Simbo (occasionally known historically as Narovo and Eddystone Island) is one of the smaller islands of the Solomons, but also one of the most lovely and fascinating.

Simbo’s amazing volcanic landscape offers many scenes to the traveler. While not as high or imposing as Kolombangara’s monstrous cone, or as active as the Tinakula and Kavachi, the lovely and mysterious scenery of the vine-draped terrain makes Simbo unmissable.

The view from the road of the numerous islets and reefs off the northwest coast is exquisite, as one travels south between Tapurai and the villages of Lengana and Mengge, at the center and narrowest part of the island.

With the looming verdant crags of Mount Patukio making a southwestern route difficult, the road hops across the northern inlet of Uelai Harbour (or Simbo Harbour) to Nusa Simbo, a small but elongated island that hugs the southeastern coast of Simbo. As one travels south to the end of the road, with the lagoon to one side and the Pacific to the other, the village of Ove comes into view. And what a stunning view. IT one that is hardly mistakable.

Ove is also the name of the saltwater lake farther to the west, an area of sulfuric hot springs in which megapode eggs, a local staple, are cooked. Local staples are the kind of delight in which one should try. Ubiquity is often with good reason. Between the village and the lake rise Mount Patukio, a summit crater, and the more active Ngusunu crater to the southwest. The two make up much of the southern half of Simbo, risingfrom the sea with thickly-forested crater walls often shrouded in mist near the tumbled-rock summits.