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Vanuatu
Land diving on Pentecost, done with vines rather than elastic, is where bungee jumping came from.
On Pentecost Island men build a wooden tower up to about 30 metres and jump from it with forest vines tied to their ankles, cut so the head just brushes the tilled earth. The ritual, called naghol, is tied to the yam harvest and runs roughly April to June; footage of it reached the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club, who jumped from the Clifton Suspension Bridge on an elastic cord in 1979; the New Zealander A.J. Hackett turned that into a commercial business a decade later.
The rest of the country is about eighty islands holding some 300,000 people between more than a hundred living languages, which is the densest concentration of languages anywhere on Earth. On Tanna, Mount Yasur has been erupting more or less continuously for centuries and can be approached on foot to the crater rim, access depending on the alert level that day.
Quick facts
Currency
VUV
Vanuatu vatu
Language
Bislama
+ English
Power
—
Driving
Right
US-style
Airport
VLI
Bauerfield International (Port Vila)
Emergency
—
Police · Fire
When to go
Monthly breakdown
Storm risk: HighJan
Rain
Feb
Rain
Mar
Rain
Apr
Rain
May
Best
Jun
Best
Jul
Best
Aug
Best
Sep
Best
Oct
Best
Nov
Rain
Dec
Rain
Major events
Naghol Land Diving
On Pentecost Island, men dive from wooden towers with vines tied to their ankles, timed to the yam harvest between April and June. The practice predates bungee jumping, which was derived from it.
Independence Day
30 July marks the end of the Anglo-French condominium in 1980, with string band competitions and canoe races across the islands.
Fest'Napuan
A free four-day music festival in Port Vila, the largest in the country, giving Ni-Vanuatu string band and reggae acts their main stage of the year.
Hidden gems
Mount Yasur
An active volcano on Tanna you can drive most of the way up, then walk to a rim that looks directly into the vent. Access is set by a public activity level and closes when it rises.
Millennium Cave
On Espiritu Santo, a full-day trip involving bamboo ladders, a river canyon and a swim through the cave itself. Run by the villages that own the land and physically demanding.
SS President Coolidge
A luxury liner turned troopship that struck a friendly mine in 1942 and sank off Santo. The bow sits at about 20 metres, which makes it one of the few large wrecks divers reach from shore.
Local food
Laplap
dietary_tags.vegetarianGrated yam, taro or banana pressed into a leaf parcel with coconut cream and cooked on hot stones; the national dish, eaten in slabs.
Tuluk
Grated manioc wrapped round a pork filling and baked in leaf; the version made when there is meat to spare.
Coconut crab
A land crab large enough to open a coconut, eaten grilled. Numbers have fallen enough that several islands now restrict the catch.
Safety tips
Nature
Mount Yasur's access is governed by a published activity level, and the rim closes when it rises. People have been killed by ejected rock ignoring that.
Health
Malaria is present on most islands including Espiritu Santo and Malekula, though not usually on Tanna's higher ground. Take prophylaxis and check the specific islands on your route.
Transport
Cyclone season runs November to April and Vanuatu sits in one of the most storm-exposed corridors in the Pacific. Domestic flights stop well before the storm arrives.
Sustainability
Eco rating
Reef: HealthyPlan Your Trip
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