Vanuatu Attractions

Pentecost Island

Pentecost is home to the spectacularly frightening naghol, as land diving is known there, and under the maxim that you should fall before you can walk many boys are primed for land diving from an early age. The vertiginous can do their own underwater diving at Laone or visit hot springs at Hotwata.

Despite a flimsy overlay of Christianity, many islanders live traditional lifestyles and adhere strictly to indigenous beliefs. Melsisi is a fine place to see kava and cocoa plantations, and from southwest Pentecost you get splendid views of Ambrym and its actively puffing volcanoes.

Port Vila

Efate, the island Cook called Sandwich, after Lord Sandwich, is home to Port Vila. An ideal base to plan trips to the outer isles, Port Vila curves around Vila Bay and creeps up its steep hillsides. Kumul Highway is the main drag and the best thoroughfare from which to explore town.

The highway winds around the waterfront and leads you past the Cultural Centre, Constitution Building, post office, fish market and covered market. The central commercial district falls neatly into a small block bounded by the harbour on one side and steep hills on the other.