Poruma Island Resort

Poruma Island is located between Australia and Papua New Guinea in the Torres Strait Archipelago.

Poruma Island offers outstanding accommodation, pristine, deserted beaches and dazzling colours.

See a side of Australia that few Australians know about.

Luxury is a hallmark of the accommodation, and interaction with the locals adds immeasurably to the total experience.

The island taxi that collects you from the airstrip heads along the island's main street, a sandy avenue where pink frangipani trees and filaments of bougainvillea screen neat houses with broad verandahs, past the collapsing stone church that was built by the London Missionary Society and its modern counterpart, St Andrew's, and finally to Poruma Island Resort.

Activities
The snorkelling is sensational. Warm seas, low population and the absence of pollutants and run-off add up to a pristine underwater world of fish and corals. Strap on a mask and a snorkel, launch yourself off just about any one of the local beaches and you're in a world of crimson coral fans, platter-shaped emperor angelfish, schools of polished-aluminium trevally, sharks, barracuda, giant clams, sea turtles, rays, sharks and dugongs. Wet just doesn't get any better than this.

If you feel like playing Robinson Crusoe for the day, there are uninhabited islands scattered across the horizon, and abandoning yourself for the day on any one of them with a picnic basket, a fishing rod and snorkelling gear is one of life's happiest experiences.

Fishing is the island's main source of income, and guests can take advantage of the resort's own vessel to make fast, comfortable trips to local hot spots. The village men, many of whom spend several hours at sea each day, are experts at spearfishing and netting, and the boys from the village often amuse themselves by playing rodeo games with the sharks that swim in the shallows - not recommended for the faint-hearted. Naturally, fish is also the basis of the menu at Poruma Island Resort, and dishes such as parsa, a local delicacy, and the local crayfish are marvellous.

The People & Culture
For many guests, one of the chief delights of staying at Poruma is the islanders themselves. Many describe their stay at Poruma as a process of being absorbed into a large and infectiously happy family. The islanders are a hugely engaging people, the women often dressed in the loose, floral print dresses that were introduced by the missionaries, the men all solid and bronzed, with a girth and a manner that suggests slowness, yet lightning fast and agile as cats when they're out fishing in a small boat.

Local traditions are still important. The whole village comes together frequently - for film evenings, to celebrate births and marriages or the construction of a new house. The islanders are Melanesians, ethnically closer to the people of Papua New Guinea than to Aboriginal Australians. Their language, known as Kalaw Lagaw Ya or Yumiplatok, adopts many of the words and phrases from the pidgin that is the universal language of Papua New Guinea. The local policeman, a softly-spoken man named Pal, doesn't have an awful lot to do in a community where everyone leaves their doors unlocked and where you can leave your wallet on the beach when you go for a swim, so he can sometimes be seen tidying up the coconut fronds brought down by the wind.

Throughout your stay, there are chance events that create moments to treasure - listening to the silky voices of the island choir when they rehearse in the cool of the evening, walking through the village at dusk, when the children are out playing and the streets are bathed in golden light, or falling asleep to the sound of waves on the beach and wind in the coconut palms.

Sensational Snorkelling ... Warm seas, Low population and the absence of run-of add up to a pristine underwater world of fish and corals.

The people of Torres Strait revel in the natural bounty of their island home.
Everything revolves around the sea, and visitors can soak up the culture that makes this such a special place.

Location:
Poruma Island is located between Australia and Papua New Guinea in the Torres Strait Archipelago.

En route to Poruma, one of the string of palmy islands that the plane visits on its island-hopping journey through the Torres Strait, your pilot might suggest that you get out in order to stretch your legs and perhaps collect some mangoes.

You will then spend several strange but deliriously wonderful minutes knocking fruit from the giant trees at the end of the runway, and depart with fingers sticky with juice. This is not your usual flight, but then these are not your usual islands.

As soon as you leave Australia's most northerly point at the tip of Cape York, there is a perceptible change in the scenery below. Against a malachite green sea, the islands of the Torres Strait are a series of stepping stones that join Australia with Papua New Guinea, each one trimmed with a narrow fringe of sugar-white sand that dissolves toward a halo of peacock blue that suggests a wealth of coral and exotic marine life.

Poruma lies about midway along this island chain, is fairly typical of the inhabited islands - a narrow coral cay about two kilometres long with a village of about 200 toward its western end.

The huts are situated on the western end of the island, the best location for beautiful sunsets. Islanders call this end 'gaigalkuth' which means 'sunset end'.

Getting there:
Qantas flight from Cairns to Horn Island, then light aircraft to Poruma.

Alternatively, charter aircraft from Cairns. Total flying time is about three hours.

Notes:
Dress light and cool. High-grade sun protection is a must. Alcohol is not sold on the island, but the lodge can arrange to serve you beer, wines or spirits of your choice if you notify in advance.

What's included:
All meals.

Poruma Island Resort Room Information.

Overlooking the sandy spit that forms the finest of the island's beaches, the resort consists of just two enormous thatch-roof timber lodges.

Each has an open-plan design, with a lounge and dining area immediately beneath the verandah and folding doors that screen the bedroom and bathroom behind.

Built in the authentic Poruma style, each stunning hut is luxuriously equipped and furnished, with a king-sized bed on elevated platform that is enclosed by a mosquito net.

Although they are not air-conditioned, the soaring thatch roof and ceiling fans keep the rooms cool and breezy even during the hottest part of the day.

Each bedroom even has its own plunge pool, just the thing for cooling off in the midday heat.

The huts are situated on the western end of the island, the best location for beautiful sunsets.

Islanders call this end "gaigalkuth" which means "sunset end'. You can swim or fish in front of the beach suites on any tide and enjoy the reef, corals and marine life.

For the best price call Ozhorizons
Australia: 07 41249943 - International +61 7 41249943

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