10 Days in Vanuatu: everything you need to know

The Republic of Vanuatu is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Caledonia, east of Australia and west of Fiji. The country is made up of about 80 islands of which 65 are inhabited. The capital is Port Villa, which is the largest city and the economic centre, located on the island of Efate. The second largest city is Luganville, located on Espiritu Santo and if you only have a short time here (less then 10 days), I recommend just visiting these two islands.

Things to know:

Time zone: GMT +11. Vanuatu observes Vanuatu Time all year. There are no Daylight Saving Time clock changes. It is the same time zone as Sydney during their daylight savings.

Currency: Vanuatu Vatu. A$1 = 80 Vatu.

Credit credits: Credit and debit cards are accepted in most bigger restaurants, hotels and tour companies but they charge anywhere between 3-5% service fee. Cash is the preferred method of payment for most vendors and there are plenty of ATMs around but they charge up for 700 Vatu (A$10) every time you withdraw. We were hit with over A$50 in Arm withdrawal fees until we started to use an Australian ANZ card to withdraw from a local ANZ ATM.

Public transport: Buses are the only method of transport in Efate and I didn’t see any buses in Luganville. The buses are little minibuses with a letter B on the licence plate. They are $150 Vatu anywhere in Efate but if you’re looking to go further such as the Blue Lagoon or Mele Cascades, the price will go up and as at the discretion of the driver and how many other passengers are on the bus so ensure you confirm the price before getting in. There are no set bus routes or time table, you simply put your hand out and wait for one, then tell the driver where you wish to go.

Language: There are three official languages of Vanuatu – English, French and Bislama, the most common Vanuatu language.

Driving: You can hire cars with an international licence or an Australia/ New Zealand drivers licence. They drive on the right hand side of the road.

Water: The tap water is potable in the pacific but if you are not used to the local water it is recommended to drink bottle water.

Pre book car hire and tours: Pre booking tours and car hire is essential. The island has a limited amount of resources and hiring a quad bike or car was difficult. Hire a car on both Efate and Espiritu Santo well in advance. You can hire cars from The Espiritu on Santo and from World

How to get there?

Direct flights from Sydney and Brisbane go to Port Villa with Vanuatu Air and the flight takes about 3.5 hours. You must fly through Port Villa to get to Luganville or Tanna but this may change soon as airlines resume their flights to Vanuatu. Vanuatu closed its borders with COVID-19 pandemic and only reopened in July 2022 to the rest of the world.

Best time of year to go?

April- October: Thanks to its wonderful tropical climate, Vanuatu weather is typically great all year round however conditions are generally at their best from April to October when the weather is fine and temperatures are warm yet comfortable, averaging between 18 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius. Dec-Mar is their wet season and is humid with downpours. We went in Dec and had a few hours of rain on 3-4 of the days but it didn’t last too long most days.

10 day itinerary

Day 1

Land in Port Villa and check into your accommodation. Don’t plan too much on your travel days as delays are pretty normal and things move on ‘island time’. I recommend basing yourself in the city and taking trips out of the city. Wander around the town and the central market, watch the sunset on the water front and grab dinner from one of the lovely restaurants in the town with a sunset view such as the Stonegrill Restaurant or Kesorn‘s Exotic Thai Restaurant.

Day 2

Get picked up early from your accommodation to head for a day on the Coongoola Day Cruise. This is a full day tour 8.45am-5pm, costs 11,900 Vatu (A$160) and includes morning tea, lunch and transfers. This can be booked in town at their office or through most hotels. The cruise was one of the best days in Vanuatu. It started at 8.45am picking us up from our accommodation and then heading towards Havana Harbour where the boat departs.

We hopped onto a smaller boat to bring us to the bigger boat, an ex Sydney to Hobart race mother ship, that we would cruise to Tranquility Island on. The first stop was to the turtle rookery. It is a voluntary Hawksbill Turtle Conservation Program, based at Tranquility Resort on Most Island. The sanctuary is home to upwards of 200 juvenile turtles that are raised from hatchlings until they reach 1 year old, before being tagged and released into the ocean. Their chance of survival to adulthood increases from 2% to 85% by releasing them at 1 years old.

Morning tea and coffee was served on the boat and we set sail for about an hour to Tranquility Island, where we snorkelled, swam, relaxed and had lunch for the day.

