| Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 | ![]() |
Vanuatu for a Solo Girl TravellerCountry forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Vanuatu | ||
hi i am thinkin of headin to vanuatu in a week's time and was wondering is it generally safe for a girl in her 20s to be travelling there alone and where and what to avoid when i am there! | ||
Yes its very safe. Probably a good deal safer than your home country. | 1 | |
Provided you respect local custom and don't wear anything too revealing (especially legs) outside resorts, the Pacific Islands would be among the safest places in the world for a woman to travel alone. | 2 | |
During the day you can safely go anywhere. At night be careful after 8 pm or so. The centre of town near the market is safe but if you are in a pub or restaurant in Vila and leave at 10 pm or midnight or whatever just stay by the front door and flag down a bus and leave the area. Buses run through all the busy parts of Vila every few minutes. They are are not the big vehicles you are used to but mini vans with a red B on the numberplate. At night you can't see the numberplate so just wave down any van you see. The worst result is that you will wave down a private van whose driver will ignore you. Catching buses at night is fun. I screw up all the time. Avoid cabs if you can. The drivers are a bunch of thieves while a bus to anywhere is only 150. I hope that helps. Show a little caution and you will be fine. | 3 | |
in general Vanuatu is very safe! Where are you thinking about heading to while you're there? If you get out of Vila or Luganville you may have a little bit of trouble with men around your guesthouse. Most guesthouse owners are aware of this and often employ someone as a security guard. If you're still worried just ask one of the women/ girls to come stay with you then you won't have any problems! | 4 | |
I was in Vanuatu with my two teenage daughters who wore less clothing than I think was respectful of local culture. They did attract a deal of attention but did not feel any of it was threatening. For me I felt it was one of safest places that I have ever been. Like anywhere in the world I am sure that it is important to let common sense | 5 | |