But little did islanders know that they would spend the next decade in rudimentary camps in Madang Province, suffering crippling unemployment, hunger from lack of food, water shortages and local landowners' anger at their imposition on customary land and resources.
Following a conflict with host communities which turned violent in 2009, 4000 to 5000 people retreated back to Manam Island where they were again affected by the volcano's fury this year. Roofs of village dwellings were destroyed and food and water sources contaminated by volcanic ash.
Warren Dagen of the PNG Red Cross told the Weekend Herald that children were traumatised.
"Most of the children were brought up in the camps and they don't have any experience of volcanic eruptions. So when they were brought back to the island and the recent eruption happened, it was a severe shock to them," he said.
But permanent return is not viable because of relentless volcanic activity which is making the island uninhabitable.
Most of the population, now grown to an estimated 15,000, is scattered in three displacement camps in the province, known as Mangem, Asuramba and Potsdam.
The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates there are more than 100,000 internally displaced people in PNG, with most made homeless by natural disasters, which impact the country two to three times a year, tribal warfare and sorcery-related violence.
"Manam Island was one of the most civilised places in Madang. We had cash crops, coconuts, fish, so we had many ways to make money and live well. But now our lives have gone back to zero," said Raynald Kauke, a Mangem resident.
We are sitting underneath his home with a small torch for light as night descends. The camp, home to 2872 islanders, is a collection of makeshift dwellings a short walk through the bush from the coastal road which runs north of Madang town.
In overcrowded living conditions with no land tenure, they are unable to grow cash crops and struggle to find other employment. Casparia Kaboy, a young mother, explained that she earned about 2 kina ($1) a week from selling dry coconuts, which paid for salt and torch batteries.
Now one of the country's worst droughts, at present affecting more than 1 million people, is aggravating water and food scarcity.
"Currently we are eating just dry coconuts; all our sweet potatoes, taros, corn and bananas are dried up. That has been the problem for seven months now," Kauke explained. "We have already lost several people to starvation; it killed two of our people in January."
The Madang provincial Government advises that 60,000ha of land in Andarum, a remote and undeveloped inland area of the province, can be secured as soon as the Manam Resettlement Act, presented to the Government in November last year, is passed by Parliament.
"Then land will be divided and allocated to clan leaders, so they can organise their new communities, and a police post and basic services will be established," said Rudolph Mongallee, the Acting Provincial Disasters director.
But after living in deprivation for so long, mainly because of a lack of political will and bureaucratic obstacles, many islanders feel deeply neglected and express doubts.
Mongallee confirmed the provincial government did not have all the finances needed to implement resettlement, but claimed that, once the legislation is passed, it could apply for national and international funding.