Tranquility Island is like nothing I’ve seen before, pure paradise with white sand, impossibly clear, blue water and healthy coral reefs just off the shore. Before lunch the smaller boat brought us to a snorkel site about 15 mins from the island. We had a beautiful BBQ lunch on the beach and another short boat trip to another snorkel sight before ending the day by sailing back to Efate.

We arrived back to our accommodation in Port Villa at about 5 pm. Enough time to get ready to head out for a sunset drink and dinner .

Day 3

Hop on a bus to Mele Cascades. It should cost 300 Vatu per person if you are not the only ones on the bus. Ask the driver to drop to you the cascades. From the road it is a 20 min walk through rivers and forest to the cascades. Entry fee is $2000 Vatu (A$25) per person but it is definitely well worth it. The cascades are so beautiful and powerful.

Bring a dry bag if you have one as the spray from the waterfall can be so powerful and soak your camera, phone and clothes.

The boat to Hideaway Island departs from Mele so after the cascades, walk (30 mins) or hop on a bus (5 mins) to Mele Bay where the boat leaves every 10 minutes to Hideaway Island.

Hideaway Island is a beautiful tiny island with a resort and diving school on it. It is possible to visit for the day and avail of the diving or just hire snorkels from the reception. The reef is directly off the beach along with the underwater post office, the only one in the world. You can purchase a waterproof post card from the reception for A$8 with the postage included. You don’t need to scuba dive to reach the post box, it is only about 2m below the surface so you can reach it snorkelling.

The boat across to Hideaway island takes about 4 mins and is free. Day visitors entry fee is vt1500 per adult and vt750 (5-12) for children. There is a small bar doing drinks, lunch and snacks but its quite expensive so I recommend bringing you own snacks and drinks onto the island.

After a day snorkelling, sunbathing and swimming on Hideaway Island, get the boat back to Mele and catch a taxi or bus back to Port Villa for a relaxing evening.

Day 4

Hire a car and get on the road early to hit up the best tourist attractions and beautiful nature in Efate. You can drive around the whole island in just over 3 hours. Head in an anti clockwise direction from Port Villa starting first with the Blue Lagoon, a 30 minute drive from Port Villa. Get to the Blue Lagoon before the crowds and have the place to yourself. It opens at 8am. Entry fee is 2000 vt (A$25). The rope swings here are so much fun and there is plenty of space to lie out and enjoy the sun.

The next stop is Eton Beach, the water here is a mixture of fresh lagoon water and sea water. Bring your snorkelling gear as the reef is directly off the beach. Entry fee here is 1000 vt (A$12.50). The beauty of having a car rather than going on an expensive tour is you can pull in and stop at some of the beautiful look out points and smaller beaches like Ch-something beach and Banana Bay Beach Club.

Continue the lap around the island and stop at the very north of the island at Top Rock, stunning views and a great snorkelling spot also. The best time to go is at high tide so check the tide times and plan your day accordingly. Entry fee is 500 vt per person.

Stop for lunch in Havannah. There are a few restaurants to choose from, The Havannah Vanuatu is a beautiful resort on the water serving lunch and has a beautiful pool and beach access. Bring snorkelling gear here to step right off the beach and snorkel. Gideon’s Landing is another restaurant serving lunch on the beach.

Make your way back to Port Villa and stop into Breakas Beach resort for dinner or a sunset drink overlooking the infinity pool and ocean.

Where to stay in Port Villa

$: Moorings Hotel. A perfect budget hotel with amazing rooms with sea views and balconies. The hotel has a bar, restaurant, includes a free basic breakfast of toast, fruit and cereal, lovely pool and is perfectly located a 5 minute walk from the best restaurants and the town centre. The staff are really helpful and can book tours for you. The rooms have AC which is a must.

$$ Melanesian Hotel. A mid range hotel the other end of the town, slightly up on a hill which gives great sunset views. The hotel has a decent enough free breakfast, pool, restaurant and bar and a casino.

$$$ Grand Casino Hotel. Slightly more expensive hotel but well worth it for the facilities, the rooms, the food and the bar. It has a beautiful pool overlooking the port and a pool bar serving great happy hour cocktails deals for sunset. The free breakfast was excellent and the you can’t get a better location right in the centre of town.

Best restaurants Port Villa

Breakfast/Lunch

Coffee Tree: If you’re looking for an Australian style brunch, this is about the only place you will find it. Serves nice coffee, salads, breakfast and is open for dinner too.

