Welkam - Welcome!
The beautiful nation of Vanuatu stretches across 1,300km of the South Pacific Ocean. Over 80 individual islands make it up and each fall in a north-to-south line below the Solomon Islands. Vanuatu lies to the east of Australia, northeast of New Caledonia and west of Fiji. There are 3 main tourist destinations within the Vanuatu island chain—the islands of Efate, Espiritu Santo (commonly just “Santo”) and Tanna. While there’s less of a tourism-focus on the other islands, Pentecost, Ambrym and Malekula do contain plenty of tropical wonders waiting to be discovered during Vanuatu travel and tours!. by myvanuatu.com.au
Best time to dive?
The underwater delights around Vanuatu are legendary among divers. Like elsewhere in the region, the marine life is abundant and reefs colorful, but there are also underwater caves and, uniquely in Melanesia, shipwrecks. The prime time to plunge underwater is from May to October, when the rains, waves and winds are less likely to stir up the water, but within calm, sheltered and non-tidal lagoons, diving and snorkeling is always good. info by santorinidave.com
Best time to Dive?
The underwater delights around Vanuatu are legendary among divers. Like elsewhere in the region, the marine life is abundant and reefs colorful, but there are also underwater caves and, uniquely in Melanesia, shipwrecks. The prime time to plunge underwater is from May to October, when the rains, waves and winds are less likely to stir up the water, but within calm, sheltered and non-tidal lagoons, diving and snorkeling is always good.
info by santorinidave.com
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Do you offer Diving services?
Promote your services and connect with divers
Are you a Scuba diver?
Join and get the best benefits for your next trip
Sea Life
The marine wildlife is made up of 300 varieties of coral and 450 species of fish. The dugong can also be found in the waters of the archipelago, a herbivore mammal which grows to 10 ft long. The best places to see it are Lamen Bay on Epi and Port Resolution on Tanna. Info by easyvoyage.co.uk
Dive Sites
Scuba diving in Vanuatu is excellent, for the dive sites themselves, accessibility, water temperature and visibility. There are a number of professional and friendly dive operators for diving from Port Vila and on Espiritu Santo.
Vanuatu is a great place for an introductory dive – just have a free go in the pool to see if you are comfortable with the basic skills and then it’s a short boat ride to one of the dive sites.
There are reef and wreck dives for the novice and experienced divers as well as caves and swim-throughs. And Vanuatu is, of course, home to one of the world’s most sought after dives, The President Coolidge.
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TWIN BOMBIES
There are two ‘bombora’ formations and a sheer wall on this dive. The grottos and coral are alive with a variety of welcoming fish. 10 metres on top of the reef to 18 metres over the drop-off. Lots of fish with varying size and colour.
MELE REEF
An extensive reef that rises up in the middle of Mele Bay to around 6 metres from the surface. There are lots of dives around here – a good one is along a vertical wall to a shallow reef to finish. It’s a marine sanctuary surrounding Hideaway Island so the wildlife is protected and abundant.
THE CATHEDRAL
A delightful dive in a vast cavern off the Pango peninsula to 26 metres. Shafts of light create unusual effects. You can swim through to the back and up a ‘chimney’ to a large pool on the surface inside the reef – then back to the outside and along the wall to explore and look out into the deep open ocean.
MV KONANDA
This is a lovely wreck dive. Konanda sits on a flat, sandy bottom at 26 metres with her derricks and rigging reaching up to within ten metres of the surface. She is an Island Trader, 45 metres long, which was damaged in a cyclone in 1987 and deliberately sunk for the delight of scuba divers. She has been carefully prepared so penetration into the cabins and holds is totally safe. It’s an ideal introduction to the fun of wreck diving.
The President Coolidge
is arguably the most sought after dive wreck in the world. It’s an accessible and spectacular dive. Sunk in 1942 off Santo, the 200m luxury liner turned troop carrier still contains jeeps, guns, gas masks, tools, crockery toiletries and other bits and pieces. It’s also home to millions of fish including ‘Boris’ a 200kg groper that has lived on the wreck for nearly a quarter of a century. The Coolidge wreck is so big there are over a dozen individual dive options.
The centerpiece ‘The Lady’
a beautiful porcelain statue of a woman and a unicorn, which is in what was once the ‘Smoking Room’. Most divers give her a kiss for luck before heading back to the surface and reality. The dive is so accessible because the Captain of the ship, after it hit a mine, purposely ran it aground to save the crew, which was pretty much the case.
STAR OF RUSSIA
This grand old lady of sailing ship days rests in Port Vila Harbour. She’s 80 metres long and 13 metres wide and down 33 metres. Divers can swim through the body of the ship, swim up the three massive masts, around the romantic, shapely bow and check out the wheel, rudder and anchor machinery.
MV SEMLE FEDERSEN
This is a cargo-carrying trading vessel that was sunk along the Pango Coast in Mele Bay in 1985. Now home to lots of plants and animals, the stern, cabins and wheelhouse can be dived within 40 metres.
Info about diving sites by govanuatu.com
How to Arrive
Located west of Fiji and only 1 hour 30minutes flight, Vanuatu is not more than 2-3 hours by plane from anywhere in the south Pacific such as from neighbouring Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Solomon Islands. Because of the proximity, getting to Vanuatu is easy with direct flights from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Noumea, Honiara,
and Nadi by various international airlines, including their own national carrier. Info by vanuatu.travel
