Adventure Magazine December 2019/January 2020

INCREDIBLE NATURAL ATTRACTIONS
IN VANUATU
Working on your tan in Port Vila is certainly a lovely way to spend the day, but there’s
plenty of beauty outside the big Vanuatu hotels. On distant islands scattered throughout the
archipelago, you’ll find bubbling volcanoes, sugar-white beaches, coral reefs, remote waterfalls
and sweeping volcanic ash plains. Natural attractions are pretty much Vanuatu’s major export,
drawing thousands of visitors from all over the world. Here are but a few.
Swim Beneath Waterfalls on Efate
You don’t have to travel far outside Port
Vila to find Efate’s best waterfalls. Mele
Cascades are the most popular, hiding in the
jungle about 10 km from Port Vila’s major
resorts. The Mele Cascades is a collection
of terraced pools that tumble down a rocky
hillside, then plunge 35 metres into a natural
swimming hole. Just watch your step on the
rope-guided path to the top as it can get a
bit slippery. For somewhere less busy, try
Lololima Falls. It’s another stepped cascade,
equally photogenic, with sloping limestone
pools, hidden caves (search behind the
upper-tier waterfall) and even a rope swing.
For anyone staying on Tanna, make sure to
set aside a couple of days for idle waterfall
exploration: Louniel, Lenuanatuaiu and
Lenuingao Falls are all beautiful spots for an
afternoon swim.
Walk Over Black Volcanic Sand
Tanna is known for its picturepostcard
surf coast, particularly around
Port Resolution and Yewao Point on the
island’s eastern peninsula. It’s here you’ll
find some of Vanuatu’s best bungalow
accommodation (if you’re looking for larger
resorts, like Rockwater or Evergreen, most
of them are on the west coast). But thanks
to the smoking Mount Yasur, Tanna is
also home to several black sand volcanic
beaches. Louniel Beach is our favourite. It
sweeps along the northeast coast of Tanna,
and the inky black sands make for some
fantastic photographs. You can also explore
Lowakels Cove, which comes with nearby
Friendly Beach bungalow accommodation
or Iwaru Beach, just south of Lenakel,
Tanna’s major port town.
Venture into Millennium Cave
If the idea of setting off into the jungle,
hurdling river boulders and venturing
beneath the earth sounds appealing, you
need to explore Millennium Cave on Espiritu
Santo. It’s the largest cave in Vanuatu
and you can book cave tours from nearby
Luganville. After a bumpy 45-minute ride to
the village of Funaspef, it’s a challenging 1.5-
hour hike through the forest to Millennium
Cave, so you’ll need a decent level of fitness.
But the scenery is some of the best in the
archipelago. You’ll hike through the jungle,
explore an underground cave system (with
nothing but strong shoes and a torch),
then cool off in forest pools surrounded
by cascading waterfalls. If you’re after
something a little less Indiana Jones, take a
day trip on Havannah Harbour and visit the
World Heritage-listed Roi Mata’s Domain.
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