Announcement JBL Expedition 2027 Papua New Guinea
The expedition begins with a relaxed flight to the Asian metropolis of Singapore (time difference to Germany: +7 hours). After arriving in the evening, you can enjoy a leisurely meal at the famous Clarke Quay and then spend the night there. You can also choose a variant without an overnight stay in Singapore.
The next day we’ll have time until the evening to visit the city, take the cable car to Sentosa Island to the famous aquarium and visit arowana/flowerhorn breeders in the hinterland.
At 8.40 pm, our nearly seven-hour flight to the capital Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea takes off (time difference to Germany: +9 hours), so we’ll arrive in the early morning.
Shortly after our arrival, small aeroplanes will take us 250 km across the island to the landing strip at the resort. There is no programme for the day of arrival. Everyone will have time to recover from jet lag and explore the jungle or the beach right next to the resort. Canoes are at our disposal for short excursions. All meals, including lunch boxes on excursions, are included. Water is also included. Only soft drinks cost extra (US$ 2).
The entire 42-strong JBL research team will be divided into 3 groups: 1x snorkellers, 1x divers (beginners) and 1x experienced divers with more than approx. 50 dives.
The 3 groups all have the same goals, just at different times. There will never be more than 14 people in one place (jungle, culture, fresh water), as we’ll split into even smaller groups. When snorkelling/diving in the sea, there will also be a maximum of 14 people in one place, and they will then be divided up between the guides. This way we’ll always have a pleasant, small group size.
The jungle
Each team will enter the jungle on two days and we’ll make our way to various freshwater biotopes (air temperature 30-35 °C). We’ll camp there (always staying overnight at the resort) and everyone can pursue their own interests. Snorkelling, filming, photography, water analyses, light measurements, current measurements, observations of animals on land and under water. The fresh water will be around 25 °C, which is colder than the sea (28-30 °C).
If you are more terrestrially orientated, you can look for crawling animals or other land animals away from the water. There are around 300-400 amphibian and reptile species (including 14 turtle species), 70 marsupial species and 700 bird species!
But please be careful: the coastal taipan, an offshoot of Australia's most venomous snake, also lives here.
Coral reefs, wrecks and critters
For five days, the snorkelling group has the opportunity to explore the region's dream reefs at a water temperature of 30 °C on the surface. The marine area around Papua New Guinea is one of the most biodiverse in the world!!! Those who enjoy small sea creatures will be delighted by the countless species of nudibranchs that are native to the reefs. But you have to find them first!
There are also very rare species among the 2500 fish species in the sea. So keep your eyes peeled to spot ghost moray eels, snake eels, frogfish, seahorses, weed fish, long fins, juvenile batfish, vermiculated angelfish, mandarinfish, clown triggerfish and all the other reef inhabitants.
Snorkellers can also spot big fish such as various shark species (including hammerhead sharks), turtles and manta rays.
Snorkelling in shallow water:
Both diving groups (beginners and advanced divers) have four diving days with three dives each and a snorkelling day. For the beginners, the snorkelling day is used for familiarisation and for the experienced divers as the last day for nitrogen desaturation, as no more diving is allowed on the last day before departure. But in the shallow water we can observe animals that we never see in slightly deeper regions: whitespotted surgeonfish, blue-lined surgeonfish, needlefish, jellyfish and blacktip reef sharks are to be found right there.
Diving in the most beautiful gardens in the world
On the diving days, we start with shallow, low-current dives in coral gardens that could hardly be more beautiful. 600 coral species live in the region. Shallow dives mean longer diving time and for many, they are the most beautiful dives of all!
Wrecks from the Second World War
On one of the diving days we’ll visit a couple of shipwrecks from the Second World War. The battles for Guadalcanal raged on the neighbouring Solomon Islands. The wrecks are very well preserved in the region and it can make you quite emotional when you almost feel the battle for the Pacific.
Night diving / night snorkelling
It is also possible to go into the sea at night and experience the nocturnal inhabitants. If you are interested, you can also go diving or snorkelling at night by prior arrangement (extra costs on site: €40).
Night snorkelling in fresh water: If you are interested in this, you’ll need to spend the night in a village instead of the resort. Air temperature at night: 25-28 °C. We’ll be able to snorkel in a stream in the dark on the look out for nocturnal animals such as crabs! The next morning a short boat trip will return us to the resort, so that we can take part in the next day's programme.
