Papua New Guinea often gets a bad rap for not being safe, but in fairness it really is not that bad as a whole. What is bad though is the capital, meaning getting robbed in Port Moresby is a distinct danger.
Is Port Moresby that dangerous?
Quite simply yes it is, the city is largely ran by the raskals gangs and the police are fairly useless. When it did get robbed (story to follow), they did not even bother to come and take a statement from me.
Crime here is not like Cambodia where they do flybys, but is violent usually and can involve knives.
You can read about the city here.
And the violence is not just linked to getting robbed in Port Moresby, with women particularly being at high risk of sexual violence. Some estimates state that as many as 70 percent of resident women have been sexually assaulted in some way.
What’s it like getting robbed in Port Moresby?
It’s pretty shit and in my case at least something I should have avoided, but was led astray. While staying at the Holiday Inn a friend suggested going for dinner “next door”, sadly it was not next door and three minute into our walk I was surrounded by three guys, one of whom had a knife.
I won’t go into the gory details, but they wanted my phone but I punched back held ny grind and my phone. They did though smack my glasses off of my head, as well as teal my bag with my money in. All told though I got off lightly.
And yes I called the police, but one month later I am still waiting for a reply. Seems they care more about firewater.
How to avoid getting robbed in Port Moresby?
PNG people are so friendly it gives you a false sense of safety, so with this in mind you need to keep your guard up t9o avoid getting robbed in Port Moresby. This includes not waking anywhere at night and even in the day not taking huge valuables like phones with you.
Essentially stick to cars if you want to avoid getting robbed in Port Moresby, or indeed worse. Good hotels such as the Hilton will provide this, and even ditch ones like The Crown Phnom Penh, where we usually stay.
You can check out my PNG tours here.