Vanuatu and its Incredible Islands

In this post we will try to present the “Land Ethernal”, it is what the name Vanuatu means. It is one of the mystic tourist destinations of the South Pacific. This beautiful land of green islands was transformed in 1980 from the Anglo-French New Hebrides Condominium into the Ripablik Blong Vanuatu. After this, this country has shown its independence by developing its own national identity. Vanuatu is a beautiful place for tourists and a colorful land of many cultures, full of beautiful islands, fascinating surprises that will make you never forget it.

 If you ever visit this country, feel free to discover sacred places by yourself, talk to the natives, ask them about the nearest waterfalls, hidden caves attractive places like swimming holes, cliffs, blowholes, etc. You will be surprised what you may find there. After all, the general beauty and relaxed way of life in there are Vanuatu’s biggest attractions.

There is no other South Pacific country like Vanuatu that harbors as many local variations. Among what you can find there are glamorous duty-free shops, huge casinos, great hotels and accommodation offers, outstanding resorts, and unforgettable gourmet restaurants of their modern capital, Port Vila on Efate Island, contrast with unique, traditional small villages just over the horizon.

You are going to be amazed by the friendliness and sincerity of the people in Vanuatu. Apart from the packaged day tours and commercial resorts, this unpolished beauty of the South Pacific islands is an unforgettable and ideal adventure travel destination. If you ever have a chance to go there, don’t miss it.

Vanuatu has 83 islands that stretch north-south 1,300 km, from the Torres Islands near Santa Cruz in the Solomons to minuscule Matthew and Hunter Islands (also claimed by France) east of New Caledonia. This geographical unit is separated into 3 groups: the first one is the Torres and Banks Islands in the north, second is the central group from Espiritu Santo and Maewo to Efate, and third is the Tafea islands in the south. The 12 largest islands together make 93% of the land, which is a total of 12 200 square km. Espiritu Santo and Malekula alone are almost nearly half of Vanuatu’s land area. All of them have their special places that make them unique.

This beautiful island is located on the west side of the Pacific Plate next to the amazing 7,897-meter-deep Hebrides Trench. This is showing the spot where the Indo-Australian Plate slips under the Pacific Plate, where you can see a classic demonstration of plate tectonics. Its islands are moved 10 centimeters a year in a northwest direction, accompanied by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which is quite a rear thing to see in this part of the world. As a result of this, in the past 3 million years the islands of Vanuatu have been uplifted 700 meters, or approximately two millimeters a year. This is an interesting discovery which describes lots of theories about the moving of the lands. Many interesting facts similar to this one make Vanuatu a tourist place which deserves to be seen.

The most visited islands at Vanuatu are the islands of Espiritu Santo, Efate, and Tanna. They are the most famous tourist places there and they have the best-known sights at Vanuatu. That includes the country’s only towns, Port Vila and Luganville such as many other tourist spots. The Yasur Volcano and the Jon Frum Cargo Cult are located in Tanna island, Efate has an interesting road around its coast. Some of the South Pacific’s finest beaches are located on the island of Espiritu Santo, which is the best travel destination here in Vanuatu.

One other not so famous island but outstanding for its active volcanoes is Ambrym. All of the islands are worth visiting by tourists that are looking for peaceful places, and those who wish to avoid the crowded by tourists resorts and enjoy the unspoiled local environment and friendly people. It’s easy to get lost and found in Vanuatu.

Getting to Vanuatu is easy. You can catch a flight from Australia and land to Port Villa airport. There are many airlines offering flights from Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland Nadi etc. Their flag career is Air Vanuatu and normally they are flying most often. Another company that offers flights to Vanuatu is Pacific Blue, also Aircalin, Solomon Airlines and Air Pacific. The most direct route from North America is on Air Pacific’s Los Angeles-Nadi service. This offer connects Fiji with Vanuatu and it is one of the most used by tourists. Air Pacific also offers flights coming or going from/to Tokyo.

This is one of the most interesting things while you are there. You should see as much as you can. And the Government in Vanuatu makes sure you can do that quite easily. They are offering their service called Vanair. They offer around 200 services to 35 airstrips on 18 islands, with four twenty- passenger Twin Otters which are located at the island’s capital and also at the island of Espiritu Santo. You can fly from Port Vila to Espiritu Santo for about four times a day, or from there to Tanna island three times a day and pretty much see all the attractions that this paradise is offering.

Another thing you can use to check out the most of Vanuatu is the interisland boat. It is not the most commonly used way of traveling such as in Fiji or the Solomon Islands, but it can make your day special if you know where to go. If you choose to take a boat from Port Vila to Luganville instead of taking a plane is not such a good offer, because the price is pretty much the same and you will spend three or four days on the deck because there are no cabins available. I guess you don’t like this offer much, except if you are not a great adventurist. It’s only worth considering for the experience of the voyage itself, and you do get to see the coastlines of many remote islands at stops along the way.

Generally, Vanuatu is a travel destination that deserves to be visited. It has advantages like no other South Pacific attraction. It is peaceful the local people are very warm and friendly, and most important there are so many things to be seen. Plan your trip to Vanuatu and make sure you choose the best of what they offer and it is presented in the text above. For more info check out our post about Things to do in Vanuatu.