It is wise in Port Vila to stock up on necessary travel items, as there are no other commercial centers in all of the eighty-three islands that make up Vanuatu. The only other developed city in Vanuatu is
Luganville on
Espiritu Santo . Travel between islands is easiest and cheapest by air, but even this costs about $100 per flight — sometimes more depending on how far you're going. There are a few ferries between major islands are infrequent, as they do not run every day. Travelers on a budget can take a ride on a cargo boat, but they are slow and rather uncomfortable.
Most visitors to Vanuatu are Australians and come here to relax and enjoy the tropical weather. The more trodden islands of
Tanna ,
Pentecost , and
Espiritu Santo therefore suit their purposes just fine.
Tanna will put tourists in close contact with an active volcano. You can actually walk up to the volcano's rim to take some shots of the lava inside.
Ambrym also boasts the most active volcano in the world, and is a popular destination for geographers. In April on
Pentecost , natives celebrate Naghol, the annual yam harvest, by land diving or, put simply, jumping from rickety wooden towers connected by the ankle by a vine. Here, tourists can witness the original version of bungee jumping. Finally,
Espiritu Santo is the place to go for resorting and relaxing in a tropical setting.
What most don't know, or maybe just don't have time to explore, is the real soul of Vanuatu, which is found off the beaten path in places like Erromango and the Banks Islands . Here, you partake in real interactions with the locals, striking up conversation in broken pidgin, which is the dialect that most natives can speak with visitors. Due to the exorbitantly high cost of living, few natives are able to travel inter-island, and those who manage to save enough money to travel do so only by necessity: for their education or for professional opportunities. In most cases, where you are born is where you will stay, which breeds a very tight-knit community and a loving protectiveness of one another. So, if you have time to visit these less-traveled islands in Vanuatu, you will be rewarded by being welcomed into and accepted as part of village life.