Nambawan Café: Nice cafe facing the water open for breakfast lunch and dinner. The dinner isn’t up to a great deal but its very reasonably priced for lunch and breakfast and they do great coffee. Nice place to watch the sunset and grab a drink.

Dinner

Stonegrill Restaurent: This would rival any restaurant in Sydney for service, food quality, value for money and ambience. Located at the top of the hill with amazing views, this is a great place for sunset. We loved this place so much we went back two nights in a row. It was so reasonable for how much we ordered and the service was so quick. A must visit when in Port Villa. If you get the HotSpots vouchers, you can get a free wine, beer or soft drink with any main meal.

Kesorn’s Exotic Thai Restaurant: Right opposite the Stonegrill restaurant, this is another lovely rooftop place with great views and beautiful Thai food that is reasonably priced.

Le Cafe Du Village: Beautiful quaint restaurant on the waterfront that specialises in sea food. Great for a cocktail and sunset viewing of the water too.

L’Houstalet restaurant: Authentic French restaurant at the far end of the town serving classic French delicacies. It is one of the oldest restaurants in Vanuatu.

Day 5

Relax by the pool in the hotel or head to resort for the morning to enjoy the infinity pool. Fly to Luganville, Espiritu Santo. The flights tend to leave once a day and we got a 2 pm flight to Luganville. Delays are very common so don’t aim to get too much in after the flight to Luganville. Taxis from Luganville airport to the town should be 1500vt. Have a wander around the very small town and book in for any tours you are hoping to do if you haven’t already.

Day 6

Head scuba diving at Million Dollar Point and SS Coolidge to see the millions of dollars worth of equipment the US military drove off the jetty into the ocean after WWII and the ship wreck. If you are lucky enough you will see dugongs and turtles among the sea grass. If you don’t scuba dive, it is still great place to snorkel. Book your scuba diving a few weeks in advance through Pacific Dive, located in The Espiritu reception.

If scuba diving isn’t your thing, explore the beauty of Espiritu Santo on horse back. There are different trail options suitable for all levels of experience. The tours book out in advance and are only held in the morning, 8.30am-1pm.

santohorseadventures@gmail.com

Day 6

Hire a car for the day to explore the east coast of the island, where the most incredible blue holes, beaches and coconut tree lined roads are. Driving from Luganville to the top of the island takes 1.5 hours. The west coast of the island is impassable and doesn’t have sealed roads. There is one main road from Luganville to Port Orly, the end of the sealed roads at the top of the island.

The top places to see on the east coast road trip:

• Riri Blue Hole. This is the first stop along the road trip, about 25 min drive from Luganville. It is quite hidden as you cannot drive to this blue hole. You have to reach it by boat. You will see on the left hand side just after going over a bridge a gateway with wooden boats and some men ready to take you to the blue hole. Alternatively you can hire kayaks and paddle up the river yourself. The guides can take you up on a 15 minute easy paddle to get to the blue hole. The fee is 1500vt per person and there is no entrance fee to the blue hole. This river was honestly the clearest water I’ve ever seen. The boats looked like they were suspended in air.

• Matevulu Blue Hole: I probably thought the Riri Blue Hole was more impressive and the rope swing was bigger but this blue hole is bigger and the water is just so deep and so blue with a magnificent big tree. The entrance fee here is 1000 vt (A$12.50) pp but if you arrive here before 8 am and leave before 9 am you will get away without paying an entrance fee as it is open 24/7 with no gates.

• Nanda Blue Hole (also known as Jackie’s Blue Hole) is often referred to by visitors as the most beautiful blue hole in Vanuatu. The water is 14 m deep and natural spring water. There is no rope swings here but platforms to dive off and there is no entrance fee.

• Champagne Beach: The beach is on the largest island, Espiritu Santo. Champagne Beach is world-renowned for its white, soft sand and lapping waves. It’s often voted one of the best beaches in the world, and its easy to see why. The beach is known as Champagne Beach because of the volcanic gases that come up through the sand at the shoreline to make it feel and look like champagne under your feet. There is an entrance fee of 2000 vt (A$25) per car. To reach the beach you have to drive 10 mins on an unsealed track off the main road.

• Port Orly: Another beautiful beach with crystal clear water and white sand. There is no entrance fee here. This is the furthest point you can travel along the east coast. It is one of the spots you can stop for lunch along the road trip. There is one restaurant, Chez Louis, on the beach in Port Orly. The menu is not very extensive, simple chicken or beef and not cheap but you have no other choice of places to eat.

