Pisin Island – an island in Bougainville that is still growing
Pisin island - to the big blue sea
‘Yes’ they said, there is one island. It doesn’t have a name but they call it Pisin Island because there are so many birds there. (Pisin means bird in our pidgin language)
The following is an account a wrote of this island as part of a Travelers Guide to Bougainville.
Please read it and see the pictures at the end of the post.
Pisin Island is a white sandy coral island with some vegetation that began to appear and rise out of the sea just off the coast of Arawa in the late 1990’s.
It was only recently visited by the locals in the mid 2000’s when a lasting peace was finally achieved in the Bougainville crisis.
It will take you between 45 – 60 minutes to get there (around K200 in fuel and oil costs).
It is nesting ground for pigeons (I am not a bird expert so I can’t tell you what type they are). It is very close to several other small but well vegetated islands.
There are several interesting occurrences here that make this island worthwhile to visit.
1. Firstly, it is spectacular, with sandy white beach, thousands of sea shells and hermits crabs everywhere, ringed and sheltered from the sea by spectacular reefs (there are waves breaking everywhere). If you just want to relax, grab some sun, have a picnic it’s a great place to visit. The locals come out all this way to fish.
But be careful of the hermit crabs. If you leave any food item unattended to on the sand, they will converge on it in spectacular fashion.
2. Secondly, there seems to be something going on out here geologically. If you come early enough in the morning you will see vapor rising out of the sea and bubbles coming up.
There are also sandy shallows nearby that are rising all the time and it seems only a matter of time before Pisin Island joins with these shallows and two nearby islands. I think this area is rising out of the sea, not so much because of the reefs but due to seismic activity.
The locals think it might be a new volcano about to form here. I think that its movement by the main Bougainville Island that’s pushing this area up.
3. Thirdly, on the way here, you will pass other islands, some larger, others small. If you travel with a good guide ( I went with Camalita of Pidia Village) they will show you islands and reefs of interests.
There is one uninhabited island we passed where only a certain type of salt water fish can be found. Though it seems that it is shallow near the island’s beach, my guide explained that there is a sharp fall, like a crack in the ocean floor near the beach and this is where this fish can be found.
But you need to be a stronger diver. She explained that recently a young diver drowned here and it took several attempts to bring his body back to the surface.
There is also a reef in this area that they call Octopus reef because it has a ‘head’ and ‘eight arms’ stretching out in different directions. It’s quite spectacular when you watch waves rush into break in different directions on the reef.
I hope you get to Pisin Island. The amazing thing for me was when dolphins suddenly appeared in front of the boat and ‘escorted’ us for a good 10 – 15 minutes of our journey.
If you want to travel that way, get in touch with Bougainville Tourism or Zhon Bosco of Bougainville Experience Tours who will organize your trip with Camalita of Pidia village.
Zen on Pisin Island
Hermits Crabs 'attacking' a split coconut
The beach is so white
my name, a peice of coral, my small brothers sunglasses and my pocket knife on Pisin Island
Vanity - my name Jaive etched in driftwood
Vanity - my name Jaive etched in driftwood
Drift Wood, Blue Sea, Paradise
Hermit Crab - one of the locals
Pisin Island vegetation
Pisin and the nearby islands. The land is rising in between.
Camilita on the boat
Pisin Island - Looking back at Arawa
The three islands, Pisin is the sandy one furthest on your left
Headin Out
Dolphins!!! Sorry bout the poor shot
Carmalita's Son
Carmalita, whose boat i hired
Approaching Pisin Island
Pisin island - to the big blue sea
Related posts:
9 comments
Wow Jaive, another sensational part of Bougainville brought to our attention. This is another place on the ever growing list of places to visit. Thanks for your sharing.
beautiful place!
I hope studies can be made by scientists or experts regarding the formation of Pisin Island. It would be absolutely fantastic to see a new story about Pisin Island on Animal Planet. It’s an amazing story.
Jossy
Very interesting.
Jaive
The information you got from your tour guide is not true.
The island is not Pisin Island..It is called YARA meaning fish in the
Torau language.
The name is widley known by the coastal people that is
The Torau people, the Arawa villagers, the Pangama villagers
And the Kuka villagers..sad for the Pidia people if they doest know
Yet.
The other two islands are Anusani kalu and Anusani Kesi.
The Yara Island was discovered way before 1960s and not after
The crisis as you have been told.
Please correct the of the island back to its origional name given by
The old people…Yara.
Hi Giggie,
Sorry mate, i didnt organise this travel with a tour operator to see one of small islands of the coast of Arawa.
I heard about them when visiting some of the other islands of Bougainville, so i asked how I could get to one of these ones. There was an island they said was Yara but i think we passed it or it would have been one of the two or three other islands further into the deep blue that we didn’t travel to.
They wanted to go further but i asked to go to see this island (the bubbles rising from the sea I found interesting). It seems to be part of two island system with a land bridge forming under the sea. I couldn’t find a map that could show me the names of the many islands. If it was found in the 1960′s the vegetation should be much older with more soil from the humus, so i think in the 1960′s the other island with the more developed vegetation was mapped. This one would have been just been a sandy spit, which it still is. I think give it a decade or more it will be one with the nearby island.
Your place is such a beautiful place. So many islands with white sandy beaches and beautiful blue ocean.
I dont think I will ever go back.
As a writer, i only can express what I see. A beach full of birds.
In time other Bougainvillean writers can do more justice to the beauty of their lands with more accuracy. I hope i can help them in some way with these articles.
But please send me a map of the small islands and I will include it on this blog as well.
Also please send me some more details about the Torau people and their language, I will also include these on this blog as well.
YOur story about your trip to bougainville has inspired me more to want to visit my old home island.I was born there in 1972 my father worked for BCl, we lived there up until 1989 when most people left due to the crisis. I am planning to visit in 2013. Thank you for a wonderful insight to the way the island is now.. If possible can you send me your email address as I would love to ask you a few questions about your trip. Roz
my above comments is for JAIVE
jaive@myamazingparadise.com or jsmare@gmail.com
Leave a Comment