Rabaul used to be Papua New Guinea's (PNG) most spectacular city, but in September 1994 an eruption of Tuvurvur destroyed it almost completely. Rabaul sat on the rim of the volcano's old caldera but nowadays the area is filled with blackened ruins.
It is very weird, walking through the remains of the deserted town. Most of the volcanoes in the region can be climbed, but be careful as they are all active from time to time. In the hills around Rabaul are numerous tunnels and caverns, dug out by the Japanese during WWII. The Japanese dug some 500 km (310 miles) of tunnels during the war and you can still see the remains of Japanese planes scattered in the area.
Rabaul's harbor is excellent for scuba diving. There are countless wrecks of ships that were sunken during WWII. Even though the town has been destroyed, Rabaul's port is still very important, so it easy to find transportation to any of the surrounding islands. Rabaula can be reached by air via Tokua. The remains of the town are 805 km northeast of Port Moresby.
Find a flight to Rabaul