Australasia: Vanuatu

Vanuatu boasts 79 more islands in addition to those featured in this brochure. Vanuatu offers an incredibly diverse variety of visitor experiences, with accommodation to suit every budget and interest, from Large and Boutiques Resorts, Hotels and Backpacker lodges to Community Bungalows and home stays. There are tourism operators on more than 20 islands of Vanuatu with welcoming communities on many of the others for those looking for an authentic grass roots travel experience. For more information on the many islands of Vanuatu, visit www.vanuatutourism.com

History, Geography & Custom

Vanuatu is an archipelago, a Y-shaped string of 83 islands with the main islands being
Efate, Espiritu Santo, Malakula and Tanna.

The ni-Vanuatu people (of the land) are a Melanesian race speaking Bislama, a unique language mixed with Vanuatu versions of local, French and English languages.
Bislama unites the country providing people of 110 different language groups the opportunity to communicate. English and French are widely spoken and are an integral part of not only the history of Vanuatu, but also the present.

Whilst the predominant population is ni Vanuatu, the country is peppered with the spices of many races including South Pacific Islanders, French, English, Australian,
New Zealanders, Vietnamese and Chinese. Vanuatu is a land of diversity and huge smiles, boasting Coral seas, tropical islands, fish, volcanoes and rainforest. Snorkeling, SCUBA diving, game fishing and soft adventures are all here to enjoy in a country with a colourful history, a rich culture and a warm welcome. Every island has its own history and unique traditions, so visiting one or several will add to your Vanuatu Experience.

Efate Island
Port Vila is our capital, a gateway for visitors and an important centre for Vanuatu and the South Pacific. The town of Port Vila is a lively mix of services, offices, banks, duty free shops, restaurants, gift shops, boutiques, handcraft galleries, cafés, and the colorful Port Vila market. A great place to meet the locals with their fruit, vegetables, shells, flowers, coconut crabs, artifact and souvenir stalls, the market operates every day
except Sunday. It is a wonderful pot-pourri of cultures, blending elements of Melanesian, English, French and Asian. Set on a natural harbor, the sea-wall is a mecca for visiting cruising yachts and charter boats which provide easy access for reef or game fishing, diving or cruising expeditions.

Port Vila and Efate offer an extensive selection of tours and activities to satisfy the most ardent explorers. From getaways to tropical beaches to exploring eclectic galleries, game fishing to snorkeling, jet boating to sunset cruises, mountain biking to bathing in waterfalls, abseiling to sailing and everything in between, nothing is more than minutes away from Efate’s main centre. Just as abundant are the range of restaurant and cafés, led by the French influence and supported by a wide and diverse range of cuisines. The majority of large and boutique resorts, hotels and bungalows are within minutes of Port Vila, with other boutique resorts and local style accommodation experiences scattered around Efate and the adjacent islands.

Traveling only 40 minutes north of the capital places you overlooking the islands of Lelepa, Moso, Nguna, Pele and Emau, with a number of tour operators offering
daytrips to experience the local communities and the fun of even smaller island living. Beautiful beaches, cultural experiences and insights into Vanuatu’s history dot the round island road, making a day tour or self drive rental a fantastic way to enhance your Vanuatu experience.

Espiritu Santo Island
Touted as Vanuatu’s nature and adventure capital, Espiritu Santo offers lots of surprises for all visitors. There is no mistaking you are in Espiritu Santo as the fragrance of frangipani blends with the smells of local copra kilns, filling the air with coconut so strong that it’s almost edible. Espiritu Santo is Vanuatu’s largest island with a coastline studded with smaller islands and beautiful beaches, most barely inhabited.
To the interior lays pristine jungles, kustom villages and old plantations, many which
still operate today, along with a cattle industry regarded as producing the best
beef in the Pacific. Luganville was an important operations base during World War II. The American Army left behind airfields and bomber wrecks and sank their military equipment after the war providing the famous dive sight Million Dollar Point, now inhabited by colourful fish and corals. One of the world’s “must do” dives can also be found only five minutes from town.

The 200m SS President Coolidge, a 1930’s luxury liner, converted into a US troopship,
lies in water from 20-70 meters deep. President Coolidge with its amazing collection of Jeeps, trucks, cases of rifles and abundant sea life is the largest intact shipwreck accessible to scuba divers in the world.

The destroyer USS Tucker lies off Malo Island, with another 20 recognized sites in the area and hundreds yet to be discovered. Small boutique resorts, hotels and guest houses can be found at the south of the island, in and about Luganville, Vanuatu’s second urban centre, as well as up the pristine east coast. Many of them are cloaked in a sense of island romance, not surprising given that Espiritu Santo was once the home of James A Michener and it was here he wrote what would become the musical, South Pacific. Espiritu Santo is renowned for many natural wonders including its famous Blue Holes – deep limestone pools of turquoise fresh water, Champagne Beach, one of the finest beaches in the South Pacific and Vatthe Conservation Area, Vanuatu’s first National Park set in 2,300ha of protected jungle, a natural wonderland to native birds, coconut crabs, flying foxes, boa-snakes and turtles.

Pentecost Island
Pentecost is famous for the land diving ritual (Nagol), the original bungee jump. Taking place on Saturdays in April and May this leap of faith is to give thanks for the yam harvest and to again guarantee a plentiful yam harvest the following year. Jumpers select their own vines and construct their platform on the jump tower which can reach to 30 metres. Flights and ferries operate day trips to visit the land diving. Pentecost is also known for its ritual dancing, mat and basket weaving and symbolic sand drawings, dating back to the first inhabitants of Vanuatu.

Tanna Island
Tanna is a unique combination of culture, exploration and mystery. Mt. Yasur, one of the most accessible volcanos in the world, is an exciting natural phenomenon providing an outstanding fireworks display on a night visit. 360 metes above sea level and surrounded by an ash plain, Yasur is a fiery cauldron of molten rock spurting every few minutes as nature exhibits an expressive display. A cannonade of booming sound from escaping gases is followed by wild reverberations as eruptions shoot glowing ash and stones into the air. Many local people believe that the spirits of the dead live in Mt. Yasur.

Most Tannese live a traditional lifestyle practicing the ancient customs of their ancestors including Kastom medicine, initiation rites and the colourful Nekowiar, celebrating the successful harvest. Tanna is also home to the John Frum Cargo Cult, made famous for their devotion to a modern deity based on the US servicemen who visited during World War II. With its raw nature and primitive tribal cultures, Tanna is a step back in time to a unique and untouched South Pacific. Why not become a visitor on your next Vanuatu experience. Tanna is also a minefield of adventure - the wreck of the Fijian, a sailing ship which sank in 1916 lies in 20 meters of water, wild horses inhabit White Grass Plains, there are white sandy beaches and the black sand of Imlao Beach, waterfalls, hot springs and the spectacular Yapilmai Cascades. Port Resolution, a popular yacht anchorage was named by Captain Cook when he landed in 1774, attracted like most people, by the great glow of Yasur in
the night sky.

79 more islands

There’s even more, either just around the corner or off the beaten ocean track.


Information and pictures provided by www.vanuatutourism.com

The Travel-Informed Team

You are welcome to send us comments or suggestions of what you would like us to cover on this page (), we always enjoy hearing from you.