Couple questions on Vanuatu

Hi,

I'm heading to Vanuatu with a group of friends next week to dive and check out the islands. Looking into it a bit further a couple questions have come up that I was wondering if people could help me on?

1. Do we need to arrange for local currency before we leave Australia?

(We fly into Espiritu Santo on Friday around 1 pm. Do they have banks or cash machines that we can withdraw money from in Luganville? This is how I usually cash up while travelling (i.e. via ATMs))

1. Will we need anti-malaria pills?

2. Does anyone have dive company and dive site recommendations?

3. Recommendations for non-diving activities and tour operators (i.e. mountain biking, canoeing, fishing, trekking)?

Thanks very much for any info or advice people could offer!

Cheers

I travelled around Vanuatu in January and I'd like to say first of all that it is one of the coolest places I have ever been, and I've been around. I came all the way from Canada and I can't believe more Australians don't go there considering how close it is for you, but then again maybe that's a good thing to keep the crowds down.

As for your questions:

1. There are ATM's in Port Villa and in Luganville. I don't believe they can be found anywhere else in the country. The ATM's can be accessed anytime outside of bank hours, just like at home. I imagine you shouldn't have any trouble withdrawing from their ATM's (none of the Ozzies I met did), so I don't see much need to bring any Vatu (local currency) with you. Bring some spare Australian or American dollars for backup and emergencies.

2. Malaria pills are said not to be necessary for the Port Villa area but are recommended for various other islands, depending on where you get your information. Some places are supposedly worse than others. I took pills as a precaution as I was there for two weeks and venturing into jungles and stuff. Unfortunately I can't remember off the top of my head which type of pills I took, but I think I only needed one per week and I had no side effects whatsoever. Was it chloroquine? You'll have to look into that.

3. I don't dive because of ear problems, but everyone said the diving in Santo was incredible. You can dive all sorts of WWII wrecks along the coast of Luganville. It's a small town and there are a few diving operators along the main street. I imagine you could just show up or ask for recommendations at your hotel. By the way, Deco Stop is a great place to stay and get information.

4. You absolutely have to do the Millenium Cave trek and float. It is wicked fun and very rugged -- no paved steps or large tour groups there! Again, organize through your hotel. They'll get a local driver to pick you and your friends up and drive you to the village where the trek starts, then you'll be led by one of the locals from the village. It is not an overly strenuous hike, but you have to be in good shape for it and not afraid to get wet or dirty.

Do not take chloroquine for malaria, as many Pacific Islands malaria parasites are now resistant to it.
On visits to nearby Solomon Islands less than 3 months, I use doxycycline, which has the advantage of being a broad spectrum antibiotic, so tends to help resist anything bacterial as well. If you are taking it for more than a week or so, though, take some pro-biotics as well to prevent yeast infection. (It is not easy to find yogurt in the more remote parts of the Pacific.)
Doxycycline does make some people more susceptible to sunburn, so be careful in the sun.

You're right, chloriquine is not the right prophylaxis for Vanuatu. I actually took Malarone. I took one daily starting two days before arriving and continuing seven days after leaving, and experienced no side effects. I believe it was relatively cheap too. Doxycycline is not a good idea for a holiday as you have to avoid the sun if you take it. Here's some more info:

http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destinations/oceania/vanuatu.php

There is an ATM inside Vila airport.

Dengue fever is a much bigger problem in Vanuatu than malaria. Take plenty of mosquito repellent. The roll on type is the easiest to carry. Vanuatu mosquitos bite during the day too.

There is no need to take any malaria treatment for Santo. There are 2 types of mosquitos in Santo and a malaria eradication program has almost eradicated the one that carries malaria. I'm like a magnet for mosquitos and was bitten many times with no problems. There still are mosquitoes around so do take repellent and long sleeves and pants for dusk.

Many doctors, like mine, don't recommend taking preventative malaria medication as the side-effects can be nasty, preferring to treat malaria if it occurs instead.

The main malaria risk in Santo is the following: the mosquito that carries malaria only travels up to 50 metres and is most active at dusk and dawn. As the malaria patients are at the hospital, do not go within 50 metres of the hospital at dusk or dawn.

I recommend taking a pack of antibiotics with you, infections in the tropics are quick to happen and can get nasty. Although the hospital in Luganville sells antibiotics over the counter for $10.

