About
Island Bungalows and Travelling in Vanuatu
This page
is a brief introduction to travelling Vanuatu with general advice
and tips.
What
are Island Bungalows?
Why visit Island Bungalows?
Plan your trip
Flying
Ships
Go
prepared
Communicate
Tips for travelling on a budget
Guidebooks
Further information
What
are Island Bungalows?
 "Island
Bungalows" are guesthouses in rural Vanuatu, locally owned
and run by Ni-Vanuatu.
They offer basic accommodation, meals and assistance to adventure
travellers. Rural Vanuatu is still quite undeveloped so, in general,
you are not going to find electricity, hot showers, telephones,
western food and five star service; the standard varies considerably.
Some places are remote or new and not experienced in dealing with
tourists. Other places are resort-like. Transport can sometimes
be inconvenient and expensive to the outer islands. These small
challenges will not deter confident travellers.
Why
visit Island Bungalows?
You
will find a unique and real experience away from the commercial
tourism centres of Port Vila and Luganville. When you stay in
island bungalows and guesthouses you are making a much valued
contribution to the rural economies of Vanuatu.
Sample Itineraries.
Plan
your trip
1. The number one rule in Vanuatu is not too worry - you are on
vacation.
2. The second rule is to leave some degree of flexibility in your
travel plans - you can't plan for everything and you don't know
what you might discover.
3. The third rule is to relax and enjoy yourself - there's no
need to rush.
Only
a couple of bungalows can be booked and paid from overseas travel
agents. Many don't even have a telephone, a bank account or a
booking agent. Not to worry, there are very few people visiting
the outer islands and you needn't be too concerned about bookings.
We have NEVER made a booking when visiting any bungalow on this
site and sometimes travel for many days without seeing any tourists.
Independent travellers just go!
Note
that bungalow owners rarely think of advising anyone about changes
to their business. The bungalow may be closed, there could have
been a cyclone or prices may have gone up. Still worried? Check
the notes at the bottom of our bungalow pages to see how recent
our information is and check if the bungalow has a contact.
Flying
If you
have limited time and a tight schedule you are very dependent
on Air Vanuatu
domestic flights. Their planes are quite reliable but some islands
have only one or two flights a week and grass airstrips are the
norm (only Santo, Tanna and Norsup on Malekula have tarmac). Rain
could spoil the airstrip, maybe the grass is too long, the flight
could be overbooked and there are other reasons for you missing
your flight. Still, it is remarkable that Air Vanuatu's flights
meet the schedule most of the time. Note that the domestic timetable
is changing so always consult the latest version. Tickets for
domestic flights are easy to get except at Christmas time and
around school holidays.
Air
Vanuatu takes off
You may find old references to the domestic airline VANAIR. In
2005 it was taken over by Air Vanuatu and now the merger is complete.
It is
good to see some improvements from the new Air Vanuatu:
- International fare prices have come down and ticket conditions
have been relaxed.
- International tickets can be booked online and Air Vanuatu now
have e-tickets.
- Domestic flights can be booked and paid through Air Vanuatu
overseas offices. Domestic reservations have not yet been integrated
into the Air
Vanuatu website.
- In 2007, Air Vanuatu launched a weekly direct Brisbane-Santo
service. The
"Diver's Express" has been running for some months and
hopefully will continue. Now you can skip Vila and save on the
flight to Santo.
Sunday: Brisbane-Santo-Vila
Monday: Vila-Santo-Brisbane
We highly
recommend using the Air Vanuatu offices overseas. You can book
all your flights before arriving in Vanuatu and should not need
to visit the Air Vanuatu office in Port Vila. That's much easier
than before!
Ships
We've travelled
between islands on local ships and, in general, they have little
to recommend. It's difficult to track them down, passing ships
are infrequent on many islands and most of them don't run to any
schedule. It's not unusual to spend days waiting for a ship and
then it might arrive in the middle of the night. Also, most of
the ships in Vanuatu are cargo vessels with little space and primitive
facilities for passengers. Sure, it can be nice travelling by
ship for short distances between islands but you need to be patient.
Passenger-only
boats servicing the islands are new to Vanuatu. We haven't tried
them yet but they look to be a good deal and are a welcome improvement
to the standard of domestic shipping in the archipelago.
The Island
Gateway is a fast catamaran seating 58 passengers. In December
2006 her regular weekly service departs Port Vila for Santo
(7500 Vatu) on Friday, stopping at Lamen Bay, Epi
(4500 Vatu) and Litslits, Malekula
(6500 Vatu) in between. Exchange
Rates. She returns to Vila on Saturday, sailing the same route.
On the last week of every month the Island Gateway includes Liro,
Paama and Craig Cove, Ambrym
in her voyage. Phone
numbers for the Island Gateway are 22662 and 44548 and
they now have a website http://www.islandgateway.info/
Update
Feb-2008: Is the Island Gateway no more? Their website seems to
be dead and we wouldn't be surprised if the business has 'gone
under.' Contact us if you know something.
Go
prepared
Some bungalows see few tourists and may not be well equipped.
It helps to bring:
- Enough Vatu
cash. Budget for minimum 2000 to 3000 Vatu a
day for accommodation, food and island transport. Airfares are
extra. Always have some 1000 Vatu notes because you might not
get change on local transport and in small island stores. Exchange
Rates.
- An up-to-date Air Vanuatu
timetable (essential when island hopping).
- Water bottle.
- Water purification tablets (rarely needed but if in doubt then
use them).
- Anti-malaria tablets (some islands/areas).
- Torch light.
- Spare batteries. Alkaline batteries for digital devices are
rarely available on the islands and it can be difficult to find
electricity for recharging batteries.
