Port Vila is the capital of Vanuatu, an island nation of 300,000 people scattered across 83 islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean (1,750 km east of Queensland, Australia), and one of the most unique countries in the world by several measures: it has the highest density of languages per capita of any country (110 languages for 300,000 people, more than 1 language per 2,700 people); it ranked as the happiest country on earth in the Happy Planet Index for three consecutive measurements (2006, 2009, 2012); it was one of the last places on earth to have first contact with the outside world (some interior tribes of the island of Tanna had no contact with outsiders until the 1960s); and it has an active underwater volcano accessible to scuba divers (the Vanuatu volcano SS President Coolidge wreck is one of the largest and most accessible wreck dives in the world). Port Vila itself (population 50,000) sits on a natural harbour on the island of Efate and has the character of a laid-back Pacific capital — the central market, the waterfront Promenade, the kastom (custom, the Vanuatu word for traditional indigenous culture) villages and the surrounding Efate island ring road passing waterfalls, blue holes and traditional villages are the city's main draws. Vanuatu is also home to the John Frum cargo cult on Tanna island (the religious movement that awaits the return of 'John Frum from America' who will bring material abundance — the movement began circa 1936 and continues today, with followers marching with bamboo rifles on Fridays) and Mount Yasur on Tanna (one of the most accessible active volcanoes on earth, where visitors walk to the rim of an erupting crater). The currency is Vatu (VUV) and the country was a joint British-French condominium ("condominium" — the most surreal colonial arrangement in history, with two parallel legal systems, police forces and school systems for the same territory) until independence in 1980.
The Port Vila Central Market (Saturday is the most lively, but open daily) is the social heart of the city — women in colorful dresses sell tropical produce (island cabbages, taro, breadfruit, laplap ingredients, fresh coconuts) and the ni-Vanuatu crafts (woven pandanus mats, carved fern wood figures, traditional tamtam slit drums, shell jewellery) that represent the 110 distinct cultural traditions of the archipelago.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Mele Cascades (8 km from Port Vila) are a series of travertine waterfall pools formed by calcium-rich springs — visitors climb barefoot through the pools (guides assist on the slippery limestone terraces) to the main 35 m waterfall and the swimming pool at its base; the adjacent Mele-Mat blue hole (a freshwater spring-fed swimming hole of extraordinary blue-green colour) is the finest natural swimming in Efate.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe 130 km Efate ring road passes traditional kastom villages (the Vanuatu word for indigenous custom culture) including the Siviri Village market, the Eton Beach (the whitest sand beach on Efate), the Iririki Island Resort visible offshore and the Vanuatu Cultural Centre kastom village demonstrations; the ring road can be done in a day rental car.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLaplap is Vanuatu's national dish — a dense pudding of grated taro, breadfruit or yam baked in banana leaves in an underground earth oven (lovo) with coconut cream and meat (chicken, pork or flying fox); the Port Vila waterfront restaurants serve both laplap and European cuisine (French influence from the condominium era); Vanuatu is the only Pacific island with a proper wine culture (wines from South Australia dominate).
Port Vila's Friday night scene (the best night of the week) has live string band music (the guitar-ukulele-based Pacific island music tradition that blends Western pop with traditional Melanesian rhythms) at the waterfront bars; the local Tusker Beer (brewed in Vanuatu since 1981, lager named for the traditional pig-tusk currency of Vanuatu) is the drink of choice.
The SS President Coolidge (sunk 1942 by American mines while carrying US troops — an American troop ship that struck its own mines, killing 2 soldiers; the 200 m long luxury liner lies at 20-70 m depth) is one of the largest and most accessible wreck dives in the world; flights from Port Vila to Luganville (Santo) 30 min; dive from the beach at 3-20 m entry depth to the "Lady" mosaic and the Helm (70 m).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideChampagne Beach (Espiritu Santo, 3 hrs north by road or charter flight/car) is regularly ranked among the finest beaches in the Pacific — white coral sand, crystal-clear water, a freshwater river outlet mixing into the sea; Million Dollar Point (where the US military dumped entire stockpiles of WWII equipment — jeeps, bulldozers, forklifts, thousands of tonnes — into the sea rather than selling at local price; now a snorkelling/dive site of extraordinary surreal machinery).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideHavannah Harbour (the deep natural harbour west of Port Vila, where the US Navy had a major WWII base) for a sunset sailing catamaran cruise — the harbour sunset, the Pacific swells, the reef fish visible in the clear water from the boat, and the Iririki Island silhouette; Vanuatu has consistent 15-20 knot trade winds year-round making sailing conditions reliable.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideNakamal (the traditional Vanuatu meeting house and kava-drinking place) — kava (the mildly sedative drink made from the root of Piper methysticum, drunk from a coconut shell bowl, earthy and numbing taste) is the social drink of Vanuatu; the nakamal opens at sunset and closes around 9 pm; kava is neither alcohol nor drug but produces a calm relaxation; the nakamal experience is a genuinely unique Melanesian cultural institution.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTanna Island (45 min flight from Port Vila) is home to two of the most extraordinary experiences in the Pacific — Mount Yasur active volcano (accessible by vehicle to the crater rim) and the John Frum cargo cult villages of Sulphur Bay and Black Sands; the island also has the wildest inland kastom villages where traditional dress (penis gourds for men, grass skirts for women) is still daily wear.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMount Yasur (361 m, Tanna Island) has been continuously erupting for at least 800 years — one of the most accessible active volcanoes on earth (vehicle to 300 m, 20-minute walk to the rim); standing at the crater edge watching lava bombs arc into the sky and listening to the explosions is one of the most visceral natural experiences in the Pacific; eruptions happen every 5-20 minutes; the volcano glows at night.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe John Frum cargo cult (Sulphur Bay village, Tanna) is one of the most remarkable indigenous religious movements in the world — founded circa 1936, followers believe an American figure "John Frum" (possibly a corruption of "John from America") will return and bring material abundance; every Friday, followers march with bamboo replica rifles in American military style; the red crosses in the village mark John Frum's American connection.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideIf staying overnight on Tanna, the Mount Yasur night viewing (the lava bombs glow red-orange in the dark sky, the noise is constant, the ground shakes with each explosion) is one of the most memorable experiences in the Pacific; the white sand beach at Tanna Beach Resort, the firefly-lit jungle paths and the volcano's glow on the horizon from the beach complete the island overnight.