Home › Port Moresby › Bomana War Cemetery
Bomana War Cemetery, Port Moresby - Things to Do at Bomana War Cemetery

Things to Do at Bomana War Cemetery

Complete Guide to Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby

About Bomana War Cemetery

Bomana War Cemetery lies 19 kilometres north of Port Moresby. White headstones sweep across lawns that glow jade in the wet season and bleach to straw by October. You hear it first. Flame trees rustle. A truck grinds along Sogeri Road. Frangipani pods crack in the heat. The largest war cemetery in the Pacific. Scale ambushes visitors expecting a modest plot. More than 3,800 Commonwealth servicemen rest here. Most died along the Kokoda Track and around Buna, Gona, and Sanananda from 1942 to 1945. The Cross of Sacrifice anchors the lower terrace. Rows climb in measured steps toward the Port Moresby Memorial above. Nearly 750 names of the missing are cut into stone panels. Australians lie beside British airmen. Papuan and New Guinean carriers and constabulary share the ground. A handful of Indian soldiers rest here too. The campaign drew people from across the wartime world. Air smells of cut grass. In November, flame-tree blossom drops heavy sweetness onto the headstones. This is a working cemetery. Commonwealth War Graves Commission staff maintain it daily. Local Papuan groundsmen take obvious pride.. You might be the only visitor on a weekday morning. No audio guide. No gift shop. No queue. Just headstones, hills, and names.

What to See & Do

The Port Moresby Memorial

At the cemetery's highest point, stone panels list nearly 750 names of airmen and soldiers lost in the South-West Pacific with no known grave. Names are cut deep enough to read by fingertip. The view back down over the headstones toward the Owen Stanley foothills is the moment most visitors stop talking.

Kokoda Track casualties section

A large concentration of graves belongs to men of the Australian 39th Battalion and the AIF brigades who fought the four-month withdrawal and counter-attack along the Kokoda Track in 1942. Headstone inscriptions chosen by families, some defiant, some unbearably young, hit harder here than anywhere else on the site.

Papuan and New Guinean graves

Look for the headstones of the Papuan Infantry Battalion, the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, and the carriers known as the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. They are scattered through the lawns rather than segregated. Worth noting given the era. Headstones are the same shape and size as every other in the cemetery.

The Cross of Sacrifice

The standard Commonwealth War Graves cross with its bronze sword sits on the lower terrace. Flame trees frame it, flowering scarlet from October through December. Natural place to pause before walking the rows. Bronze has weathered to soft green that catches morning light.

The register and visitor book

Tucked into a small shelter near the entrance, the alphabetical register lets you locate any specific name and grave plot. Many Australian visitors come to find a relative. Staff will help if you have a name but no plot number. The visitor book is a quietly moving document of decades of pilgrimage.

Practical Information

Opening Hours

Open daily from around 7am to 4pm. Gates are rarely locked precisely on time. Early morning is coolest and gives the best light on the headstones. Groundsmen typically arrive shortly after sunrise.

Tickets & Pricing

Free entry, as with all Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites. No donation box on site. Contributions to the CWGC can be made through their website if you're moved to give.

Best Time to Visit

May through September during the dry season is the most comfortable for walking the rows. Clear skies, lower humidity, grass cropped short. November brings the flame trees into full bloom. Visually extraordinary but also the start of the wet. Expect afternoon downpours. Anzac Day (25 April) draws a dawn service worth attending if your trip lines up. Cemetery is crowded that morning in a way it never is otherwise.

Suggested Duration

Allow 60 to 90 minutes for a meaningful visit. Long enough to walk the main terraces, find specific graves if you're looking, and sit for a while at the memorial. Researchers or anyone tracing a relative should budget two hours or more.

Getting There

Bomana sits roughly 19 kilometres north of central Port Moresby along the Sogeri Road, near the airport. A taxi from downtown or Waigani is the most practical option for most visitors. Agree the fare before you get in. Ask the driver to wait. Flagging a ride back from the cemetery gate is unreliable. Mid-range hotels in Port Moresby can arrange a half-day driver. Often combined with a run up to the Kokoda Track trailhead at Owers' Corner or the Sogeri Plateau. Makes good sense logistically. Public PMV buses do run along Sogeri Road but aren't recommended for visitors unfamiliar with Port Moresby. Security situation around bus stops can be unpredictable. If you've hired a car with a driver for your stay, this is a straightforward 30-to-40-minute run from town.

Things to Do Nearby

Owers' Corner and the Kokoda Track trailhead
About an hour further up the Sogeri Road, this is where the Kokoda Track officially begins (or ends, depending on direction). Pairs naturally with Bomana. You visit the men, then stand at the start of the path they fought along.
Sogeri Plateau and the Varirata National Park
Cool, forested high country above Port Moresby with walking trails, lookouts over the coast, and a good chance of seeing Raggiana birds-of-great destination displaying at dawn. Combines easily with Bomana on a half-day trip.
Port Moresby Nature Park
Back in town, this is the best place to see cassowaries, tree kangaroos, and the country's astonishing range of birds-of-great destination up close. Useful counterweight to Bomana's solemnity on the same day.
National Museum and Art Gallery
In Waigani, the museum holds the country's main collection of Sepik carvings, Highlands artefacts, and a small but worthwhile WWII display that contextualises what you'll have seen at Bomana.
Ela Beach
Ela Beach arcs for a mile along Port Moresby's foreshore, and by late afternoon the whole city seems to stroll its sand. You will not swim here. The water is brown and the locals warn you off. Still, after a steamy morning among the white stones of Bomana War Cemetery, nothing resets the mind like a takeaway coffee and the sea breeze.

Tips & Advice

Pack water. Bring a hat. Shade vanishes the moment you step past the entrance shelter, and the clipped lawns bounce the sun straight into your face. Expect glare.
Need one specific grave? Email the Commonwealth War Graves Commission before you fly. Give the full name and service number. They reply with the exact plot reference. You will save sweat.
If a groundsman walks you to a headstone or recounts a soldier's story, press a few kina into his hand. These men mow, weed, and polish every day of the year. The money matters.
Ask before you raise a camera near families. Anzac Day and the weeks on either side bring Australian relatives. Their grief is fresh. Respect it.
Hire a driver and pair Bomana with Owers' Corner in one cool morning. Leave town by 7am. Do the cemetery first. Then climb toward Sogeri and claim a long, well-earned lunch.

Tours & Activities at Bomana War Cemetery

Didn't see anything interesting yet?

Browse Viator's full catalog of tours, day trips, food experiences, and private guides in Bomana War Cemetery.

See All Bomana War Cemetery Tours on Viator