Vanuatu
Travel Guide > Oceania > Vanuatu
In this Article
- Introduction
- Brief History
- Geography
- Regions/Provinces
- Cities/Towns
- Sights and Activities
- Events and Festivals
- Weather
- Getting there
- Getting Around
- Red Tape
- Money
- Work
- Study
- Language
- Eat
- Sleep
- Drink
- Health
- Safety
- Keep Connected
Quick Facts
[edit]
- Capital
- Port Vila
- Population
- 199,000
- Government
- Parliamentary republic
- Religions
- Christianity (Protestant, Catholic), Traditional Religion
- Languages
- Bislama, English, French
- Calling Code
- +678
- Nationality
- Vanuatuan
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Introduction
Melanesian Vanuatu lies just south of the Solomon Islands, making it a favourite destination among Australians. It presents a self-confident palette of cultural influences interwoven with traditional island ways. In Port Vila, the French quarter and Chinatown highlight the vibrancy of modern Vanuatu - it's a town firmly locked into the future while retaining the emblems of its past with pride.
The real attraction of Vanuatu, though, is its phenomenal sightseeing. Underwater visibility at its peak hits fifty metres, revealing limitless schools of colourful fish darting around spectacular coral reefs, as well as a formidable array of submerged WWII wreckages. Above sea level, the scenery only gets more amazing. Tall volcanic peaks present a stunning backdrop to any photo, as well as lush ground for an eco-tourist's dream-come-true.
Brief History
Geography
Sights and Activities
Volcanoes
What the Hawaii Islands are for the east of the Pacific, Vanuatu is for the west. The islands have many volcanoes to see and explore as the islands are located right on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Probably the most famous one is Yasur volcano on Tanna Island. This volcanoe is easy to reach and although it's active year round, it is unusual for it to be too active to approach. Therefore, the Yasur volcano has become an extremely popular tourist attraction not to be missed when you are visiting this part of Vanuatu. Apart from Tanna, also the islands of Ambrym, Lopevi, Kuwai, Ambae and Gaua have nice volcanoes, many of which are just beautiful only to look at.
Chief Roi Mata's Domain
Chief Roi Mata’s Domain is the first and so far only site in Vanuatu that is on the Unesco World Heritage List. The site consists of three sites on the islands of Efate, Lelepa and Artok dating back to the early 17th century AD. They all refer to the life and death of the last paramount chief, or Roi Mata, of what is now Central Vanuatu. It includes Roi Mata’s residence, the site of his death and Roi Mata’s mass burial site and is closely connected to the oral traditions surrounding the chief and his moral values. Also, the site is important regarding the convergence between oral tradition and archaeology. It witnesses the persistence of Roi Mata’s social reforms and his resolution to resolve conflicts. Nowadays, this form of life partly still is relevant to the people living on these islands.
Wreck diving
Vanuatu is famous for its diving opportunities and one of the most important diving sites is located on the island of Espiritu Santo. The biggest draw to Espiritu Santo Island is the wreck of the SS President Coolidge. This was a WWII troop carrier sunk by friendly mines in 1942. Most travellers to Espiritu Santo are divers who only come for the purpose of exploring this famous wreck. That said, there are more options on the island, regarding diving, snorkelling or just relaxing on one of the beaches.
Other sights and activities
- Kava drinking - Vanuatu claims to have the strongest in the Pacific!
- Bungee jumping - originally from Vanuatu, but probably best avoided in the traditional way
Events and Festivals
- Toka ceremony on the island of Tanna
- Malvatumauri Arts Festival
- Vanua Lava Day!
Weather
Vanuatu has a warm and humid tropical climate with breezes bringing some relief of the stiffling heat during the afternoon. Temperatures typically are between 23 degrees Celcius at night and around 30 to 32 during the day. The rainy season lasts from November to April with occasionaly typhoons hitting the islands.
Getting there
Plane
The national carrier of Vanuatu is Air Vanuatu and most flights arrive in the capital Port Vila, although there are connections from and to Espiritu Santo and Tanna as well. There are flights to several neighbouring countries in the pacific like Nouméa in New Caledonia, Nadi in Fiji and Honiara on the Solomon Islands.
Also there are connections to Brisbane and Sydney in Australia and to Auckland in New Zealand.
Other airlines serving Vanuatu are Aircalin based in New Caledonia, Air Pacific, based in Fiji and Pacific Blue and Qantas, both based in Australia.
Air Pacific is the best way to connect to North America and Japan.
By Train
By Car
By Bus
By Boat
Getting Around
By Plane
Air Vanuatu, operating under the name Vanair for domestic flights, offers many daily scheduled flight connections. Other airlines include Unity Airlines and Air Club Vila, offering charter flights to many islands.
By Car
Rental cars are available at Port Vila and the airport, including normal, 4wd cars and smaller jeeps. Several roads are in good condition, but on the smaller islands, roads are of a lesser quality, being dirt tracks. You need a national driver's licence and traffic drives on the right on the Vanuatu islands.
By Bus
Minibuses travel in and around Port Vila and the island. You can wave one down as there are no scheduled services. Getting of the bus is just as easy, just shout.
By Boat
Inter-island ferries operate from Port-Vila and Espiritu Santo to the northern and southern islands, but services are infrequent. Boats can also be chartered at a cost of course.
Red Tape
Money
The local currency is the Vatu (VT). Coins include 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 VT pieces.
There are notes of 200 VT, 500 VT, 1000 VT, and 5000 VT.
Work
Study
Language
Eat
Sleep
Drink
Health
Safety
This is version 11. Last edited at 19:31 on Aug 25, 08 by Utrecht (+2). 13 articles link to this page.
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