The Maramasike Passage () is a narrow passage which separates the two main islands of

Malaita Province Malaita Province is the most populous of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands. The population of the province is 122,620 (1999). The area of the province is . It is named after its largest island, Malaita (also known as "Big Malaita" or " ...

in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, the larger

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

and the smaller

South Malaita Island South Malaita Island is the island at the southern tip of the larger island of Malaita in the eastern part of Solomon Islands. It is also known as Small Malaita and Maramasike for Areare speakers and Malamweimwei for more than 80% of the islande ...

, also known as Maramasike. A similar passage is found between the

Nggela Islands The Nggela Islands or Ngella Islands, previously known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province of Solomon Islands, a sovereign state, since 1978, in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The name Florida Islands fell in ...

. The channel is the result of volcanic activity.W.G. Ivens. ''Melanesians of the South-east Solomon Islands''. London:Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1927; 2. The northern mouth leads to Raroi Su'u Lagoon, a sheltered bay. The channel is 28 miles long and is navigable by small vessels. The northern mouth is much wider than the southern mouth, and is several miles wide with scattered

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

s and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

patches. It narrows at the southern end, and is much deeper and is surrounded by cliffs. In places, the passage is less than 400 m wide and only about 4 m deep. The

Saltwater Crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats, brackish wetlands and freshwater rivers from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaland to northern Australia and Micronesia. It ha ...

may inhabit the area, particularly the Taha River and Taramata Creek near the northern end of the passage. There are several villages along the passage, particularly on the northern stretch. A protected area including the passage, the 'Are'are Lagoon, southern Malaita and western South Malaita has been proposed.Lees, A., Garnett, M. & Wright, S. (1991). A Representative Protected Forests System for the Solomon Islands. Report prepared for the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service. Maruia Society, Nelson, New Zealand. Cited in Leary.

References

{{reflist Straits of the Solomon Islands