Warning - Travel in Tanna in the Wet Season

Although some guidebooks mention that the road across the island from Lenakel to the Yasur volcano is very rough, none (that we can see) caution that it can become completely impassable after heavy rain either preventing you from reaching the volcano or trapping you on the Eastern side of the island until the road reopens.

If you are thinking of staying on the Eastern side of the island, be warned that Port Resolution is significantly more remote than the villages to the north of the Volcano (around White Sands and Sulphur Bay) so the road conditions are even more important if you intend to stay in Port Resolution.

We visited in February (in the middle of the Wet Season) specifically to see the Jon Frum Festival but torrential rain for the entire time we were in Port Resolution meant that we were unable to visit either the Festival (in Sulphur Bay) or the Yasur volcano before we had to return to Lenakel for our pre-booked flight back to Port Vila.

There have been at least 2 cyclones in the area of Southern Vanuatu in the last few weeks. it may be advisable to check whether it is a La Nina or El Nino season before travelling to the area in February.

Thanks for the information.We are flying out next week on 9th and we have booked flights to Tanna on 13th.I have just come across a radio NZ story (25/2) that says that food supplies have to be flown in to Tanna for the locals - and tourists, I guess!
How can I independently verify if its worth going to Tanna? .The obvious answer is that we find out in PV
Because climbing Yasur is the reason we are going.
If we can't I suppose we have to sit around a pool in PV!

Cheers

You might not find out anything useful until you get there. Look for a local newspaper online, as they might be your best source of information. And make sure you have travel insurance, in case of cancelled or delayed flights.
If you do go, take some basic food supplies with you. The locals might appreciate a bag of rice, for example, if there have been food shortages.

Oggdog - in reply to your posting above, and your posting on the Trip Advisor Tanna Forum:

There are many more reasons for going to Tanna than just to see Yasur, but that's just my opinion. I agree with Ozziegiraffe (above) that you probably won't get the full story until you get to Tanna and I also agree with Hindo (on the TA Forum) that road conditions can change (either way) very rapidly dependant on the weather.

Although lots of guidebooks recommend a stay on the eastern side to tackle Yasur, I think your safest bet is probably to stay on the western side and take a there-and-back trip. In our very limited experience, truck drivers will not set off from the west unless they know that there is a fighting chance that they'll get back. This means that you may not get to Yasur in bad weather but it also means that you minimise the chance of getting stuck on the eastern side (as we very nearly did).

We've been in touch with our hosts at Rocky Ridge Bungalows (highly recommended) and they are fine after the cyclone. I suspect that the food situation for foreign guests will probably improve pretty quickly - they know where the money comes from!

Good luck, and do go to Tanna. It's the "real deal" compared with PV.

Hi I was just there a week ago. The cyclone that hit at the end of Feb did a fair bit of damage to the crops, but I didn't get the impression that people were starving yet. We saw big bags of rice piled up in the bigger settlements so the food has arrived and been distributed. One of our guides stopped at a shop to pick up a snack on the way to a village so the shops still have food. But I'm sure the people would appreciate any extra food you may be able to bring.

Oggdog, It's definitely worth going to Tanna, the volcano is a spectacular sight on its own. If you're staying on the west coast I'd check out Turtle Reef as well, there was no shortage of turtles when we were there and the blue holes are beautiful when it's sunny. We did a tour to a village but I got the impression it was shorter than normal because it had been raining quite a bit before we left.

Since you're going in the wet season I'd recommend you stay a few nights in case of rain. If it rains for more than a couple of hours it makes the roads VERY bad and can take half a day to settle down. I'd also recommend staying on the west coast in case it rains when you need to go to/from the airport and the roads get washed out. Also, Air Vanuatu operates on island time (flights get cancelled, leave a couple of hours early or late without warning) so don't have a tightly planned schedule and definitely take out insurance.

Other than that, have a great trip. The islands are beautiful and the people are lovely.

Thanks again Planeteers.We are off tomorrow - I will let you know what happens.