What I wish I had known about Tanna (Vanuatu) before going...

Accommodation:

I chose to stay on the east side of the island mainly for two reasons. 1) It’s closer to Mt. Yasur, 2) It’s closer to Sulphur Bay and the main John Frum villages I was very interested in visiting for the dancing and singing that happens there on Friday nights. Tanna is a small island, but considering the road conditions especially on the east side of the island going from one place to another takes a substantial amount of time. At the same time distances are mostly too far to walk between them, so choosing a convenient place to stay is quite essential if you don’t want to be dependent on trucks for going anywhere. I would recommend choosing your bungalow first and foremost with that in mind. In that sense I was very happy with my choice of bungalow (Island Dream). It’s a 20 minute walk from Port Resolution, 30min from White Beach, 20min from Turtle Bay, and 45min from Shark Bay. I paid 2000 Vatu per night (shared facilities, including breakfast). Meals went for 750 Vatu, were very good and usually too much to finish. The bungalow is located on a plateau with fantastic views over the valley, Port Resolution, and the volcano in the distance. Generally speaking I would have been completely satisfied if it hadn’t been for one major flaw… (see under “Transportation” below).

(Be careful with food in your room. Unless it’s kept in sealed containers it will attract mice and/or rats. If you must keep anything put it in a bag and dangle it off the ceiling so that rodents can’t get to it. I learned the hard way. A rat chewed its way into my bag and left a hole the size of a golf ball.)

Transportation

Most bungalows operate their own vehicles. This is especially true for the “fancier” ones on the west coast, some of which operate a small fleet of them. My bungalow, as great as it was, didn’t have their own (yet?). While it was pleasant and easy to walk to many places in the greater vicinity, others were simply too far. Walking to Mt Yasur takes about 2 hours + another 45 minutes up the volcano. That’s not too bad, but makes for quite a long excursion if you also have to walk back again, especially after dark. Walking to Sulphur Bay takes about 4 hours following the road. (I was later told there’s a shortcut across the mountain from Port Resolution to Sulphur Bay. Depending on whom I asked some said this was a very easy or a very difficult trail to walk on. Allegedly it cuts the walking time in less than half though. I don’t think this is a practical alternative to the road after nightfall though.) In any case, if you walk anywhere after dark you need a good flashlight as the night is pitch black on the island.

If a bungalow doesn’t operate their own vehicle, the owners ask drivers from other bungalows, or from the villages, to provide for their guests transportation needs. However, if the drivers of the other bungalows are busy with their own guests, and the village drivers have a reason not go either, you end up being stuck. I learned this the hard way on my first day on the island when my bungalow didn’t manage to source a driver to take me to the John Frum villages at Sulphur Bay. Many of the village drivers are 7th Day Adventists and don’t life a finger from Friday 6pm to Saturday 6pm. Hence I couldn’t go, which was a huge disappointment for me as my interest in cargo cults was one of the main reasons not only for coming to Tanna, but all of Vanuatu. Next day, on Saturday afternoon, when I wanted to go to the volcano, my driver simply didn’t show up either, apparently for the same reason. Despite staying relatively close to Mt Yasur, at least compared to the people staying on the west coast, ironically I barely made it up to the volcano that day (I ended up walking and arrived short after dark) while a good dozen vehicles with tourists from the west coast did with ease.

Some examples for transportation costs: Airport to Port Resolution (2500 one-way shared, 5000 if you are the only foreigner, 2 hours), Port Resolution to volcano (1000 one-way, one hour), Port Resolution to Sulphur Bay (2000 one-way, 90min).

Attractions in East Tanna:

Admission to Shark Bay has increased to 1000 Vatu. It’s a beautiful spot with nice views of the sea and cliff face. A girl from the nearby village took me and helped pointing out where the sharks are. They are not necessarily easy to spot. If you are “in the neighborhood” it’s an okay place to visit, but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way for it. A previous poster on the TT described how to walk there and back via Turtle Bay from Port Resolution. I followed his instructions which worked perfectly fine. (Thanks a lot!)

White Beach is a nice rough beach that’s suitable for swimming. There are some corals, but nothing spectacular. Entrance is free.

Turtle Bay is another nice beach. It has a different character than White Beach. You can swim there too. Personally I preferred White Beach.

