Malo
Island has white sand beaches, great snorkeling and easy walks. Avunatari Mission is a lovely escape from the larger towns of Luganville and Port Vila
and is a typical example of Vanuatu village life.
Due to Malo’s relative obscurity, very few tourists visit
and it is highly likely you will be the only tourists in
the village.
Tankyu tumas Craig Twitt for sharing his discovery of Pantanas Bungalows.
Costs
and Booking
Pantanas Guest House is a family business run primarily
by the mother, Vomalehi ("Vo–mar–lay–hee"). Pantanas
charges 1500 Vatu per person per day for accommodation and
meals, payable in Vatu cash. Exchange
Rates.
Bookings
can be made by Vuro ("Voo–ro"),
Vomalehi’s husband on 5483590 (mobile). Vuro works at the co-operative store and its best to call
in the evening.
Bookings
are not essential as very few tourists make the trip to
Malo, but you might like to call a couple of days before
you visit so that they can prepare for your arrival and
arrange transport if required (see Transport below).
Accommodation and Food
Pantanas Guest House has two bungalows and a dining place
built from a mixture of forest materials and concrete. Mosquito
nets are provided. Fresh water is provided for bathing (bucket
showers). They have a new water-seal toilet. Kerosene and solar powered
lamps are used for lighting. Vuro can run his generator in the evenings, if you like.
Breakfast
is usually local bread with coffee. Seasonal fruit such
as grapefruit and coconut is provided. Lunch and dinner
usually involves lap-lap with either fish, chicken, noodles
and yam, served with fresh water (rain water) or home
made lime cordial. Vomalehi will even show you
how to make lap-lap if you are interested! The food is simple
and plenty.
Things
to do
There is excellent snorkeling along the coast. It's best
to bring your own snorkelling gear. On land, there's a large
cave 20 minutes walk from Avunatari which you can visit. You may also visit Vomalehi's garden and
a bit further inland is Malo Peak (326 m).
Tropicbirds
breed on Malo, apparently year round. You might see them
at Nanuku village, about 6 km south of Avunatari. You can
walk there along the road in 1.5 hours. Ask for Chief Wara
('Wa-ra').
If you
wish to drive around the island, there are transports (four-wheel
drive trucks) for hire. Vuro and Vomalehi will be able to arrange
anything you might be interested in.
Transport
The boat landing to get to Malo is appoximately 15 km drive
west of Luganville, just before the Naoneban ('Now-nay-barn')
bridge. It costs 200 Vatu per person on a market truck and takes
30 minutes.
Trucks can be found from 1500h in the afternoon,
across the road from the market at the bamboo stand, in
front of Valiant's store. A taxi to Naoneban costs approximately
1000 Vatu.
Speedboats to Malo take 20 minutes and cost 200 Vatu per person.
You can take a boat to either Small Nanuku (30 minutes walk west of Avunatari) or Avunatari. Don't rush, there's a nice little beach
restaurant at Small Nanuku. If you
charter a whole boat it will cost 2000
Vatu for the trip.
To book
a boat you can call Pantanas Guest House and they will make
the arrangements for you. Then again, there's plenty of
public transport.
First
visited: 2008 by Craig Twitt.
Last updated: April 2011 by Stephen.
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