Honven Seagull Ocean Resort, Tanna Visitor Ratings

Honven Seagull Ocean Resort is a new place, built in 2003 through a co-operative effort of several communities in Southwest Tanna. It's located 5 km south of Lenakel at Imlao Point. The scenic, mountainous southwest coast starts here and nearby are kastom villages, black sand beaches, caves, blowholes, waterfalls and forests. It's an excellent place and undiscovered.

Update March-06: From December 2005 the bungalows were closed because of some dispute in the local communities. We revisited Imlao in March 2005 and the landowner, Kalial Sam, said the dispute had been resolved and the bungalows would reopen in April 2005. This place needs continued support from visitors.

Costs
Accommodation costs 800 Vatu per person, per night. There are several tours but there are few guests so it's not as formal as the table below suggests. All expenses are payable in Vatu cash. Exchange Rates.

Booking
Note there is no phone at the resort and you can call Lina Sam in Isangel on 67782. It's a good idea to call ahead so the staff can be ready for you. Although many of the staff did not go to school there will be someone available who speaks Bislama and English or French.

Accommodation and Food
Honven has seven spacious bungalows built of local materials. Each has one single bed, one double bed and a private shower and modern, western flush toilet. There are no mosquito nets (no mosquitoes). Bedding, bath towel and soap are provided. The doors are fitted with locks. Kerosene lamps are provided for lighting and there's a generator for the restaurant which has electric lighting and a refrigerator (the generator is only run in the evenings or as required).

Meals are a based on local produce with a mixed local-western style. Specialties are freshwater prawns, flying fox, wild fowl, fish steaks and lobster. All you need to bring is a bottle of wine. Luxury meals cost up to 1500 Vatu per person and some need to be ordered well in advance. More simple meals of aelan kaekae are about 150 Vatu for a basic breakfast (eg boiled manioc or kumala with tea or coffee), 500 Vatu for lunch (eg chicken salad with manioc) and 800 Vatu for dinner (eg chicken, kumula, beans and capsicum cooked the local way in hot stones or freshwater prawns with manioc and kumula). Since accommodation is relatively cheap you can afford to spend more on food. They also have a gas barbeque which could be useful.

Services and Suggestions
There are no stores at Imlao so do any shopping before leaving Lenakel.

Transport
Airport transfers cost 2500 Vatu for one person, 1250 Vatu each for two, 1000 Vatu each for extra people and 950 Vatu for each child. These rates are equivalent to a taxi fare from the airport (1000 plus 1500 Vatu). If you follow a shared market truck from Lenakel it costs only 100 or 200 Vatu to Imlao. To walk it takes about one and a half hours, just follow the road. Note if there has been rain for more than two or three days the road becomes quite muddy and there will be no market trucks.

First surveyed: August 2004 by Stephen.
Last updated: April 2006 by Stephen.