The construction of the Australian Government funded Semi structured Marine Park at Henderson has successfully completed and the Guadalcanal Provincial Planning Board has approved the assessed and approved the venue for use.
The National Hosting Authority (NHA) entered into an agreement with Unisound Studios for the use of DC Park as a venue to build a Marine Park that will host the water sports including sailing, kayaking, va’a, triathlon and open water swimming during the 2023 Pacific Games.
These sports are compulsory under the Pacific Games Charter but are not yet established in Solomon Islands and therefore no facilities had existed.
The NHA with financing support from the Australian Government has built a modest facility to cater for the water Sports and to leave a legacy for the sports to grow in Solomon Islands.
The NHA has negotiated a ten-year lease with the owners on a parcel of land within DC Park that could house a permanent Marine Park.
The NHA will deliver a low-cost modular building with a lifespan of ten years to store marine sport equipment and vessels, and accommodate Pacific Games administrators and spectators.
The Marine Park will be operated by the National Sports Council (NSC) after the 2023 Pacific Games.
The modular nature of the building will enable the NSC to dismantle the facility when the lease expires, or to renegotiate a longer lease without the associated cost.
So far, the facility is completed and is pending assessment before confirmation of use as training facility in preparations for the games.
Recently the Va’a (Canoeing) Sports Federation President Mr. Eric Chow and his Committee launched a fundraising ceremony on 11 March 2023, to support the Solomon Islands Outrigger Federation and its athletes training programme. The Prime Minister Hon. Manasseh Sogavare attended the event and had the pleasure of announcing NHA’s support to the Federation by procuring 16 Vaá Outrigger Canoes which will be used by the team for training before the Games. The canoes have been procured and are expected to arrive by end of March.
The word “Va’a” means “boat” or “canoe” in Samoan and Hawaiian and is used to describe the modern sport of outrigger canoeing and is one of the 24 Sports that will be played during the Sol2023 Games in November.
The DC Park beach sports ground is an ideal recreational area for all sports that is serving the sports communities of Honiara and the Guadalcanal Province.
-Sol2023 NHA Communications
Solomon Islands 
Papua New Guinea 