As other people already suggested, it is worth taking doxycycline (or malarone? I hadn't heard of that before #3) when you go there and avoiding (if possible) the hospitals or medical clinics. I was a bit concerned about the possible side effects of doxcycline too but didn't experience any (and neither did my family members). It is probably better to take it to be on the safe side and if you start getting really nasty side effects you can always stop it if necessary (though it is always better to take the full course of antibiotics if you can). I think it is pretty cruddy to get malaria and you will probably get relapses for the rest of your life. Another benefit of being on antibiotics already when you go there is if you do get injured you are already somewhat protected against infection (as #5 said, infections can happen so fast there). I managed to puncture my leg on a piece of wire while snorkelling and was really glad I already had some antibiotics in my system. It still got infected but much less badly. I would also recommend making sure your tetanus and everything is up to date before you go :) Take some rehydration salts with you too in case you get ill... you get dehydrated there SO fast!

Didn't know which islands you were planning to go to in particular. I can only comment on Tanna island as we spent the whole trip there except for one night in Port Vila (the L'Houstelet French-Vanuatuan restaurant there is very tasty :). Tanna was really wonderful and the volcano, Mt Yasur is a must see if you are planning to head that way. It was the most amazing and exciting thing I have ever seen, standing on the edge of the crater and watching hot rocks shooting up into the air. The eruptions are every 8 minutes and truly spectacular. On Tanna there are lots of other nice things to do. You can take tours up to the Kastom villages (I recommend Yakel), fishing tours, boat trips around the island, horse riding and visit the Jon Fruhm village on Friday evenings (unfortunately we missed out on this). I am sure there is good diving there as the snorkelling (apart from the wire encounter :) was unbelievable.

I am sure you guys will have a fantastic time. Drink a tusker beer for me :)

If you get the right medical advice after a bout of malaria, you can take medication to prevent it recurring. There are 4 different species of malaria parasite - only one or two of them get stored in the liver.
I had malaria (Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) and Plasmodium vivax (Pv) ) a total of 11 times while living in Solomon Islands in the early 90s. I have never had it again, despite at least annual visits to the country, and living there (without any prophylaxis) for the whole of 2004.
I did take medication prescribed by a local GP to prevent the storage of Pv in the liver, just before I left in 1994. Pf (which causes the more deadly cerebral malaria) is not stored in the liver, so can only recur if you are bitten again.

That's really interesting #7, I didn't realise there were so many different species of the malaria parasite. I had heard of cerebral malaria but I didn't realise it was a different species, I thought it was just if you were unlucky enough to have your brain affected. That must have been really nasty :( I hear that cerebral malaria is very dangerous.

I guess you didn't take any anti-malarial drug while you were living there also during the 90s since you caught the disease so many times. Is there actually a long term anti-malarial (apart from gin and tonics ;) that you can take if you live in a malaria affected area? I can't imagine it would be very good for the body to be on those kind of antibiotics long term.

Edited by: verityb

For diving;
the best diving near Vila is around Havannah Harbour, and this is best dived from the operation on Moso island called Tranquility Dive resort. You can stay there in beach bungalows and do several days diving or just go for a day trip. They have an office in town - the same office as the Coongoola day cruise. Around here some good dive sites are around hat Island (Eretoka), behind Moso (caves, thermal vents, large groups of eagle rays and black tips) and even right off the beach of the resort.

Hideaway island in Mele bay also has some good sites and is easy to get to on a bus from Vila.

In Santo go and see Alan Power on the main street - he started the dive industry in Santo and has over 30 years knowledge of santo's biggest diving drawcard, the President Coolidge.

#8, I somehow missed your question, and am away frm home, so don't have much internet access.
I got malaria while taking prophylaxis the first time, and we were advised by local medical people that it was better not to take anything, as what we were taking (chloroquine and something else) was not very effective, and made it harder to diagnose when we did get it. That was nearly 20 years ago.
Doxycycline, which I use on relatively short trips now, is not safe to take for more than 2 or 3 months at a time.
There is one other antimalarial now available which can be taken for more than 12 months - I have never used it.
And, incidentally, I have not had malaria since 1994, despite living in Solomon Islands for 11 months in 2004.