Guadalcanal's capital and wartime battlefields
Honiara, on the north coast of Guadalcanal, is the capital of the Solomon Islands and grew up around the airfield fought over in the Guadalcanal campaign of 1942 and 1943. The surrounding area is full of relics of the battle: memorials on Skyline Ridge, rusting equipment in the Vilu War Museum, and ship wrecks at Bonegi Beach that snorkellers can reach from the shore. The waters offshore are known as Iron Bottom Sound for the number of ships lost there. The Central Market is the lively heart of town.