Daru is the capital of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.

Understand

Daru is located on an island of the same name, which is located near the mouth of the Fly River on the western side of the Papuan Gulf, just north of Torres Strait and Far North Queensland in Australia. It is a poor town that has benefited little from mining activities in Western Province and has relatively little to interest visitors other than fishermen. It is an occasional anchorage for yachts sailing from Australia to Port Moresby.

Get in

• Airlines PNG has daily flights from the nation's capital, Port Moresby.
• From Australia. There is no commercial transport from Australia but it may be possible to persuade someone in the Torres Strait Islands to take you Daru by boat. You will, of course, need to have obtained a visa for PNG in advance. Torres Strait Islanders are allowed to travel into Papua New Guinea without documents as far as the 9 degrees South latitude line, just north of Daru, but that permission does not apply to anyone else.

Do

• Fishing. Fishing trips for Barramundi and Black Bass can be arranged through the Kuki Hotel.

Eat

• Barramundi. Excellent eating fish found in the Gulf of Papua.
• Sago. The traditional staple food of the area. Sago is a starch extracted from the pith of sago palm stems. It is cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a paste, or as a pancake.

Sleep

• Kuki Hotel, ☏ +675 645 9476, marumari@daltron.com.pg. 
• New Century Hotel, PO Box 290 Daru, ☏ +675 645 9169, newcentury@msn.com. 

Go next

• Kiunga. A transit point for supplies to the Ok Tedi mine at Tabubil. Great birdwatching.
• Lake Murray is PNG's largest lake, which increases in size fivefold during the rainy season.
• Tabubil. A company town built to serve the Ok Tedi gold and copper mine. Unofficially known as one of the wettest places in the world, with rainfall reaching 10 metres per year. The area around Tabubil has numerous species of birds, fish, insects, spiders, and small animals. There are enormous moths and bird-eating spiders.
• Telefomin. North of Tabubil on the border with West Sepik province, the town is famous for a species of cuscus, the Telefomin Roundleaf Bat, and the traditional practice of the males of wearing penis gourds, now sadly dying out under missionary influence.

Airlines PNG has flights to Lake Murray, Kiunga and Tabubil from Daru.