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Vanua
Lava, the biggest in the Banks Islands
Vanua
Lava has mountains, a volcano, crocodiles, reefs, rivers,
waterfalls and rainforests so there's plenty to see on this
interesting island of Vanuatu. There are few people travelling
here, so far from Port Vila. Those intrepid tourists who
do make the effort say Vanua Lava is a great place.
Sola
is the provincial town for the Banks and Torres Islands.
From Sola you can make excursions to Mt Sere Ama, an active
volcano, the Selva River, Kwakea Island and Mosina village.
East Vanua Lava has good birding and Lalngetak is a wonderful
village-stay.
Update
Feb-2007: We were told a white man
leased both the islands of Kwakea and little Nawila. Fortunately,
we don't think he's going to build a tourist resort. However,
we don't know if visitors are allowed. If you want to go,
check this out in Sola.
The
northern tip of Ravenga island has a good surf break onto
and around the reef at high tide but it's not easy to access.
Some people take a speedboat from Mota Lava (expensive).
From Lalngetak you can paddle over in a canoe.
Southwest
Vanua Lava is popular with yachts. You can walk from Sola
to Vureas Bay and onwards to Waterfall Bay where the Sasara
River falls into a pool by the ocean. The birdwatching around
Vureas Bay is very good.
See
our Sola page for guest houses in
town. See our Walking Vanua Lava
page for Lalngetak. There are two island bungalows in the
south and west:
Nerr Bungalows, Vureas
Bay 
Malau Yacht Resort, Waterfall
Bay
Airfares
to Vanua Lava are expensive from Port Vila and moderately
so from Santo. To maximise economy a good plan is to visit
both Vanua Lava and neighbouring Mota Lava on the same trip.
You should be able to plan a suitable itinerary using the
Air Vanuatu timetable. Also, if you want some flexibility
in your itinerary you can forego the short flight and catch
a speedboat between Vanua Lava and Mota Lava. The centre
for TORBA province is at Sola and ship visits are fairly
regular. Gaua is not far away and it may be possible to
save some money and make this short voyage by ship.
Transport
Air Vanuatu now flies to Vanua Lava three times a week;
on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (March 2007). An adult return
fare from to Sola is 41308 Vatu from Vila or 22070 Vatu
from Santo (May 2006). Tourists with a return Air Vanuatu
ticket are entitled to a 20% discount. When leaving, plan
to be at the airport early. What happens is the pilot radios
ahead from Santo and may decide to change the routing. Confirm
your ticket at least one day before departure. Exchange
Rates.
The
Sola airport is about 4km by road northwest of Sola (about
30 minutes walk). There were three trucks on the island
in May 2004 and you can count on at least one truck meeting
the plane. An airport transfer in the back of a truck costs
500 Vatu.
There's
usually at least one ship a month to the Banks Islands from
Santo. A few ships that service the Banks and Torres Islands
are:
- M/V Keidei (enquire at Lo Chan Moon store, Santo, phone
36530). This ship usually sails Santo-Ambae-Maewo-Mere Lava-Gaua
on the outward leg and returns directly Gaua-Santo on the
return leg. It routinely visits Vanua Lava, less frequently
visits Mota Lava and sometimes goes far north to the Torres
Islands.
- M/V Havutu (enquire at Wong Sze Sing store, Santo). This
ship is more direct, sailing Santo-Gaua-Banks and returning
Gaua-Santo. It's another reliable ship for the Banks and
Torres.
Note
the routing of these ships depends on the cargo and copra.
If there's no cargo manifested for an island and there's
no copra to pick up (often the case for the Torres Islands)
then obviously the ship will not visit that island. Also,
copra boats routinely circumnavigate Gaua and Vanua Lava
to pick up copra from all the landings. All this cargo to
offload and copra to pick up at many small landings takes
time and it often takes days to reach the outer islands.
Travelling by ship to the outer islands is cheap but can
be very inefficient. It's best to use them only for shorter
and direct journeys.
Last
updated: February 2007 by Stephen
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