Tanna East or West Coast Stays and Volcano Tours

Hello,

My partner and I are planning a trip to Tanna in Early January and are deciding the best place to stay. Our Key objective is to see the Volcano (preferrably at night) but would also like to take a bit more time than the in and out in a day tour.

We are considering staying either in Evergreen Resort (near the Airport) or at Island Dream (on the East Coast). I understand Island Dream is a long drive on 4WD roads (3hrs?).

I would appreciate any advice on the following...

1. Will we spend significantly more travel time on 4WD roads to get to the East Coast Stay? or is it about the same as staying on the West Coast and going back and forth to the Volcano.

2. Does anyone have pros and cons for each location?

3. Has anyone stayed at either place we are considering and had good or bad experiences?

4. We are contemplating either a 2 or 3 night stay. Is three nights too long to stay at either place given the primitive accomodation?

Any advice is appreciated!

I was on Tanna two years ago and stayed at Tanna Evergreen for three nights in a room with shared facilities. Not luxurious, but not exactly primitive either. The more upmarket bungalows with ensuite did look luxurious though.
The onsite restaurant is good and open all day and a good place to mingle. I met a couple of really nice and interesting people there. And I liked the tour to the cultural village Kalangai (pros).
I didn't do the volcano tour from there, as the drive to and from the volcano is a couple of hours long, over unsealed roads, so that would be a very long day/night out. The (very staged) Magic Tour they offered was not really worth it, in my opinion. And I was underwhelmed by the snorkelling off the rocky shore (cons).

I don´t know about Island Dream. I stayed at Sunrise Bungalows, which was about half an hours drive from the volcano. And yes, it was a long drive from the airport, but a good one as you cross the ash plain and can see the volcano on the way. The knowledgable guide in Sunrise (Peterson) took me on a couple of walks through the forest and to a white sand beach, close to Port Resolution, for a small fee. The volcano tour leaves late in the afternoon, in time for sunset on the volcano and you stay there for a couple of hours to fully appreciate the fire works. Absolutely amazing, so I went twice.
They have two types of accommodations: bungalows with ensuite and with shared facilities, both very rustic. The restaurant was only open for meals (local style, simple but lovely), but didn't sell drinks, so bring your own drinking water, snacks etc (the only con I can think of).

You are right; Tanna definitely deserves more than an "in and out in a day" tour. The people are lovely and the culture is very interesting and diverse.

Hope this helps! Have a great time there.

I can only give you my impressions of staying at Evergreen Bungalows. As stated by Lilau the accommodation was basic but quite adequate and the owners tried very hard to make our stay great. We did the volcano tour from Evergreen - an amazing trip! We left about 2:30pm in a nice SUV - stopped a couple of times on the way (a farm and a coffee plantation) - arrived about 5 and stayed until 6:30. Seeing Mt Yaser was the highlight of our 7 week trip in the SP. The road is not too bad, only a couple of spots that were dicey. Driving back in the very dark was an adventure in itself. We liked the area as we were able to catch a ride into the town of Lenekal to visit the market. There are a few stores there as well - it was interesting to see how life is for the locals. We also liked the fact the we were able to walk to the White Grass Resort to try the food there. I would recommend staying for a few nights (we did three) to really enjoy the whole experience.