Dobu Island

Dobu Island is an inhabited island in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, known as the homeland of the Dobu people and a focus of early 20th-century anthropological research. It lies among the eastern island groups of Papua New Guinea and is part of the province’s island communities.

The island is chiefly notable for its local villages, customary lifeways and reef fisheries rather than large tourist infrastructure. Small-scale subsistence fishing and gardening are the main activities visitors will observe; reef areas around the island support local boats and snorkeling where access is available.

Ethnographic attention to Dobu increased in the 1920s and 1930s when fieldworkers documented local social organization and belief systems; published works from that period remain widely cited in anthropology. The island has continued to maintain traditional practices alongside limited contact with provincial administration and mission activity.

Geographically the island sits in Milne Bay Province in southeastern Papua New Guinea among other small islands and reefs. It is reached by local boat services from larger islands and provincial centres within Milne Bay.

• Anthropology note: Subject of early 20th-century anthropological study; Reo Fortune published Sorcerers of Dobu (1932) based on fieldwork on the island.
• Local people: Inhabited by the Dobu people, who speak a Western Oceanic language of the Papuan region.