Point Cruz

Point Cruz is a small peninsula in the centre of Honiara, home to the main yacht club and the commercial wharf. It is where Honiara's modest café and restaurant scene concentrates — a few places to eat and drink with views over the harbour.

The point also has historical significance: it was the site of a decisive moment in the Guadalcanal campaign when American forces repulsed a Japanese attack in October 1942. Today it is simply a pleasant spot to sit at the end of the day, watch the fishing boats and inter-island ferries, and look out across Iron Bottom Sound to Florida Island.

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Point Cruz was named by the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña, who landed here in 1568 and planted a cross — 'Cruz' — claiming the islands for Spain. He returned in 1595 to establish a colony, but the expedition ended in disaster: disease, conflict with the islanders, and Mendaña's death on Santa Cruz. The Solomons would not see another European for nearly two centuries.

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