The currency of the Solomon Islands is the Solomon Islands Dollar (SBD). At the time this text was created, there were ATM's and international withdrawals were possible only in Honiara. Credit card payments are rare or largely non-existent due to the precariousness of the country's electronic communications system.
ACCOMMODATION
The Solomon Islands' accommodation network is still recovering from the instability that plagued the country from 1998 to 2006. Australian and New Zealander businessmen maintain small resorts operating in the most touristic spots, but only Honiara, Gizo and Munda have acceptable hotels, resorts or lodges if taken in account international standards.
Some hotels and resorts They accept Australian dollars and credit card payments. The most elegant and welcoming have restaurants, bars and offer WiFi, with daily rates ranging from €45 to €150 per double room. The daily rates of various lodges e guesthouses, by comparison Spartans, without air conditioning and shared bathroom are around €20.
FOOD
Any traditional Solomon Islands meal involves the main ingredients available in the archipelago: fish, chicken, pork, coconut, sweet potato and taro (tuber abundant in most of the South Pacific). In the few restaurants used by locals and street markets, meals are very affordable, invariably less than €5 per dish or even per full meal.
The restaurants of the best hotels, resorts and lodges also offer Western-inspired meals at much higher prices – €10 to €25 per person, per meal, even so, very affordable if we take into account, for example, what is practiced by the best accommodations from neighboring New Caledonia or from French Polynesia.
INTERNET
Barring drastic last minute changes you will find unstable, slow and expensive Internet even in Honiara, Gizo, Auki and Munda, provided by Solomon Telekom and accessible through code cards that have different costs depending on the browsing time purchased, as you can see in Internet Solomon Telekom. Honiara has some cybercafés but the Internet may not work for long periods of time if there is a failure in the islands' electricity supply or other technical problems. if traveling with smart phone, tablets or laptop computer can purchase a SIM card from Our Telekom or Be Mobile operators.
VISA AND OTHER PROCEDURES
Portuguese and Brazilian citizens can enter the Solomon Islands without a visa, provided they present a plane ticket that proves departure from the country within 60 days, as well as a visa or relevant documentation that proves the right to enter the country of return or otherwise.
HEALTH AND SAFETY CARE
Officially, unless you come from a country at risk of yellow fever infection, the authorities do not require any proof of vaccination.
Vaccines for hepatitis A and typhoid fever are advisable. For more information on traveling health, see the Health Portal of the Ministry of Health and Tropical Medicine and Travelers Clinic. In FitForTravel find country-specific health and disease prevention advice (in English).
The country is one of the Pacific archipelagos with the highest risk of contracting malaria (several variants among which the falciparum, one of the most worrying) and by Dengue fever. Follow preventive treatment before, during and after possible exposure to mosquitoes. Possibly more importantly, if you visit risky areas, wear light clothing that covers your arms, legs and feet, use repellent and/or mosquito nets and, at night, use a mosquito net. It is recommended that you make an appointment with the traveler and take malaria medication on time before traveling to the Solomon Islands.
Other Care
CSaltwater rocodiles ply the sea, estuaries and even riverbeds in several regions of the Solomon Islands, especially in the western islands of the archipelago.
Certain areas of the country – such as the capital Honiara – have had latent and intermittent security problems. There is still some risk of assaults on foreigners in more isolated attractions. The ethnic and social conflicts that affected the Solomon Islands between 1998 and 2003 and again in 2006 were remedied by the RAMSI intervention force, but the return of ethnic animosity cannot be excluded.
TRIP TO THE SOLOMON ISLANDS
A Star Alliance fly from Lisbon to Sydney or Auckland with the Lufthansa (tel: 707 782 782) via Frankfurt and Singapore from €800. Airlines that fly from Australia (Brisbane), Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby), Vanuatu (Port Vila) and Fiji to the Solomon Islands include the Fiji Airways, Virgin Australia, to Solomon Airlines and Air Niugini. Return flights from these countries to Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, start at €200.
INTERNAL FLIGHTS
To travel between islands, you'll always have to fly with the Solomon Airlines. Prices for each route are relatively high. As a rule, the only islands with daily flights are Ghizo and Munda.
CAR RENTAL
Rent-a-cars may or may not operate at the time you visit the country depending on the political-social stability and economic viability (read tourist influx) of the business at that time. There are about 1300 km of often miserable roads across the country. If you still decide to rent a car, choose the strongest and most reliable one you can find.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
minibuses they roam the streets of Honiara and its surroundings and pass frequently. They are safe and cheap, around €0.30 per way. Outside Honiara, the available transport is limited to privately owned boats, vans or lorries with services that can be irregular and unreliable.
There are only taxis in Honiara, Gizo and Auki (Malaita). They do not have meters, so negotiate the price well before your trip.
SHIP
Ferries, speedboats and other types of craft are the most popular means of travel between the many inhabited islands that make up the Solomon Islands. Far more economical than flights, these trips can be as long as they are panoramic. Barring more recent changes, popular ferries include the 360 Discovery, Pelican Express, Channela and Auki Ferry, all with routes between the main islands that can change frequently. One of the routes with frequent connections connects Honiara (Island of Guadalcanal) to Gizo, the main town on the island of ghiz. Each journey can cost from €40 to €70 depending on the conditions in which you travel. Some of the ferries have excellent conditions on board, others not so. Be well informed about the characteristics of each vessel before traveling. The ocean around the Solomon Islands can be less than peaceful on stormy days.
OTHER
To visit places outside the cities you will have to charter a land taxi (25€ to 80€ per day) or sea taxi (dinghies cost 60 to 120€ per day). Alternatively, check the Internet for tour agencies that can take you to the places you have in mind.
Salomão's climate is humid and hot all year round, with average temperatures around 24, 25º. It rains most from November to April, when cyclones are also most likely.
Taking into account the unpredictable climate of this area of the world, the best time to visit is from July to the end of September, during the South Pacific winter when the temperature and humidity are lower and rainfall decreases in frequency, intensity and duration.