See Malaita’s shark worshippers, bride buyers and house of skulls

In Malaita, there are two villages (Lualasi and Funaafou) where you can see tribal priests call sharks to offer pigs, believing that this will save their men from the sharks’ menu. When priests die, their bodies are dried under the tropical sun while their heads are put in the “house of skulls.” In these villages, you can also see ethnic warriors still challenge visitors in a leisure combat. These fighters live in male-dominated, chief-led tribes.

Malaita is easily accessible through chartered boat or aircraft from Guadalcanal or Honiara. Unlike other Solomon Islands destinations, there is no dive center or adequate tourism infrastructure in Malaita, but what it lacks in facilities, it compensates in opulent cultural heritage and natural beauty.

In Malaita’s Langa Langa Lagoon, assembly lines for boat building and shell money minting welcome tourists. Most natives have built huge bodies under their dried palm skirts since time is mostly spent on canoe-making to boost their reputation as great ship builders. Shell money is customarily made for trade, but also for buying brides.

The communes around the mangrove swamps of Langa Langa are home to cultural features such as Tabu houses or preserved first settlements dated since 3000 B.C. Hatchet marks are still visible on the wooden huts, reminiscent of the province’s headhunters, cannibals and tribal wars. Although violent traditions are long-gone, taboos are still strictly followed, and violations would amount to fa abua or fa okae (compensation), wherein food is offered as reparation.