Mt Yasur: If you stay in a bungalow close to the entrance gate you can walk up in about 45 minutes. It’s a nice walk actually. Make sure to bring a good flashlight though for your way back. The entrance fee is 3350 Vatu and gets slashed in half should you decide to return for another visit, as I did. Up on the top you can either stay at the main viewing platform, or try to climb the ridge to the far side of the caldera. There’s no trail there but the slope isn’t too step, and the higher elevation allows a better vantage point from which to look down into the caldera. Most visitors arrive at around 5:30pm, short before nightfall. The eruptions are more impressive to watch in the dark, but I would still recommend trying to get to the top earlier as the atmosphere is a different one in daytime, not to mention that photography is easier under those light conditions.

Sulphur Bay: Sadly I didn’t make it there on a Friday night as I had wished I would. I did, however, took the trip and went to both Sulphur Bay village as well as nearby Nakamara to talk to the chiefs and leaders of the John Frum movements there. The chief at Sulphur Bay happy to answer my questions and showed me around his village and the beach, but was a bit lethargic overall. Chief Isaac at Nakamara on the other hand was a lot more enthusiastic and fervent in explaining his beliefs to me. He speaks little English so you need someone to translate for you. There’s a daily ceremony happening at 8am and 4pm when 4 dudes dressed in army jackets walk up, blow a whistle, and ceremoniously raise or lower the American, US Navy, French, and Vanuatan flags. Well worth watching!

Toka Festival:

Arriving to Tanna I learned that the famous Toka festival was about to take place in a few days. I was ecstatic! It’s only staged every 3-4 years, and according to LP usually in August, so I never expected having a chance to see any of it (I arrived to Tanna in early October). As a traveler it’s also almost impossible to plan for as the exact dates of the festival are announced on short notice, and then may get postponed a few times until everybody is ready to get things started. That also happened in my case. The first news was that it was about to go down on Saturday until Monday. It was then postponed to Monday to Wednesday. I then only learned on Sunday evening that it was postponed another day to start on Tuesday. Because of this I unfortunately only got to be there for the first day as I couldn’t possibly delay my departure from the island (no money left, visa expiring) anymore. However, this first day at the Toka was by far the best experience I had in Vanuatu, and without a doubt one of my best travel experiences in recent years. It was simply spectacular! I paid 3000 Vatu to be allowed access, but there was some arguing between my guide and the gatekeepers as the price was apparently meant to be 6000 Vatu. They also tried to charge me a camera fee, which I fortunately avoided.

See my posts about Santo and Malekula, if you are interested…

Edited by: Taekyon2

Again, thank you! I like to go next year July to Vanuatu. So this information helps me planning!

Thanks for the informative post! As someone who's entire reason for visiting the island is to climb the volcano, can I ask you, can you actually walk right up to the volcano on your own accord or do you need a guide to get anywhere near the crater? I'd assumed the latter but you make it sound like you just strolled right up there! I'm guessing Island Dream Bungalows don't provide guides either?

You can walk up on your own. There's a gate at the base at the volcano where you pay your entrance fee. You can then simply walk up. It takes around 45 minutes. Dream Bungalow provides guides. They only charge 500 Vatu per person for your entire stay, no matter how often they accompany you. I don't know how other guesthouses handle this, but it shouldn't be difficult to find someone to go with. You can't get lost either, but need a flashlight after it gets dark.

Good post Taekyon. I lived there for 4 years 15 yrs ago and the prices of transport on tanna havent gone up since then! The volcano entrance used to be 2000vt in '95 too, so hasnt gone up much in 18 years.

There is indeed a "short cut" path from Sulphur Bay (Ipeukel) to Port Resolution - it goes up and over the side of the volcano and is steep on the Sulphur Bay side. There are steam vents coming out of the ground in numerous places so watch where you sit to rest! Its a nice walk/climb with good views but not adviseable at night as there are tree roots everywhere.

Edited by: nabanga

Thank you for this very informative post!

Although two years old this is an excellent documented post on Tanna, would you care to post in the newly created official TAFEA website: http://tafeatourismcouncil.com/feedback-on-tafea/ for others to benefit from your experience?

Cheers,
John Nicholls
From Tanna :-)

Done! :)