5 days in Vanuatu - What can I do?

I am going to Vanuatu in August for 5 nights, What can I do in this amount of time? I have read on here that Tanna is the place to go but you have to get a separate flight, is this true? and why is it the place to go? It may be possible for me to extend my stay if 5 days is not going to be long enough. I enjoy hiking / kayaking and the beach

Thanks

Adz

We had 2 weeks in Vanuatu and before we went I had this romantic idea of getting boats from Efate to other islands but even before we got there I realised that this was not going to work because they have a timetable that meets local conditions not my international x number of days holiday. In 5 days if you want to leave the island you fly into you will need to buy other flights.

There are many islands where you can hike and go to the beach.

My choice to go to Tanna was partly the result of childhood connection and my wish to see the volcano. The volcano was awesome but I also loved the dirt roads, the simple village life of Tanna. We went to a kustom village on the west side of the island that is not in guide books but which is definitely controlled by articulate local people. It is for tourists but I really enjoyed how informative it was about traditional customs and life.

Hard to convey this but for me being in Tanna was that stuff about you want to go up the road for a few km. You can walk or you can hail a local who will take you for a few vatu or for nothing. It is very much a neighbourhood, a connected community. I havent been to other islands but I would suspect it is the same.

If money is no object then you can do day trips by air to any number of islands,

I was on Tanna in October for a week. It's is a wonderful island with lovely people, an interesting culture and of course the very accessible volcano Yasur. The flight from Port Vila there and back was 22.290 vatu (40 minutes) and I stayed in three different accommodations. Sunrise Bungalows (4600 vatu a night in a bungalow with ensuite) for proximity to the volcano, still half an hour by pick up truck over dirt roads. The bungalows are on a cliff with beautiful views over the beach and ocean. Bring some snacks and drinking water as you can't buy anything there, apart from simple, but very tasty local meals (set menu).

I went to see Yasur twice, an awesome experience (volcano tour 4450 vatu for transport, guide and entrance). There's even a mailbox at the bottom of the volcano so I put some postcards in, not really expecting them to be delivered, but they were. You go there late afternoon to see the sunset and after dark it's fireworks, scary but fascinating! I also did a couple of walks through the forest and to the beach with Peterson, the guide from Sunrise; he's a great guy and very informative.

Second accommodation was Tanna Evergreen, a bit more upmarket and close to the ocean (no beach). I stayed in a room with shared facilities, which was OK but not great.The more expensive bungalows with ensuite looked brilliant though. There is a bar and restaurant and a menu to choose from. I did the Magic Tour, but can't really recommend it; it seemed very staged to me. The visit to the cultural village Kalangai was great though. It was probably staged as well, but felt very authentic. Recommended! I was supposed to do the Yakel village tour, but the chief died recently and tours were cancelled.

Last accommodation was Sunset Bungalows, close to Lenakel, the "capital" of Tanna. Locally owned and operated, like Sunrise. Lovely people, nice bungalow with ensuite. Here I did the black magic cave tour, which was so much better than the Magic Tour from Tanna Evergreen. One of the girls who worked at Sunset went with me and she was totally impressed too.

Tanna was definitely the highlight of my stay in Vanuatu!

Really depending what you want to achieve depends whether 5 days is enough.

The Yasur volcano is definately a highlight for many and I would consider it a must, so that puts Tanna on the list for sure.

As a poster above mentions, I always stay at Sunrise Bungalows as it is close to the volcano.

Outside of Tanna, with only 5 days choose wisely but your choices are many......

Global Citizen

thanks very much for your inspiration, i can't wait to get to Vanuatu, defiantly going to Tanna!

On the west side of the island we stayed at Sunset Bungalows - which as another poster says is locally run. Judith who was working there at time (might still be) came from the kustom village that we visited and accompanied us there.

On the east we stayed at Port Resolution Yatch Club which I liked for a number of reasons including that it was 5 mins walk throught the jungle to an actual beach with sand not just volcanic rocks. I also had some lovely encounters with locals there that were, along with the volcano, the highlight of Vanuatu for me.