travel notes for 3 week trip Efate, Tanna, Santo

These travel notes are for a 3 week holiday to vanuatu in July 2013 visiting the main island of Efate plus trips to Tanna to see the volcano and Santo for scuba diving. I start with some generalities and then move to a few specific tours and accommodation options etc. Hope these notes of interest to others in their holiday planning?

The LP guide is the only guidebook being published for vanuatu and the lack of competition is telling because the level of information given is quite basic. Given many people do a simple 'drop & flop' style holiday in one resort then the lack of detail is not completely catastrophic. Even moving between a few islands you can still get the basics that can be supplemented by some internet research.

I guess something is better than nothing but below are a few issues of concern worthy of more detail in particular:
1. Money - cant do the holiday without this! Many budget places dont have credit card facilities and even if they do they card 5-10% fees. Thus cash is king but the ATM at the airport does not support some cards for withdrawing money (even though it says it is 'cirrus' enabled). In town the ATM withdrawal limits have low daily limits and high fees. Westpac lets you draw about $750USD for $5 fee whilst ANZ only allows about $450 USD for a $6 fee. You might end up stranded and not be able to draw enough money out quickly enough to pay upfront for booking tours etc when you first arrive unless you bring some cash to convert also? Note that if you prebook accommodation a lot of the operators charge your credit card as soon as they can (when your free cancellation grace expires which is before you turn up) so if you want to pay cash and minimise credit card fees you need to explicitly mention this when booking.
2. Malaria - do you take tablets or not? The medications have side-effects and especially so for kids so what is the chance of malaria? Extra reading on the web suggested to me that in the dry season and for Efate and Tanna its probably not worth taking, but as you head towards the more tropical north of Santo then maybe you should?
3. Local Culture and wages. Worth knowing that locals working in businesses and resorts only earn about $10 USD a day! Makes you a little bit humble/uneasy when you might be staying somewhere paying $300 a night and then order a couple of cocktail drinks worth $20-40 dollars off someone serving you who is only getting $10 a day! Note that the collective sharing and extended family culture of Vanuatu means that locals generally cannot run their own business. family members can take goods and services without obligation or payment which would drives western-style business model broke. Hence you'll notice most tourist operations are run by ex-pats and all the local shops are run by the chinese merchant families! The couple of local tourists operations (such as Lelepa Island Tours, Mele Cascades) generally share the labour requirements across the extended family thru a roster system with all the profits being distributed out on a regular basis.

Efate.
Dont prebook a transfer from the airport. The local minibuses are cheap with a fixed price and the drivers dont rip you off. For a couple of people with luggage a taxi would be just as cheap as the bus. Inside the terminal, as you head to the taxi stand exit, there is a freestanding yellow 'lollipop-type' signpost which tells you the fixed price for the taxi fares to the various resort destinations in town to keep the drivers honest. Their fares are also cheaper than a prebooked airport transfer (buses and taxis are also there at 2 am in the morning to meet flites!).

We stayed at a couple of budget locations in Port Vila and spent our days out and about so we didn't need the pool and activities that more expensive resort style accommodation offers. We stayed at Travellers Budget Motel for a couple of nights and the owner-operators can give great help with tour bookings. When we did the 'around the island' day tour and some day boat cruises (which leave from Havannah harbour in the north) we stayed at Coral Motel a little further out of town because it meant we were last to be picked up and first to get dropped off as the bus went out and came back from the north. This hotel was a little noisier because it is right on the main road that is surprisingly busy. Hotel Hibiscus was another budget motel on this norther fringe of town that looked like it had good amenity.

We also spent a few days on Hideaway Island Resort in their adjoining room 'shared' accommodation, rather than the expensive stand-alone bungalows. This means you can stay at this fantastic snorkelling/dive location for budget instead of resort prices and still get all the activities such a kayak hire or glass bottom boat trip for free (whereas day visitors pay quite a bit for this) This island had excellent and safe sheltered snorkelling with lots of colorful fish in the marine reserve not being scared of people (elsewhere fish are netted and spearfished and quite timid)

We did an around the island tour with Atmosphere tours. The guides were informative and made it a fun day. Also did the Lelepa Island Tour which is run by the locals of that island. This tour had some good snorkelling and OK guiding to make it worthwhile. Also did the Coongoola Day Cruise snorkelling and looking at the turtle sanctury as well as the Sailaway Cruise for scuba (great dive sites!) and both these made great day outings. Mele Cascades recently doubled their entry price to $20/adult and $10/child which now makes this a very expensive proposition for taking a family!

Tanna.
You really only come here to see the volcano and this creates your first dilemma! The volcano is on the opposite side of the island to the airport and the across island transfer take about 90 minutes on a rough road in a 4WD and cost about $60-90!

We stayed at Tanna Evergreen Resort on the airport side because we had a young child and all day electricity and the hospital are on this side of the island. This resort is a mid price option with good food and an excellent priced Volcano tour not much dearer than the fare across the island (about $90). Other option is to go to one of the more basic lodges on the other side of the island closer to the volcano, to maximise your chances of getting to see the volcano in case bad weather or a rain squall (quite common) happens to prevent an initial viewing?

Santo
to and from the airport only seemed to be serviced by taxi at $10 one way with no cheaper minibus option? I stayed at the budget Unity Motel which was pleasantly and quietly situated opposite Unity Park with ocean views. Friendly staff, super clean rooms and full kitchen facilities plus showers so hot that you need to turn on the cold water made this place a real bargain!

I only went here to dive and there is 4 operators to choose from. Santo Diving offer a good double reef dive option with a beach lunch between dives for $130. I did most of my diving with the new operator Coral Quay Resort. They will pick-up in town and schedule 3 dives a day (for $170 but provide own lunch) whereas most other operators only do 2 dives. A deep morning Coolidge dive can be followed by a long surface interval and then after lunch you can do a double dive on reefs out to the west, where the sheltered water grows big colorful plate corals and makes great diving. As a new operator, all Coral Quays equipment is brand new and they also have bigger 100cft tanks rather than the standard 80cft.

On my last day before flying was my 'no dive' day so I did the Millennium Cave Tour. This was was an amazing adventure of walking through a massive cave, canyoning through boulders and then float down a river in a deep canyon with waterfalls cascading over the ledges. For best price book at the Tourist Information Office next to the Hotel Santo or go direct to the Cave Tour Office on the east bank of the river in town. I also got a chance one morning to catch a lift with some tourists up to champagne beach but I thought this coast was over-rated (Australia has lots of good beaches so the cave was a better option for me).
regards
david in melbourne australia

Thanks for a nice trip report. I am going (alone) to Vanuatu for a week in early November.
I do not dive at all, but very much enjoy snorkeling, but also like to experience local "culture".

Typically, people tend to recommend Tanna and Santo, but which one would you recommend?

Thanks!

Edited by: csabao