Vanuatu is made up of 80 islands strung out in the shape of a “Y”. The three most visited islands are Efate, Tanna, and Espiritu Santo.
Port Vila, the capital and commercial center of the country is situated on Efate, the main island of Vanuatu. The city is located around a magnificent natural harbor with colorful corals, schools of tropical fish and a beautiful waterfront. Efate has a rugged coastline and rolling verdant countryside, fast flowing rivers, cascading waterfalls, isolated sandy bays and lagoons. The interior is verdant rain forest cut only by a few walking tracks to remote weather and radio beacons.
Espiritu Santo is an ‘away from the masses’ island. The stunning jewel-like islands offers coconut-fringed powdery white sand beaches. Underground caverns connect amazing blue swimming holes and majestic mountains stretch from one end of the island to the other. Awesome ravines shrouded in magnificent tropical rainforest are home to jungle birds and beautiful orchids. For scuba divers, Espiritu Santo is the Mecca of the South Pacific. It is the final resting place of the 22,000 ton liner turned troopship SS ‘President Coolidge’ and the destroyer USS ‘Tucker’, both victims of US placed mines. Fresh water cave diving has also becoming popular with the recent discovery of connecting sinkholes and caverns.
Among the other 78 magnificent Vanuatu islands is Tanna Island with its Yasur Volcano. The volcano is one of the most famous in the world and easily accessible. Pentecost Island has become famous throughout the modern world for a particular ritual, the Pentecost Land Dive, which has a certain resemblance to bungee jumping, and Ambrym Island is well known for some of the best wood carvings in the Pacific, the mysterious Rom dance, and for its easy access to Mt Marum and Mt Benbow volcanoes.
Vanuatu offers an accommodation range to fit every budget, including 5-star resort properties, sophisticated over water bungalows, small luxury boutique properties, larger family-friendly hotels, serviced apartment, family owned guest houses, Robinson Crusoe-style budget accommodations, and island bungalows.
Air New Zealand offers flights to Vanuatu from Los Angeles and San Fransico to Auckland and on to Vanuatu. They are member of the Star Alliance global network, which also includes United Airlines, US Airways and Air Canada. Air Pacific connects Vanuatu through their hub in Fiji. Flying time from the U.S. to Vanuatu is approximately 12 hours.
