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Vanuatu Travel Guide
Click RED links for our recommended accommodation: Vanuatu Resort Listings
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South Pacific Adventure Travel
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Unlike most other South Pacific islands, the Vanuatu travel experience is more about the traditional culture than it is of its beaches and lagoons. Naturally, Vanuatu does boast some beautiful beaches and beach resorts and some wonderful scuba diving sites which pull in the holiday-makers, but many more come to visit traditional kastom villages, to sample the strong kava drink and to discover what makes Vanuatu the happiest place on earth.
Vanuatu is made up of 83 islands resembling in shape an elongated Y. Located within the tropic of Cancer, the islands are a three hour thirty minute flight east of Australia and the same travelling time north of New Zealand; its closest neighbours are New Caledonia to the south and Fiji to the east, both an hour and a half flight away.
The main island of Vanuatu is Efate, circular in shape and taking around three hours to circumnavigate by car. It's small, and the main population centre and tourist hub is the capital of Port Vila on the south coast, the prettiest town in the South pacific set in a wonderful harbour setting. Only two other islands are frequently visited by tourists: Tanna, a forty minute flight to the south of Port Vila is renowned for its active volcano, Mt. Yasur, touted as the most accessible active volcano in the world; and Espiritu Santo, the largest of Vanuatu's islands a fifty minute flight to the north of Port Vila which has the nations best scuba diving and the world's most accessible large wreck dive, the SS President Coolidge. Outside of these islands, a sprinkling of travellers head to Malakula to experience traditional village life, to Ambrym for more active volcanoes and extraordinary traditions and to Pentecost to witness the thrill of Land Diving every Saturday between April and June. Accommodation on these outer islands is locally-run guesthouses, often with shared facilities, limited electricity and with cold water showers only. Provisions are very limited with no towns and only a few small village stores to stock up on supplies.
Port Vila
Downtown Port Vila is set alongside a delightful harbour within Mele Bay with tiny Iririki Island lying offshore and forming a pretty backdrop. The main street, Lini Highway, is lined with boutique shops with a large and lively Municipal Market at its heart and a Handicraft Market lying behind in a park beside the harbour which is good for buying locally made souvenirs. The waterfront has several excellent cafes, restaurants and bars which give this town it's excellent reputation as a lively tourist destination. The town sprawls over a hillside promontory with Parliament and the National Museum on the ridge, with sheltered Erakor Lagoon on the eastern side where a handful of boutique resorts and large hotels line the coast.
Port Vila Accommodation
Around Efate Island
The 132-km coastal road around Efate Island is mostly single land and not tar-sealed. Four kilometres outside of Port Vila is Ekasup Cultural Village where dance performances and re-constructions of traditional life are put on display for tourists. The south coast east of Port Vila has some lovely secluded white sandy beaches and there's good surfing off Eratap Point. One of the island's most picturesque beach is found on the east coast at Eton Beach and is a popular spot for day-trippers. The north coast is perhaps the most picturesque with a handful of large islands lying off the coast including Nguna, an extinct volcano, Pele Island with white sandy beaches and the pretty lagoon fronting Moso Island. One of the islands main tourist attractions is Cascades Waterfall enveloped in tropical rainforest along the western side of Efate. To the west of Port Vila is the long sweeping black sand beach of Mele Bay which makes a great place for beachcombing, and sitting in the bay is tiny Hideaway Island Resort surrounded by fabulous coral reefs for snorkelling and scuba diving - the island can be visited on a day trip and there's a ferry shuttling guests back and forth from Mele Beach. The Port Vila Golf Club lies just beyond Mele Bay, eight kilometres from Port Vila.
Efate Accommodation
Tanna Island
Tanna is the adventure destination of Vanuatu with most people visiting coming to marvel at Mt. Yasur Volcano on the eastern side of the island. So popular is the attraction that every accommodation provider on island offers daily visits to the volcano so long as it is safe enough to visit. The best time to view the volcano is at dawn, enabling you to see the shape and form in natural light, to enjoy a sunset over its rim and then to be enthralled at the firework display shown off against the black night sky. Mt. Yasur generally erupts between every 15- to 30-minutes, shooting a plume of smoke and hot rocks into the air. However, sometimes the volcano is inactive , at other times its too active and too dangerous to visit so you just have to take what it gives. The best views are peering down from the rim of the crater, a ten-minute steep walk from the parking area. The volcano is a 1-hr 40-minute drive from Lanakel on the west coast, Tanna's only town and main airport for the island. Mt. Yasur can be visited on a day tour from Port Vila, although you won't see the volcano at nightime when it's at its most spectacular.
Apart from the must-see volcano, Tanna's rich and traditional culture is another major attraction. A dozen or so villages are open to tourists and put on cultural displays and dance performances which are arranged at your accommodation. One of the most unusual villages are those abiding to the John Frum cult. John Frum was an American WWII soldier who the locals believe will return to Tanna with great and wonderful gifts. Until his return, the villagers have abandoned all modern ways of life.
Tanna Accommodation
Espiritu Santo
Better known simply as "Santo", the largest of Vanuatu's islands with its highest mountain peak at 1879-metres attracts scuba divers from around the world. It's greatest dive site, the SS President Coolidge, was sunk in 1942 by friendly mines in Segond Channel off the south coast just ten-minutes from Luganville Town, Vanuatu's second largest town. It is recognised as the world's largest most accessible wreck dive and apart from its colourful corals and diverse marine life that has made the wreck its home, the Coolidge also has WWII memorabilia littered around its floors. Other WWII evidence is found at nearby Million Dollar Point which was used as a dumping ground of all US machinery after the war ended.
Most of the island is remote and inaccessible with dirt roads only extending along the south and east coasts. The east coast of Santo has sporadic beaches along its coastline including one of the countries finest: Champagne Beach, a long curving white sand beach with great swimming and snorkelling. There are also a dozen or so unusual Blue Holes scattered in the forest, deep fresh water lakes with a mesmerizingly aqua-blue tint. On the south coast is Luganville Town, a one street town with a few cement buildings, Internet cafes, a couple of decent restaurants and several budget hotels. The town fronts a protected channel cushioned by a handful of offshore islands including Aore and Bokissa which both have boutique beach resorts.
Apart from its dive sites and coral reefs along the south coast, Santo has some exceptional walking trails. The most accessible of these is the Millennium Cave hike at Santo's south-western coast near where the road ends. For hardened hikers there are two full-day busk tracks traversing the remote and rugged west coast peninsula which can be arranged with guide from the Vanuatu Tourism Office in Luganville Town.
Espiritu Santo Accommodation
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