Solomon Islands/Village & Family Stays/Berlin, Lau Lagoon
Berlin, Lau Lagoon
Built on two man-made islands, bridged together, in a lagoon of sixty more.
Lau Lagoon runs along the north-east coast of Malaita — more than 35 kilometres long, holding about 60 islands built on the reef. They were made one rock at a time: a family would paddle out, retrieve a single rock, paddle back to their chosen site and drop it in the water. Sixty islands came of it. Berlin sits in the middle of this, among ancient man-made islands and stilted villages, fringed by a massive reef system on one side and mountains on the other.
Where you stay
Berlin is built on two man-made islands bridged together. You travel here by longboat, about an hour’s drive from the local airport. Mark and his family welcome you to their small island paradise, where you wake to the sunrise and live as the Solwata people of Malaita do. The bath has one of the great views in the world, looking out across the Lau Lagoon. On the mainland are the gardens where the Lau women grow papaya, bananas, coconut and green vegetables, while the men fish the lagoon and the ocean.
Things to do
Visit the local market where the Solwata — the island people — trade with the bush people who live on the land. Attend a church service, a gathering of all the local mothers’ unions in the area. Visit the school or the clinic. Fish for big pelagics and reef fish, snorkel, swim, or paddle the lagoon in a dugout canoe, and trek to the rainforest and waterfall. Lau Lagoon is also an extraordinary surfing playground, with more than a dozen world-class reef set-ups.
Berlin, Lau Lagoon in pictures
A few photographs from Lau Lagoon, Malaita.
Ready to stay at Berlin, Lau Lagoon?
Tell us your dates and party size and we'll build it into your Solomons itinerary.