Day 7

Early rise for the final day on Santo and to head on the Millennium cave tour. This is a full on tour and not for the faint hearted. With lots of climbing, walking and canyoneering, it’s not for everyone. If you do brave it, it is one of the best days out. The tour picks you up at 8.30 am and will drop you back at 5pm. There is no water or food provided so bring snacks and a packed lunch with you, hiking sandals or trainers and be prepared for them to get wet, water and some dry clothes for after. If you have a dry bag pack that with you. This tour is subject to weather, if there is very heavy rainfall it won’t go ahead.

Best places to stay in Espirtu Santo

Deco Stop Lodge: A beautiful boutique hotel owned and ran by an Australian couple a short walk from the town. The sunrise view from the hotel on the hill is spectacular, the bedrooms are so clean and have AC, a lovely continental breakfast is included and the restaurant is excellent here. It isn’t the cheapest but not too expensive either for the attention to detail and care. They provide a free airport shuttle bus and were very accommodating when we arrived a day early. The hotel is a short 15 min walk from he town.

The Espiritu: More lively hotel that caters more for backpackers with a number of different types of rooms. It is perfectly located in the centre of town and they can help book any tours on the island and scuba diving. Pacific Dive shop is located in reception of the hotel. I think we ate at the hotel restaurant every night bar one, the food is excellent, well priced but the kitchen works on island time so be prepared to wait a while!

Where to eat

Deco Stop Lodge: Open for breakfast and dinner, serving locally sourced food and the menu changes every night. The food is beautiful here but we found the portions small and expensive.

Espiritu: The best restaurant on the island for choice and value. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the food is delicious with a great selection to choose from. The menu is mainly western style food and they have a good selection for vegetarians. They have a good bar here too with happy hour cocktails and daily specials.

Natangora Cafe: This casual, open-air café is located right on Luganville’s Main Street and offers delicious breakfasts (including house-roasted coffee) as well as Western-style snacks and lunches, such as sandwiches, burgers, fries and salads. More surprisingly, it also offers a great variety of Japanese dishes, including sushi, bento boxes, miso soup and Japanese curries. In addition to sea views and shade offered by mango trees, Natangora Café has a very good Wi-Fi connection.

Day 8

Fly to Tanna via Port villa. The flights to Tanna don’t fly everyday and the only way to get to Tanna is by flying from Port Villa. If you time it right, you can book a morning flight from Luganville which stops quickly at Port Villa and then a short 45 minute flight on to Tanna. It’s a mysterious place, home to the world’s most accessible active volcano, herds of wild horses, and dozens of blue waterfalls, hidden deep in the Middlebush forest.

Arrange a tour to climb the bubbling active volcano, Mt Yasur. The 10-minute crater rim hike is Tanna’s most iconic experience, especially at sunset, when the lava glows red and lights up the surrounding sky. You don’t need to be particularly fit: four-wheel drive  vehicles can park within 150 metres of the rim. If you’re feeling really adventurous, you can also spend the day ash boarding down the mountain. There are no safety rails or viewing platforms at Mt Yasur, so it’s best to climb with an experienced local guide. Tanna is not cheap to visit and hiring a car is nearly impossible so expect to pay a lot to get around. The volcano The price of guides varies but expect to pay somewhere between 20,000-25,000 VT (A$245-280). The volcano is located on the opposite side of the island to the airport so you need to book a transfer.

Day 9

Spend the day exploring Tanna and swim in Tanna’s famous Blue Cave. It’s a hidden grotto, cut deep into the sea cliffs on the western side of the island. Visitors can only reach it by swimming along a secret sea passage. It is bets to wait for low tide if you’re nervous about swimming through the sea passage. At low tide you can wade through without diving underwater. Inside is a curved rock cathedral, where light beams through a hole in the ceiling, illuminating an electric blue swimming hole.

After swimming in the blue hole, head for a walk the black sand beaches of Louniel. Tanna’s beaches range from the sugar-white postcard variety to long stretches of black volcanic sand. There are several of these beaches scattered around the island, Louniel Beach is probably the most famous, sweeping for several kilometres along the northeast coast of the island. Tanna is difficult yo get around so you will need to hire a driver for the day from your accommodation.

Day 10

Final day in Vanuatu is a travel day catching a flight from Tanna to Port Villa and then on to your final destination- Sydney, Brisbane or New Zealand. Be aware that flights run late more often than on time but don’t let island time deter you from visiting these magical islands.