- A small padlock for locking bungalow doors (for peace of mind,
not because security is an issue)..
- Antiseptic ointment or cream (take good care of cuts and scratches).
Antiobiotics will be required sooner or later if you spend any
length of time on the islands.
- Antifungal powder or cream.
- Bath towel (usually provided).
- Toilet paper (usually provided).
- A mosquito net (rarely needed, mosquito repellent more important).
-
In remote locations where there are few stores and some basic
food (eg tinned fish) is handy to go with your aelan
kaekae.
- Snorkelling gear (if that's your thing).
- Telecom Vanuatu phonecard (and pray the phones on the islands
are working!).
You'll be
traveling in the tropics so there are too many details to cover
here. If this is your first time to travel unescorted off the
beaten track then read a relevant guidebook for more information.
Speaking Bislama smooths your
path and opens doors so it's worth learning if you're going to
spend a long time in the islands (it's easy enough to learn as
you travel).
Take
enough cash! I think that you should
advise people to carry a cash reserve above and beyond what they
think they will need when going to the islands. For instance we
ran out of money on Malekula and I could not get the bank in Lakotoro
to give me a cash advance on my Westpac Mastercard. We waited
5 hours for them to contact Vila and the answer came back that
they could not do it. K.G, Australia, Sep-05.
Local
departure taxes: All provincial governments are collecting departure
taxes. Make sure to have some spare Vatu change in your pocket
before heading for the airport (400 Vatu Efate, Tanna, Santo and
250 Vatu other airports). Let's hope the revenue goes towards
improving and maintaining the airports.
Communicate
Tourism is still a new business on many islands of Vanuatu and
the locals may have little experience and training. Don't hesitate
to talk your hosts and tell them about what you like and what
could be improved. Usually the locals can try to meet any reasonable
request. Independent travellers can share their experiences and
observations with the local bungalow operators to assist tourism
on the islands.
Tips
for Travelling on a Budget
The most expensive item in you travel budget will be airfares.
Pacific Blue offers
the cheapest international air fares to Vanuatu. However, if you're
going to fly within Vanuatu it may be cheaper overall to fly with
Air Vanuatu and take
advantage of the 20% discount on domestic flights. They also have
more flights.
To make your
trip more economical you can reduce the cost per day with longer
duration tours. If you want to further reduce your inter-island
transport costs then travelling by ship is bearable for shorter
hops.
It's expensive
to charter a truck on the islands if you are only one. Charters
are usually about 10 times the cost of shared transport. It's
more economical to wait for a ride although you might only find
transport in the mornings (into town) and afternoons (return).
If the distance is not far then walking can be an enjoyable and
independent mode of travel.
It's true
that bargaining is not a Melanesian custom. However, asking for
a reduced rate at a bungalow or guesthouse is different to haggling
over the price of a paw-paw
in the Port Vila market house. Often accommodation prices on the
islands are set without looking at costs in town or the competition.
Unrealistic pricing does occur and if you know the prices then
you are in a position to negotiate. For example, single accommodation
in Santo or Vila costs as little as 1500 Vatu with clean, modern
rooms, 24 hour electricity, hot showers and clean, modern toilets
so charging more than 1500 Vatu per night for a grass hut in the
village is pretty expensive, even if the beach is nice. Bungalows
are rarely fully booked and if you can explain why rates are unreasonable
then you should be able to negotiate a fairer price.
Guidebooks
Lonely
Planet Vanuatu and New Caledonia
5th
Edition
July
2006
The newest,
5th Edition, Lonely Planet combines Vanuatu and New Caledonia
in one book for the first time. We haven't seen it; maybe you
can review it for us?
While in the
bookshop, you might grab a copy of the Lonely
Planet Pidgin Phrasebook, 2nd Ed., January 2005 (link to Amazon.com).
On the other hand, if you're an English speaker you can probably
get by without it.
Moon Handbooks South Pacific
8th Edition
Avalon Travel Publishing, Moon Handbooks, November 2004.
First published
in 1979, Moon Handbooks South Pacific is said to be the
original single-volume guide to the Pacific islands and is currently
in its 8th edition. With a pedigree like that, this must be a
guidebook worth considering.
Quick review:
I recently
spotted an abandoned copy of the Moon Handbooks South Pacific
8th edition in Unity Park Motel, Luganville, and proceeded to
read the Solomons Islands section after having just visited the
place. Someone had already ripped out the Vanuatu chapter and
before leaving I tore out the Solomon Islands chapter for myself
:-)
It was
refreshing to read something different to the drivel we commonly
get from Lonely Planet these days. David Stanley has been writing
these books for years and it shows: the text is clean and coherent
with good insight and understanding. This book covers all of the
South Pacific and has to be short on details but will open your
mind to new destinations; I found the Cook Islands chapter interesting
but wasn't game to steal the whole book! When using a shoestring
guide you are encouraged to discover places for yourself rather
than look for specific recommendations. I would buy this book
over the Lonely Planet!
Stephen,
Vanuatu Aelan Walkabaot wemaster, February 2008.
Further
Information
In
Port Vila the Vanuatu
Tourism Office has a large collection of brochures and a reliable
free map of Vila and Efate. Worth a visit if you have time. VTO
also have an office in Luganville now, outside the Apex Garden
Hotel. The
VTO website is growing with useful information and images about
some island bungalows including some that we do not feature.
If you get lost in navigation, try their sitemap.
Another website
we recently discovered belongs to the Tafea
Tourism Council (Tanna, Aniwa, Futuna, Aneityum). It has many
new and unknown bungalows.
Last
updated: February 2008.
|
