Vanuatu tours and holidays: Best things to do and see, according to Kiwi tour operators

A horse riding trail offers a one-of-a-kind experience on Vanuatu's largest island. Photo / Supplied

The Eagles are crooning ‘Hotel California’ and the winter sun is setting over Port Vila Harbour as the boat sways its hips in a hypnotic hula. A school of silver fish skims like stones across the ocean surface and shards of white light poke from remnant clouds above.

Early evening out on the water and Vanuatu is wearing a sea spray spritz, while back on land, the capital’s lights are winking back as if to say “it doesn’t get much better than this”.

And for New Zealander Andy Martin, who owns Watersports Vanuatu – that sentiment rings loud and clear.

There’s a delightful phrase in Bislama, the almost childlike broken English native to the people of Vanuatu, which goes “Mix Master Blong Jesus”. Simply put, they’re referring to a helicopter.

Ten years ago, Martin, a helicopter pilot, moved to Port Vila to operate Jesus’ mix masters around the skies over his South Pacific neighbour to the north. And he’s never looked back.

Travel Vanuatu by kayak. Photo / Supplied

Martin, 45, from Twizel, has since stopped chartering choppers, flipping his focus to the ocean below with Watersports Vanuatu – making a big splash figuratively and literally with the Tropic Thunder Jet – the only jet boat in the country.

“Of all the South Pacific capitals, Vila, with its wide harbour, is the most beautiful,” Martin says, from his office overlooking the sparkling water.

“On a good day, you’ll see giant sea turtles and even the occasional dugong. There’s bommies, plenty of coral, sea horses, moray eels and sweetlips. My aim is to provide a great, affordable holiday for people. Aussies and Kiwis are our biggest market. Even if they just want to take a kayak out for the day, there’s always plenty to see.”

Not only does Martin offer a glass-bottom boat tour with a difference – it’s a semi-submersible half boat and half submarine – but this year he’s introduced two more products.

In May, The Haa Bar Cruise was launched, making Martin the only boat operator to capitalise on the spectacular sunsets for which this country is renowned – topped with a tipple or two. The 1.5-hour cruise follows the sun, which sets towards Devil’s Point in winter and over Pango Point in summer before cruising around the harbour and Irikiki Island.

Bask in the sunset around the harbour and Irikiki Island on the Haa Bar Cruise. Photo / Supplied

In June, A Pirates Treasure Hunt snorkelling trip – aimed at kids and those who are kids at heart – was born, capturing the imagination of those who like to search for fake treasures in the harbour.

Soon, Martin will launch yet another experience – Coral Explorer Snorkel Tours – taking more advanced snorkellers out to the warm waters of Mele Bay and Pango Reef.

“Vanuatu is a sunny place where shady people go,” Martin jokes of the influx of Kiwis making their mark on the country’s tourism industry.

Further up the road, Vanuatu-born, Kiwi-bred Greg Mitchell is hands-deep in motorbike grease and parts in between running his new business – eBikes Vanuatu.

An eBike is just one of the best ways to see the island. Photo / Supplied

Mitchell, 48, from Hamilton, returned to the country of his birth to open Vanuatu’s only dedicated eBike hire in May this year.

“My father was French and he came here in the 1950s and built Erakor Island. He was well respected by the locals because, unlike other French people, he spoke to them in Bislama,” Mitchell says.

“My grandparents built the Kaviti Motel which still stands today in Port Vila. My mother was a Kiwi but Vanuatu is in my blood. I feel like I have arrived home.

“It’s just so funny here. Some days I got out and find blokes sleeping in the tray of my truck. They are just such a relaxed, lovely people.”

The 40 bikes available for hire here boast a top speed of 30km/h - as Mitchell says “enough to get the wind in your hair” - and can travel to a range of 70km/h, which will take you to Vila’s renowned Blue Hole for a swim. Tours are touted as eco-friendly, cost-effective, convenient, easy, fun and with the added benefit of a fitness component.

While Mitchell says there are “hundreds of little trails” around Efate Island, his top four eBike destination recommendations are Mele Cascades, Pango, Club Hippique and Eratap.

Some of the top eBike destinations in Vanuatu are Mele Cascades, Pango, Club Hippique and Eratap, says Greg Mitchell. Photo / Supplied

“An eBike is just one of the best ways to see the island,” says Mitchell, who has plans to expand with a small coffee shop and woodfired pizza oven on the premises overlooking Port Vila Harbour.

Vanuatu Ecotours owner Rob Cotter, 59, from Wellington, first sailed to Vanuatu in 1984.

“I spent four months sailing around the islands here and I found village life very familiar. Growing up around Marlborough Sounds and with its similar remote background, I fitted in really well here,” Cotter says.

“I’ve spent my life working and travelling around Melanesia and Vanuatu is one of the easier countries in the Pacific to live in. It is not as hot and we don’t get malaria here. It’s more of a tourist town compared with Honiara [Solomon Islands] and Port Morseby [Papua New Guinea].”

Explore the outer islands of Nguna-Pele with Vanuatu Ecotours. Photo / Supplied

Cotter says his tour company is all about outdoor pursuits whether it’s bush walking, river kayaking or exploring crystal cascades around Efate. Vanuatu Ecotours is also the only tour operator to take visitors to the outer islands of Nguna-Pele, Tanna, Pentecost, Ambrym and Malekula. The outer island adventures, which range in length from three to six days, include visiting Pentecost Island and its famed land-diving ceremony, or snorkelling with dugong in The Maskeylnes.

“Our market is anyone who wants an adventure and to see the real Vanuatu,” he says. “My message to Kiwi travellers is that Fiji has become a very big industry and a well-oiled machine. Vanuatu is a lot more real and authentic and adventurous.

“With New Zealand – Fiji – Vanuatu connecting flights, start looking at a regional itinerary and you’ll see the contrast.”

Santo Horse Adventures owner Megan-Jane Moderan has run a horse sanctuary and trail riding business on Vanuatu’s largest island for the past 15 years.

“I was working in PNG importing gold and coffee and I ended up coming here and the guy I was working for bought a 12,000ha farm and asked me if I wanted to come and run it,” Moderan says.

“I’ve had horses all my life and within two to three months I ended up giving everything away and started up a horse sanctuary here.

“There is no vet in Santo and horses here are bred for stock and have a pretty rough life. I always had this vision I was going to run a horse sanctuary and riding business and although it was a real life change I had no doubt it would work.”

Moderan, 52, from Invercargill, has 34 horses of which 10 are used for trail rides, which funds the sanctuary situated at Lope Lope Adventure Lodge on Santo’s east coast, about 10 minutes’ drive from Luganville.

“As Kiwis in Vanuatu, we are a different bunch. We’re obsessed with what we do. I love people and adore horses and animals,” she says. “If you follow your passion it will always work.”

Take on a horse adventure on the island. Photo / Supplied

Checklist

VANUATU

GETTING THERE

Air Vanuatu flies direct from Auckland to Port Vila three days a week.

DETAILS

vanuatu.travel

The writer travelled as a guest of Vanuatu Tourism Air Vanuatu and the Fondation Suzanne Bastien