Another highlight: muck diving
Another dive is one of the region's absolute specialities: MUCK DIVING. This term, now famous among divers, was born in Papua New Guinea. It involves mud diving. It may be an unpromising-looking environment - but it offers the rarest, most bizarre and most beautiful creatures of all the oceans!
In the shallows, just in front of our diving centre jetty, you’ll find small animals (critters) that others will only ever see in photos: rare nudibranchs and colourful flatworms, tubemouth fish, leaf scorpionfish, pipefish, blue-ringed octopus, wonderpus, stargazers and many more. The world's number 1 region for macro photographers!
Exciting brackish water biotopes
Some animal species are found neither in the sea nor in fresh water. They live in brackish water, often in the mangrove forests. We’ll go by boat to some beautiful mangrove areas where we can observe the brackish water inhabitants and the marine fish nurseries in peace. In addition to the mudskippers, archerfish and fiddler crabs, baby sharks are also often to be seen. Here we’ll measure the fluctuating salinity levels and all other water parameters.
Very original indigenous people
Papua New Guinea is known for man-eaters and very special rituals - but these are really fairy tales!!! On one of the days we’ll pay these peoples a visit in order to get an insight into their world. Their lifestyle is still very traditional compared to other indigenous peoples. For many of them, mobile phones, electricity and Nike T-shirts are still foreign words. An opportunity like this is not to be missed.
Facts:
Journey: Frankfurt (or other airport) - Singapore (one overnight stay) - Port Moresby (short domestic flight) - TUFI Resort. Return journey identical.
If you wish, you can skip the overnight stay in Singapore and fly on to Port Moresby 4 hours after your arrival in Singapore. The same applies to the return flight. This shortens the total journey time by 2 days. Extensions are possible by arrangement.
A total of 15 days including arrival and departure with one overnight stay each in Singapore. 13 days without overnight stays in Singapore.
Price: snorkellers €2700,- € / divers 3200,- € incl. domestic flights, plus travel to and from Port Moresby. Long-haul flights currently between 1500 - 2500,- €. If desired: + Hotel Singapore approx. 110,- €/night
Incl. 10 nights in TUFI Resort with full board, diving or snorkelling (4x 3 dives per day + 1x night dive), domestic flight from Port Moresby to TUFI Resort, guides, trips to freshwater biotopes, cultural trip to the Papuans, rental canoes, boat trips
Vaccinations necessary. Please enquire at the tropical institute about the vaccinations currently required. Malaria prophylaxis necessary (tablets, e.g. Malarone)
Extra costs, not included:
- 2 overnight stays in Singapore, transfers, plus programme there and meals, possibly admission to aquarium & cable car
- Drinks at the TUFI Resort: US$ 2 per bottle of water/soft drink
- Night diving/snorkelling: €40 per night dive/snorkelling trip
- Catering on the travel days at the airports
- Souvenirs
- Any visas required
General information about the JBL Expedition Papua New Guinea 2027
The expedition will take 13 days, including travel to and from the destination. If you wish, you can interrupt the outward and return journey in Singapore with one overnight stay each. This will extend the duration to 15 days. The price for the 21st JBL Expedition will be €4,700 for snorkellers (without overnight stays in Singapore) and €5,200 for divers (incl. dives, without overnight stays in Singapore). The two optional overnight stays on the outward and return flights in Singapore, including transfers, will cost around €300. The exact price of the trip depends heavily on the prices of the long-haul flights, which are only announced by the airlines 12 months before departure.
A certain level of physical fitness is a prerequisite for this expedition, as there may be hour-long walks through the rainforest at 35 °C and high humidity. The most important precondition is a love and enthusiasm for nature, where we’ll spend most of our time. We’ll snorkel or dive together, observe animals, analyse water and measure light so that we can learn more about our aquarium and terrarium inhabitants. The more we know about them, the more likely we are to be able to breed them and thus reduce the number of animals taken from the wild. If you would like to dive with compressed air, you must have a scuba diving licence (basic Open Water licence is sufficient). Snorkellers will have their own group and divers will be divided into two groups: 1 for beginners and 1 for advanced divers.
Travel period: August - September 2027 (exact date will be announced in August 2026 when the airlines' flight schedules come out)
Registration process: Application deadline is May 18, 2026, shortly after which the available places will be drawn by lot among all NEW APPLICANTS, who will then be notified by email. A valid email address is therefore very important! Anyone who cancels then releases their place for subsequent REPEATERS. Repeaters will therefore only receive their acceptance or cancellation a few weeks later.
