Vanuatu Diving

Vanuatu diving offers a quality and variety of opportunities to explore isolated, reef-fringed islands rivaled by few other dive destinations in the South Pacific.

Vanuatu island with fringing reef. © Fotolia.com

Most of the islands of Vanuatu are encircled by discontinuous fringing reefs, but there is also a small atoll formation (north of Efaté) and a few barrier reefs within the island chain.

Vanuatu diving offers easy access to its many fringing reefs which can usually be readily reached from right from the beach (see photo, left). In general, Vanuatu's fringing reefs are best developed on eastern and northern coasts, which are exposed to the counterclockwise tradewinds of the South Pacific.

Unlike most of the the smaller islands of Vanuatu, both Espíritu Santo (or just "Santo" as it is often called) and Malakula both have wide fringing reefs with respectable back reef (lagoon) habitat.

Generally, shallow reefs are dominated by coralline algae, plate corals and branching forms. Below about 15 ft., of massive and branching corals predominate.

Vanuatu reef fish on shallow fringing reef. © Fotolia.com

Marine biodiversity is high on the reefs of Vanuatu, with more than 500 fish species and 295 hard corals already recorded.

Live coral cover varies widely throughout these islands due to the frequency of cyclones, along with the unusual level of seismic activity and occasional infestations of crown-of-thorns starfish.

Vanuatu diving conditions vary substantially both with local summer and winter seasons, as well as with location. The climate ranges from tropical in the northern islands to subtropical in the south.

Depending on your location (north or south Vanuatu), winter air temperatures (May to September) average from 63° to 68° F. and water temperatures can drop to near 70 degrees F. During the summer months, water temperatures rise into the low 80s. Wetsuits appropriate to the season are a "must" for Vanuatu diving.

Vanuatu Diving Travel Information

Vanuatu is a Y-shaped chain of islands in the area of the Southwestern Pacific called Melanesia, which is about 3/4 of the way from Hawaii to Australia.

Vanuatu is located within the area of the South Pacific known as Melanesia

Vanuatu is composed of 4 main islands and about 80 smaller islands, including several with active volcanoes. The two largest islands (Espiritu Santo and Malakula), account for nearly one-half of the total land area of the entire nation.

The terrain of the islands is of volcanic origin, mostly mountainous bordered by narrow coastal plains.

The high levels of seismic activity experienced by this island nation are due to the fact that Vanuatu sits right next to the 24,000 ft. deep New Hebrides Trench, where subduction of the Indo-Australian Plate under the Pacific Plate occurs. The last major volcanic eruption was in 1945.

Summers (November to April) are humid and rainy with air temperatures generally in the mid-80s. Cyclones and tropical lows strike any given location in these islands on the average of once every two years, sometime between January and April.

Where To Stay in Vanuatu

The main center of tourism in Vanuatu is Port Vila (Efete), with the country's only other town readily accessible to tourists (Luganville on Espiritu Santo) coming in second. These two areas are where most Vanuatu diving is centered. There are a few private small islands with luxury resorts not far from both of these locations.

Vanuatu beach vista. © Fotolia.com

Port Vila has by far the most well-developed tourism infrastructure, including hotels, resorts, casinos, gourmet restaurants, and duty-free shops. However, the once lush coral reefs of Efate were fairly recently (2003) devastated by Cyclone Danny, which reduced live coral cover from about 80% to 25%. Efete's reefs will recover, but the process is inherently slow.

Thus, today the most outstanding reefs are currently found around Espiritu Santo, and most serious divers seem to currently prefer basing their dive vacations there. Santo has more modest amenities, but more of the "local flavor" than Efete. Still, there remain some areas around Efete that also offer excelent Vanuatu diving opportunities.

How To Get To Vanuatu

From North America or Europe, the most direct way to get to Vanuatu is to go through Australia and take one of the many connecting non-stop flights to Vanuatu's main international airport at Port Vila, Efete (VLI) on Quantas. From Port Villa, Air Vanuatu can take you to other destinations within the country.

From the US, there are a number of non-stop flights available on major American carriers into Sydney. From Europe, there are non-stops into Sydney as well as Brisbane, which are the two closest departure points from Australia to Vanuatu. From either of these cities one can connect directly to Vanuatu on Quantas.