helping with house maintenance, giving a lesson at the village school, running a sports activity with the kids, or anything that you have skills for. Discover the Sepik Adventure Tour details here.
Designed to fit in with the Highlands Tribes Tour that ends on 23rd September, the Sepik Adventure Tour flies you up to Wewak for a night at In Wewak Boutique hotel where you will meet your guide. The following morning you, are driven through the Prince Alexander range to Pagwi, stopping for lunch at a roadside market along the way.
The Sepik River stretches from Telefomin in Sandaun Province to its outlet into the Bismarck Sea at Kopar village. There are many villages and hamlets in this culturally and environmentally rich area. The largest local animal is the wild pig - which is tamed and kept in the villages for use at cultural gatherings and compensation ceremonies. There are many other natural animal inhabitants, such as snakes, lizards, bandicoots, and above all birds. Many of the village songs and dances centre on indigenous animals and birds - the largest of which is the angry-looking flightless cassowary, a relative of the emu and the second heaviest bird on the planet.
The Middle Sepik is the last remaining area where the crocodile skin cutting initiation is still practiced. The villages in this region are more accessible and not so far apart in terms of travel time than on the more remote Upper Sepik. These villages have stood firm against the invasion of Christianity. They still retain their Haus Tambarans and practice their traditional customs including the initiation and scarification of young “crocodile men”. Also, the villages are home to famous artists and their sought-after birds’ head carvings.
On one day, we will have a “village day” where you can participate in village life. This can be local cooking, vegetable gardening, seeing sago being made and having a go yourself, helping with house maintenance, giving a lesson at the village school, running a sports activity with the kids, or anything that you have skills for. Discover the Sepik Adventure Tour details here.
Private Sepik Tours any time of year
Prices are based on two people on the tour, with more participants, the cost per person goes down. Please email us for the full itineraries and rates. Prices in USD, per person, excluding domestic flights. First and last nights in In Wewak Boutique Hotel.
FOUR-NIGHT MIDDLE SEPIK TOUR
for two people, from $2050 USD per person
for four people, from $1270 USD per person
FIVE-NIGHT MIDDLE or UPPER SEPIK TOUR
for two people, from $2520 USD per person
for four people, from $1520 USD per person
SIX-NIGHT MIDDLE and UPPER SEPIK TOUR
for two people, from $3220 USD per person
for four people, from $2020 USD per person
SEVEN-NIGHT MIDDLE AND UPPER SEPIK TOUR
for two people, from $3500 USD per person
for four people, from $2200 USD per person
FOUR-NIGHT MIDDLE SEPIK TOUR
for two people, from $2050 USD per person
for four people, from $1270 USD per person
FIVE-NIGHT MIDDLE or UPPER SEPIK TOUR
for two people, from $2520 USD per person
for four people, from $1520 USD per person
SIX-NIGHT MIDDLE and UPPER SEPIK TOUR
for two people, from $3220 USD per person
for four people, from $2020 USD per person
SEVEN-NIGHT MIDDLE AND UPPER SEPIK TOUR
for two people, from $3500 USD per person
for four people, from $2200 USD per person